[Cerebum]

Are we getting a picture yet as to what percentage of K70s are affected by aperture block? And is there a point after which it was sorted? I know the K30/50 were 30% but I need to advise someone re. K70

[MarkJerling]

Are we getting a picture yet as to what percentage of K70s are affected by aperture block? And is there a point after which it was sorted? I know the K30/50 were 30% but I need to advise someone re. K70

Have a look at this thread: K-70 Underexposed Photo Reports - PentaxForums.com

[UncleVanya]

Are we getting a picture yet as to what percentage of K70s are affected by aperture block? And is there a point after which it was sorted? I know the K30/50 were 30% but I need to advise someone re. K70

I've never known of claims to have accurate counts of the k30/50 series failures. Where did that data come from?

[photoptimist]

I know the K30/50 were 30% but I need to advise someone re. K70

Where did that figure come from?

I seem to recall figures that were only on the order of 10%. The numbers are probably even lower than that given the natural bias that people with a failed camera are more likely to participate in polls on camera failure than are people with a working camera.

Finally, every camera from every brand on the market has some leading cause(s) of early failure. Nothing on the market has a guaranteed long-life although some cameras may be more or less likely to have a long life.

[Cerebum]

Don't say that, I was quite content being part of a larger group of unlucky people (my K30 died) I always assumed 30% was the level. Like you said, people with a beef are more likely to comment so it probably is less. That would be the reason why Pentax didn't take responsibility. OK, I will tailor my advice I have a KP and a K3 now so everything is right with the world

[The Squirrel Mafia]

Who knows how many K-30/50 bodies were affected. In my case it would be 100% since both my K-50s failed. I fixed them myself by replacing the "green" solenoids with "white" ones & they've been trouble free since. Mind you that they both failed with very high actuations (+-25,000). They were used a lot & it didn't even matter. It seems that low actuation K-30/50 bodies have a high failure rate from not being used.

In the case of the K-70, we're probably going to see less failures, since Ricoh had the "green" solenoid slightly modified. But even though Ricoh made a slight change to the solenoid, it still doesn't resolve the faulty part 100%. It's going to be a matter of luck with that camera, but my guess is that there will be less failures in the long run.

Would I buy a K-70? Nope. I'd just skip right on to the KP if I were desperate for a Pentax APS-C camera at this moment. I'm not, so I'll be waiting for that upcoming APS-C flagship.

[HoutHans]

I really can't image that 30% was the number. There would need to be far more complaints about this, if only on this site. Anyway, it's always good to see that the world's alright now!

[Cerebum]

I really can't image that 30% was the number. There would need to be far more complaints about this, if only on this site. Anyway, it's always good to see that the world's alright now!

There were a lot of complaints

[reh321]

Where did that figure come from?

I seem to recall figures that were only on the order of 10%. The numbers are probably even lower than that given the natural bias that people with a failed camera are more likely to participate in polls on camera failure than are people with a working camera.

Finally, every camera from every brand on the market has some leading cause(s) of early failure. Nothing on the market has a guaranteed long-life although some cameras may be more or less likely to have a long life.

I don't know what the actual count is, but I believe it was much higher than usual, so 30% sounds "good", as likely to be low as to be high. My K-30 slowly gave up ..... but I was able to get the KP slightly afterwards. I still consider my K-30 to be a "working camera", since its bag now has several film-era aperture-ring-equipped lenses. Before I became a Pentax user again, I had two Canon Rebels fail, apparently processor issues which is not 'recoverable', so I most certainly do agree with the "consumer-build" issue, but I feel that the issue with K-30/50 is worse than you portray it as.

[Cerebum]

I don't know what the actual count is, but I believe it was much higher than usual, so 30% sounds "good", as likely to be low as to be high. My K-30 slowly gave up ..... but I was able to get the KP slightly afterwards. I still consider my K-30 to be a "working camera", since its bag now has several film-era aperture-ring-equipped lenses. Before I became a Pentax user again, I had two Canon Rebels fail, apparently processor issues which is not 'recoverable', so I most certainly do agree with the "consumer-build" issue, but I feel that the issue with K-30/50 is worse than you portray it as.

I think 30% has been quoted in several of the aperture block threads, that's where I got it from but I don't have facts although, four in this thread alone ..... thankfully the issue doesn't kill the camera, it merely alters its state and you still get lovely stuff with a manual lens

[reh321]

There were a lot of complaints

I didn't complain when the aperture control failed with my K-30 - I just dealt with it. I had enough warning that I was carrying the FA 28-105mm lens in my bag for several months before it became a real issue { when it first started, it was 'only' the first picture of each day}.

[Cerebum]

I didn't complain when the aperture control failed with my K-30 - I just dealt with it. I had enough warning that I was carrying the FA 28-105mm lens in my bag for several months before it became a real issue { when it first started, it was 'only' the first picture of each day}.

That's what you call being prepared. Did you have a second camera at the time? When mine went I took the decision to have it repaired and serviced at a cost of over £200 for both. Two weeks later a K3 with 415 actuations fell into my lap. At £275 it was too good to miss but it did mean I needn't have spent the money on the K30! Although I did carry on using the K30 until I got my KP a few months ago at which point I sold it on. It really was a great camera

[stevebrot]

Are we getting a picture yet as to what percentage of K70s are affected by aperture block? And is there a point after which it was sorted? I know the K30/50 were 30% but I need to advise someone re. K70

Have a look at this thread: K-70 Underexposed Photo Reports - PentaxForums.com

The short answer is that for reports gleaned from posts here on Pentax Forums along with follow-up communications, the numbers for the period 9 Oct 2018 through today* are as follows:

Confirmed aperture control failure 11 reports

Confirmed aperture block failure 4 reports

Confirmation of aperture block failure is based on service invoice or successful repair with user-replaced solenoid or diaphragm control block. The actual number may be as higher due to lack of information regarding several of the 11 known cameras with aperture control failure.


Steve

* 26 months

[stevebrot]

I think 30% has been quoted in several of the aperture block threads

For the K-30/K-50, 30% sounds like a conservative and defensible estimate, though if it were lower, I would not be surprised either.


Steve

[reh321]

That's what you call being prepared. Did you have a second camera at the time? When mine went I took the decision to have it repaired and serviced at a cost of over £200 for both. Two weeks later a K3 with 415 actuations fell into my lap. At £275 it was too good to miss but it did mean I needn't have spent the money on the K30! Although I did carry on using the K30 until I got my KP a few months ago at which point I sold it on. It really was a great camera

My only backup when I started the K-30 adventure was my Q-7, which really did serve as my backup, but the K-30 was always reliable beyond the n-th shot, where ‘n’ slowly increased. As you can see from my signature photo, I kept the K-30, which remains reliable .... as long as I use it with a lens which can control its own aperture and does not need the body for that.