[Wheatfield]

Now you come to mention it, I do recall those issues, though I wasn’t personally impacted by them. Given the heritage of the AF system, the same problems must have afflicted the K-7 and K20D (maybe the K10D, as well).

I recall at the time that they had done something new to the AF in the K5 that had exactly the opposite effect of what it was supposed to have. The K10, K20 & K7 had the typically slow and low light sensitive AF that was typical of Pentax at the time, but those cameras had relatively colour blind AF. I don't recall having the very high percentage of focus misses in the studio with those cameras that I had with the K5. Fortunately, the face detect in liveview worked fairly well.

---------- Post added Jul 3rd, 2019 at 10:13 AM ----------

I had forgotten the various issues that were reported with the K-5 as I didn't own one. When I was researching Pentax options to replace my K100D, it seemed like the K-5 II & IIs were head and shoulders better than the K-5. I also found anecdotal evidence that Hoya pushed the K-5 out the door too soon and a lot of refining effort went into the later II and IIs.

I wish they had done something beyond the K-01 although I don't think that camera is "buggy" like the K-5 was.

The K5II was what the K5 could have been had there been adults in the room. Given the vagaries of the issues with the K5, I'm pretty sure Hoya both pushed it out the door too early to try to get some ROI on their investment, and also shopped the electronic components to the lowest possible bidder. My understanding was that if you got a good one, it was golden.

---------- Post added Jul 3rd, 2019 at 10:18 AM ----------

I had forgotten the various issues that were reported with the K-5 as I didn't own one. When I was researching Pentax options to replace my K100D, it seemed like the K-5 II & IIs were head and shoulders better than the K-5. I also found anecdotal evidence that Hoya pushed the K-5 out the door too soon and a lot of refining effort went into the later II and IIs.

I wish they had done something beyond the K-01 although I don't think that camera is "buggy" like the K-5 was.

I believe the K-01 was a Ricoh, not a Hoya build. To me, the K-01 was a failure because it lacked a viewfinder and had ugly (to me) ergonomics. I was pretty disparaging at the time about what was in Pentax's head to let someone who designs ugly furniture design a camera for them. For me, the K1 was like one of his ugly chairs, not nice to look at and not comfortable to use.

---

Last edited by Wheatfield; 07-03-2019 at 09:20 AM.

[stevebrot]

Are there any Pentax models in production or recently discontinued that are, to be kind, less than adequate? If so, a short explanation. Please, no battles!

Please, no battles? The nature of your question is to generate complaints and reports of cameras that did not meet expectations!

Now to your question.

The short answer is that in the twelve years or so that I have been shooting Pentax digital, there are no models that fail to meet their specification. Do all models have specifications to meet every need? No. Do people buy cameras that do not meet their needs? Yes. Are there any models that I would not recommend because of inadequate features? They all do the basics.

Going further...are there models that owners have felt were more trouble-prone or whose features were inadequate to task than others? The short answer is yes. Have I owned any of those models or had friends that have owned such? The answer is yes. Is it useful to make a short list? I think I will skip.


Steve

[pres589]

Well under a year between Hoya's announcement to sell Pentax to Ricoh and the camera coming out in 2012. I doubt they did the engineering and design work of the K-01 in under eight months. If they had given it a firmware specific to that camera (and not shared with DSLR's) and an EVF and then not made it look like a child's toy, it might have been pretty great. And not very similar to what we actually got.

[normhead]

Was it the K-3 that had the run away shutter thing? Although mine hasn't done it for years. I'm pretty sure my K-1 did it a few times as well.

[stevebrot]

Was it the K-3 that had the run away shutter thing? Although mine hasn't done it for years. I'm pretty sure my K-1 did it a few times as well.

Runaway mirror* on the K-3 and then only on early production through summer of 2014. The early production cameras may be sent in for a low-level bios reflash of the mirror control board to fix, though most owners of those cameras have been happy with the detect-abort behavior offered by firmware update v1.11.


Steve

* The shutter was not affected. I am not sure it even opened! My 2013-production K-3 has done it once in five years of ownership.

[BigMackCam]

Was it the K-3 that had the run away shutter thing? Although mine hasn't done it for years. I'm pretty sure my K-1 did it a few times as well.

Runaway mirror* on the K-3 and then only on early production through summer of 2014. The early production cameras may be sent in for a low-level bios reflash of the mirror control board to fix, though most owners of those cameras have been happy with the detect-abort behavior offered by firmware update v1.11.


Steve

* The shutter was not affected. I am not sure it even opened! My 2013-production K-3 has done it once in five years of ownership.

I've had this on my K-3 two or three times (three, I think) in all the time I've owned it (since 2014)... the last couple of times halted by the v1.11 firmware, so no problem. I've also had the camera lock up completely and need the battery taking out, and I think that's happened twice in that time. Considering the complexity of the device, if that's the kind of stability and reliability I can expect, I'm more than satisfied.

[monochrome]

Please, no battles? The nature of your question is to generate complaints and reports of cameras that did not meet expectations!

Now to your question.

The short answer is that in the twelve years or so that I have been shooting Pentax digital, there are no models that fail to meet their specification. Do all models have specifications to meet every need? No. Do people buy cameras that do not meet their needs? Yes. Are there any models that I would not recommend because of inadequate features? They all do the basics.

Going further...are there models that owners have felt were more trouble-prone or whose features were inadequate to task than others? The short answer is yes. Have I owned any of those models or had friends that have owned such? The answer is yes. Is it useful to make a short list? I think I will skip.


Steve

Yes, this does seem to have devolved into a rehash of the very few and very limited production problems on Pentax dSLR’s since 2012. IMO there have not been bad Pentax dSLR’s. There have been a few questionable design decisions as I noted above (K-011, K-S12) but even those cameras work well - as designed - and produce excellent image files.

1 I was entranced by the K-01, pre-ordered one and I still like it and use it. I think the design is edgy and interesting. Why do cameras always have to be black blocks? The minor AF issue on low contrast subjects in poor light and lack of an EVF don’t bother me at all.

2 IMO this one missed the mark from a marketing/design standpoint, but Pentax didn’t do the body design. A California industrial design company was engaged to design the shell and marketing campaign. I bought one for $75 used just to see what the truth is - and I wasn’t at all impressed with the ergonomics and operating logic but the images can be stupendously good.

There’s an intersting (perhaps apocryphal) story told by a Member who was invited to view and handle a pre-production but finished version of the K-S1. The LED’s were featured as a major selling point for the target demographic. He noted that the LED’s on the grip were covered by the right hand when holding the camera. The design team was silent for an uncomfortably long period, then the lead designer said, “We never thought of that.”

The KS-2 is a better iteration of the same basic camera.

---

Last edited by monochrome; 07-04-2019 at 07:05 AM.

[Just1MoreDave]

I nominate the K110D. The sensor was fine, the same Sony 6Mp used in several other models. But it didn't have SR, available on the K100D. I can see buyers glazing over looking at camera specs, not knowing that SR was important.

[landofcourtness]

I've also had the camera lock up completely and need the battery taking out, and I think that's happened twice in that time.

This doesn't happen all of the time... but this does happen to my K-1 sometimes. I think there's a problem with the grip connection (or a battery thing, maybe that's it), because I don't think I've experienced it with the battery in the camera. I can't seem to replicate it on command, and not sure if the circumstances that it does happen are similar/consistent. Insight?

$75 for any camera above 8MP is a steal!!

[photogem]

I am amazed nobody nominated the K-r?!

Question is what defines bad?

Almost every DSLR was great during its time except:
- K110D: without SR it was almost the same than the earlier *ist DL/DL2 but with better AF (allthough AF-sensititivy was worse) and it was larger and heavier.
- K-500: not really worth to save money, the K-30 then was cheaper and better
- K-01: I never would want to use it as a sole body but I still like the design and the idea.


But really bad:
- K-r because it had problems one couldn't solve if they happened: Mirror flop (I had it!)

As far as I can tell this was due to an error: They took the powersupply of the K-x which was for AA-batteries only.
The K-x anyway needed well chosen AA's such as Eneloops and one had to chose Ni-Mh in the menu for battery-type.
The same design was used for the K-r but it was delivered with the first D-LI109! Most people including me had it set on automatic for battery detection which was not a good idea.
One should have used it only with AA's

The sensors of the K20D and K7 were not the best, the K5 was a huge step forward, an amazing step, the sensor stains in first production run not a fault of Pentax but Sony and it was solved.

- K30/50/500: Not bad at all, quite the opposite, but the handling of the solenoid problem was very bad.


- K-S1: I know it was not that well received by many, but actually: It was in its way an outstanding body:

I know quite a few young ones who loved the color-variety and thus bought Pentax instead of other brands!

But most remarkable:

It was one the smallest DSLR bodies ever.

The equivalent Canon Rebel was small as well and not bad but it lacked many features of the K-S1,

particular AF Sensors. Even the SL3 was larger (but lighter as a body alone).

Well: Those Canons lack SR, screwdrive-motor and ability to use good old glass such as Pentax A-lenses (without adapter!)


Last not least: The K-S1 is THE ONLY DSLR body for people with really small hands. With a DA50 or A50/2,8 macro or DA40 it is very small and ... just great.
Also very well built, I had a few to repair. For those with really small hands the K-S2 or K-70 are not an easy option, the K-S1 was outstanding in that respect.

Pre-DSLR:

- MZ-Series: Plastic and plastic gear which failed all-too-often (except MZ-S which had a metal gear)


Zero interesting to me:

- Q-Series

[BigMackCam]

^^^ Excellent summary

Zero interesting to me:

- Q-Series

Understood... and yet, for many here, an extremely valued and versatile camera. I often choose my Q7 over my DSLRs because I can (and do) get great image quality from small camera with excellent lenses that I can comfortably carry all day. Whether the Q-series has value is subjective and unique to the individual... For those that "get it", though, it's rightly held in high esteem

[Jonathan Mac]

I had forgotten the various issues that were reported with the K-5 as I didn't own one. When I was researching Pentax options to replace my K100D, it seemed like the K-5 II & IIs were head and shoulders better than the K-5. I also found anecdotal evidence that Hoya pushed the K-5 out the door too soon and a lot of refining effort went into the later II and IIs.

I wish they had done something beyond the K-01 although I don't think that camera is "buggy" like the K-5 was.

Before my last upgrade (to a K-3) I strongly considered a K-5II but ruled out the K-5 due to the reported focusing problems in tungsten light. I'm glad I went wit the K-3 but I'm still curious about what it's like to use one of the K-5 models. I lot of people seem to really like them.

Was it the K-3 that had the run away shutter thing? Although mine hasn't done it for years. I'm pretty sure my K-1 did it a few times as well.

This wasn't just the K-5, but from what I remember it was maybe worse on that model. It's happened to my K-3 just once.

[Dartmoor Dave]

I have to disagree with those who are saying that some of the earliest Pentax DSLRs were bad cameras because they didn't have SR. I've got an *ist DL2, which is the most basic DSLR that Pentax ever made, and I love it. No SR mechanism means that it's amazingly light for a DSLR, and after all I got by fine without SR for three decades of shooting film.

And here's another heresy for you: when you're shooting with manual lenses, it can be easier to focus using a pentamirror camera than one with a pentaprism. Of course the pentamirror is slightly darker, but the viewfinder image "pops" into focus more obviously than it seems to with most pentaprisms. At least to my eyes.

I'd like to put in a good word for the K-S1 too. I use mine with a small prime for almost all my snaps of family and friends, plus the free work that I do for a charity, and it delivers excellent results. And as for the styling: it's the only DSLR I've ever used that has made random strangers ask me what camera I'm using, and almost always in a positive way. Women in particular seem to love it.

So if you need a big butch camera to feel like a man, you'll hate the K-S1. For those of us who don't feel any need to prove anything with the cameras we use, I can recommend it wholeheartedly.

[Lowell Goudge]

in terms of a "bad" camera. i seriously dobt any of the current line up is Bad,

i would be wary of some of the entry level cameras with respect to the aperture block failure issue, which has hurt them from a reliability point of view, but otherwise, they are all good,

[luftfluss]

Well: Those Canons lack SR, screwdrive-motor and ability to use good old glass such as Pentax A-lenses (without adapter!)

Canon has been making lenses with motors for over 30 years and there are literally hundreds of AF lenses compatible with entry-level Canon bodies. In fact, Canon was making these lenses while Pentax was still making "A" glass.