K50 reliability issues??

hal55 · 05-07-2016, 07:13 PM

I've sold some stuff on ebay and finally have funds to buy a new camera. The K50 is the one I'm looking at, NIB ones are still available, BUT there have been enough reliability postings about this camera to have me concerned. Plenty of people seem to have had issues with them, even within a year of purchase, and the cost of repair to one seems in most cases to be close to new price. Does anyone have stats on how many are developing faults? The camera ticks all the boxes I need (I shoot with manual film era lenses) but the the box labelled "reliable will last for years and years" is a big, big box and it's not ticked as yet.
On a cosmetic front, wanting to get a white one just to be different, but how well, or not, do conventional black lenses look on this body and does the white body show dirt/scuffs/marks too easily?

Thanks, I never thought replacing my reliable old Canon 450d would prove so difficult.

Hal55

**pepperberry farm** · 05-07-2016, 07:15 PM

no worries here - I used my K-50 for a little over a year and over 10K shutter actuations with not a single issue... it's still here as a backup to my K-3...

Adam · 05-07-2016, 07:19 PM

The K-50 has been a pretty popular camera, so keep that in mind when looking at user reports. While failure is unlikely it looks like aperture related issues can develop.

I'd recommend getting the 3 year warranty for $50. That way if anything breaks, you're covered and you'll be sure to get your money's worth!

My K-50, from the initial production batch, is still working like new

KiloHotelphoto · 05-07-2016, 07:36 PM

I've had a white k-50 for about a year and a half with no problems at all. Seem to be a solid little camera.

I do have to wipe it down every so often to clean up some dirt marks on it but it cleans up nice, I just use a wet rag.

**Alex645** · 05-07-2016, 10:48 PM

My son has had his K-50 for nearly 2 years and attends school in freezing cold Rochester, New York, comes home to humid hot Hawaii for summers, and has taken it on a trip to Northern India (high altitude and cold), Iceland, and is presently studying abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland. Knock on wood, no issues.

I also have four high school students who shoot with the K-50 (3 black bodies, 1 white) and none of them have had problems other than two were dropped and damaged their lens. I've found every camera has its flaws, but for the price I highly recommend the K-50 (if the K-3 is out of your price range). And even when comparing with the K-S2, I'd rather put my money into lenses than the body.

**clackers** · 05-07-2016, 10:55 PM

I've had and used the virtually identical K-30 for years. Take up Adam's suggestion of the extended warranty if you wake up in the middle of the night with a premonition about the aperture mechanism.

**carlb** · 05-07-2016, 11:44 PM

I've got two K50's and a K30. I'm not a high mileage user but I haven't had a problem in 3 years of usage. Great camera for the price

surfar · 05-08-2016, 12:59 AM

RED K50s shoot faster, and having 2, its warp speed.My partner has the white and I gave her 2 black lenses and they look fine.Silver lenses look great on the Red, blacks ok too.One of mine is 2 years old, the other about 4 months( had to buy it too cheap for what it does).No issues yet!

esrandall · 05-08-2016, 01:15 AM

Definitely get the extended warranty. I had the aperture block failure issue at about the 11 month mark. That was at around 10k on the shutter. I put another 5k on the shutter before I sold it, and never another issue. Great camera, but there have been enough issues that the warranty is a good idea, and it's reasonable in price (even though they've raised that price. Or, you could look at a few more bucks, and pickup a KS-2. I enjoyed the KS-1 as a backup, and the KS-2 feels way better in the hands. The 20MP sensor is really good, not to mention all of the other great features. Just a thought. And regarding the white body, my K-50 was a stormtrooper, and I had zero issues with wear or marks on that white body. Great looking camera, especially with the Limited primes

hal55 · 05-08-2016, 01:45 AM - **1 Like**

Situation all resolved somewhat out of the blue. The Australian Pentax importer put the last fifteen NIB K50s, all black, up on eBay at a very good price and I scored the second last one. Warranty is two years and I'll see about a further extension. Since I'd sold surplus lenses beforehand my net cost was only a hundred. Looking forward immensely to getting it and getting some modern auto lenses as well.

tgchan · 05-08-2016, 07:49 AM

A very happy ex K-50 user here. Not a single problem with my camera.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1716539861957078.1073741851.1399391007005300&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1638898946387837.1073741850.1399391007005300&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1542177989393267.1073741848.1399391007005300&type=3

**ramseybuckeye** · 05-08-2016, 04:17 PM

Originally posted by hal55

Situation all resolved somewhat out of the blue. The Australian Pentax importer put the last fifteen NIB K50s, all black, up on eBay at a very good price and I scored the second last one. Warranty is two years and I'll see about a further extension. Since I'd sold surplus lenses beforehand my net cost was only a hundred. Looking forward immensely to getting it and getting some modern auto lenses as well.

That's awesome, you'll love it.

ohmic314 · 05-09-2016, 12:55 PM

I'm one of the (hopefully) few people who had an aperture failure within a few months of having the camera. Despite the warranty service being horribly bad and how early the item broke, I am still on the "recommend" boat. The main reason is because the price/performance tradeoff is great. It takes as good of pictures as many more expensive cameras, and the weatherproofing is great. I've taken photos in downpours without a worry. Dust or sand? Psh. Having a good yet (relatively) inexpensive camera that I can use anywhere is such a wonderful feeling.

As for people suggesting extended warranties, I recommend you look at your credit card before you purchase a 3rd party one. My visa signature card doubles the 1 year warranty for free, so effectively I have a 2 year warranty. Is it worth the money to extend the warranty one more year beyond that? That's up to you.

P.S. Some may ask if my abuse of my camera led to it's early failure... and my comment is I don't think so. The warranty service found the camera had no water or physical damage and this failure is a very common issue (with respect to types of failures).

hal55 · 05-11-2016, 01:11 AM

Thanks to everyone for their input, it is much appreciated.The camera has arrived and I'm hopefully picking up a Sigma 18-125 DC this weekend, I know its nothing flash but will suffice nicely as a casual walkaround lens. I have plenty of vintage glass that I'm eager to get on this camera and try out, it will be a great upgrade over my much loved but now semi retired 450D. Going over the manual it seems that enabling aperture changes on the barrel isn't one of the settings I can add to a user profile. Hope I'm wrong since having one profile for manual lenses and another for modern auto lenses would be useful rather than having to dig into the menus to enable/disable according to lens would be a slight nuisance.
There is a great article on setting up K50s that I either found here or on the Pentaxians facebook page. My thanks to whoever set it up, it will be very handy this weekend as I go on and customize the camera.

Hal55

**clackers** · 05-11-2016, 01:51 AM

Originally posted by hal55

. Hope I'm wrong since having one profile for manual lenses and another for modern auto lenses would be useful rather than having to dig into the menus to enable/disable according to lens would be a slight nuisance.

Not sure you understand that setting, Hal.

Enable it once, leave it that way forever. ☺

05-07-2016, 07:13 PM	#1
hal55 Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 66	K50 reliability issues?? I've sold some stuff on ebay and finally have funds to buy a new camera. The K50 is the one I'm looking at, NIB ones are still available, BUT there have been enough reliability postings about this camera to have me concerned. Plenty of people seem to have had issues with them, even within a year of purchase, and the cost of repair to one seems in most cases to be close to new price. Does anyone have stats on how many are developing faults? The camera ticks all the boxes I need (I shoot with manual film era lenses) but the the box labelled "reliable will last for years and years" is a big, big box and it's not ticked as yet. On a cosmetic front, wanting to get a white one just to be different, but how well, or not, do conventional black lenses look on this body and does the white body show dirt/scuffs/marks too easily? Thanks, I never thought replacing my reliable old Canon 450d would prove so difficult. Hal55

05-07-2016, 10:55 PM	#6
clackers Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Melbourne Photos: Albums Posts: 16,397	I've had and used the virtually identical K-30 for years. Take up Adam's suggestion of the extended warranty if you wake up in the middle of the night with a premonition about the aperture mechanism. Last edited by clackers; 05-08-2016 at 12:00 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
K50 metering issues	wingspan	Pentax K-30 & K-50	6	03-23-2016 05:57 AM
Focus indicator cause issues in Manual mode on K50?	McEric	Troubleshooting and Beginner Help	11	07-04-2015 07:56 PM
K50 and Lightroom white balance issues	jphil2	Pentax K-30 & K-50	12	12-14-2014 07:35 AM
K50 Screwmount Metering Issues: Green Button Meters in LV but not in VF	Relativity	Pentax K-30 & K-50	5	01-31-2014 10:17 AM
6x7 > PK Adapter reliability issues...	JohnBee	Pentax Camera and Field Accessories	5	07-05-2010 01:54 PM

05-07-2016, 07:15 PM	#2
pepperberry farm amateur dirt farmer Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: probably out in a field somewhere... Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 41,678	no worries here - I used my K-50 for a little over a year and over 10K shutter actuations with not a single issue... it's still here as a backup to my K-3...

05-07-2016, 07:19 PM	#3
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,595	The K-50 has been a pretty popular camera, so keep that in mind when looking at user reports. While failure is unlikely it looks like aperture related issues can develop. I'd recommend getting the 3 year warranty for $50. That way if anything breaks, you're covered and you'll be sure to get your money's worth! My K-50, from the initial production batch, is still working like new

05-07-2016, 07:36 PM	#4
KiloHotelphoto Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Glen Mills, PA Photos: Albums Posts: 1,030	I've had a white k-50 for about a year and a half with no problems at all. Seem to be a solid little camera. I do have to wipe it down every so often to clean up some dirt marks on it but it cleans up nice, I just use a wet rag.

05-07-2016, 10:48 PM	#5
Alex645 Site Supporter Join Date: May 2015 Location: Kaneohe, HI Photos: Albums Posts: 3,526	My son has had his K-50 for nearly 2 years and attends school in freezing cold Rochester, New York, comes home to humid hot Hawaii for summers, and has taken it on a trip to Northern India (high altitude and cold), Iceland, and is presently studying abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland. Knock on wood, no issues. I also have four high school students who shoot with the K-50 (3 black bodies, 1 white) and none of them have had problems other than two were dropped and damaged their lens. I've found every camera has its flaws, but for the price I highly recommend the K-50 (if the K-3 is out of your price range). And even when comparing with the K-S2, I'd rather put my money into lenses than the body.

05-07-2016, 11:44 PM	#7
carlb Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 1,162	I've got two K50's and a K30. I'm not a high mileage user but I haven't had a problem in 3 years of usage. Great camera for the price

05-08-2016, 12:59 AM	#8
surfar Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: mid nth coast,nsw Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,141	RED K50s shoot faster, and having 2, its warp speed.My partner has the white and I gave her 2 black lenses and they look fine.Silver lenses look great on the Red, blacks ok too.One of mine is 2 years old, the other about 4 months( had to buy it too cheap for what it does).No issues yet!

05-08-2016, 01:15 AM	#9
esrandall Closed Account Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Sumner, WA Photos: Albums Posts: 965	Definitely get the extended warranty. I had the aperture block failure issue at about the 11 month mark. That was at around 10k on the shutter. I put another 5k on the shutter before I sold it, and never another issue. Great camera, but there have been enough issues that the warranty is a good idea, and it's reasonable in price (even though they've raised that price. Or, you could look at a few more bucks, and pickup a KS-2. I enjoyed the KS-1 as a backup, and the KS-2 feels way better in the hands. The 20MP sensor is really good, not to mention all of the other great features. Just a thought. And regarding the white body, my K-50 was a stormtrooper, and I had zero issues with wear or marks on that white body. Great looking camera, especially with the Limited primes

05-08-2016, 01:45 AM - 1 Like	#10
hal55 Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 66 Original Poster	Situation all resolved somewhat out of the blue. The Australian Pentax importer put the last fifteen NIB K50s, all black, up on eBay at a very good price and I scored the second last one. Warranty is two years and I'll see about a further extension. Since I'd sold surplus lenses beforehand my net cost was only a hundred. Looking forward immensely to getting it and getting some modern auto lenses as well.

05-08-2016, 07:49 AM	#11
tgchan Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Poland, Radom Posts: 277	A very happy ex K-50 user here. Not a single problem with my camera. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1716539861957078.1073741851.1399391007005300&type=3 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1638898946387837.1073741850.1399391007005300&type=3 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1542177989393267.1073741848.1399391007005300&type=3

05-08-2016, 04:17 PM	#12
ramseybuckeye Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Hampstead, NC Photos: Gallery Posts: 17,292	Originally posted by hal55 Situation all resolved somewhat out of the blue. The Australian Pentax importer put the last fifteen NIB K50s, all black, up on eBay at a very good price and I scored the second last one. Warranty is two years and I'll see about a further extension. Since I'd sold surplus lenses beforehand my net cost was only a hundred. Looking forward immensely to getting it and getting some modern auto lenses as well. That's awesome, you'll love it.

05-09-2016, 12:55 PM	#13
ohmic314 New Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 18	I'm one of the (hopefully) few people who had an aperture failure within a few months of having the camera. Despite the warranty service being horribly bad and how early the item broke, I am still on the "recommend" boat. The main reason is because the price/performance tradeoff is great. It takes as good of pictures as many more expensive cameras, and the weatherproofing is great. I've taken photos in downpours without a worry. Dust or sand? Psh. Having a good yet (relatively) inexpensive camera that I can use anywhere is such a wonderful feeling. As for people suggesting extended warranties, I recommend you look at your credit card before you purchase a 3rd party one. My visa signature card doubles the 1 year warranty for free, so effectively I have a 2 year warranty. Is it worth the money to extend the warranty one more year beyond that? That's up to you. P.S. Some may ask if my abuse of my camera led to it's early failure... and my comment is I don't think so. The warranty service found the camera had no water or physical damage and this failure is a very common issue (with respect to types of failures).

05-11-2016, 01:11 AM	#14
hal55 Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 66 Original Poster	Thanks to everyone for their input, it is much appreciated.The camera has arrived and I'm hopefully picking up a Sigma 18-125 DC this weekend, I know its nothing flash but will suffice nicely as a casual walkaround lens. I have plenty of vintage glass that I'm eager to get on this camera and try out, it will be a great upgrade over my much loved but now semi retired 450D. Going over the manual it seems that enabling aperture changes on the barrel isn't one of the settings I can add to a user profile. Hope I'm wrong since having one profile for manual lenses and another for modern auto lenses would be useful rather than having to dig into the menus to enable/disable according to lens would be a slight nuisance. There is a great article on setting up K50s that I either found here or on the Pentaxians facebook page. My thanks to whoever set it up, it will be very handy this weekend as I go on and customize the camera. Hal55

05-11-2016, 01:51 AM	#15
clackers Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Melbourne Photos: Albums Posts: 16,397	Originally posted by hal55 . Hope I'm wrong since having one profile for manual lenses and another for modern auto lenses would be useful rather than having to dig into the menus to enable/disable according to lens would be a slight nuisance. Not sure you understand that setting, Hal. Enable it once, leave it that way forever. ☺