K10D Auto focus died

gmcotton · 01-18-2009, 09:20 PM

Before I send email and camera off to Pentax, has anyone else on here had the autofocus die?
I was taking some photos as I was leaving Fort Lauderdale last weekend when suddenly the camera would not autofocus. I was using my Sigma 18-200 at the time and thought perhaps the lens motor had given out. Tried my 18-55, 28-105, 80-320 all with the same result.

As I am an old school photographer, lack of autofocus doesn't bother me too much, but it made it difficult when my wife wanted to use the camera. The only thing I can spot on the body is that one of the contacts on the mount seems to be depressed. It is the third from the left when looking at the body with the lens removed. Not having studied this area all that much before I am not sure if that is normal or not.

Any thoughts?

Oh and yes, the AF-S / AF-C / MF switch is in the AF position when it will not autofocus.

quattro · 01-18-2009, 10:02 PM

that depressed pin is normal, so it must be something else.

inferno10 · 01-18-2009, 10:13 PM

This is a last ditch effort, but have you tried to reset to factory defaults?

gmcotton · 01-18-2009, 10:49 PM

Yes, I tried doing reset and so far nothing. I will download the firmware tomorrow and install it again as well.

gmcotton · 01-19-2009, 05:12 AM

Well reloaded the 1.30 firmware and still the same thing. Not looking good, so I guess it will be off to the repair centre.

**Canada_Rockies** · 01-19-2009, 11:01 AM

Originally posted by gmcotton

Well reloaded the 1.30 firmware and still the same thing. Not looking good, so I guess it will be off to the repair centre.

Have you tried cleaning the contacts with isopropyl alcohol and a micro fiber cloth? Does the problem happen with only one lens?

gmcotton · 01-19-2009, 11:58 AM

No, I haven't tried cleaning the contacts as of yet. Joys of traveling and not having everything with me. No autofocus with any of my AF lenses.

**Canada_Rockies** · 01-19-2009, 12:36 PM

Bummer. It's not likely the contacts are your problem. I suggested it because my copy of the 50-135 DA* is very sensitive to the slightest hint of maybe having seen dirt within the last 20 years - or so it seems. I have to clean contacts almost every time I use it.

johnny_rino · 01-19-2009, 02:27 PM

Hi Gmcotton,

My autofocus died on my K10D in November. It kept making an electronic whizzing noise but not able to focus.

Luckily I had it covered by insurance as it was outside it's warranty. Sent it off and it came back working in perfect order! I was fortunate as I had a second body because it took 6 weeks!!

Vylen · 01-19-2009, 02:43 PM

Originally posted by johnny_rino

Hi Gmcotton,

My autofocus died on my K10D in November. It kept making an electronic whizzing noise but not able to focus.

Luckily I had it covered by insurance as it was outside it's warranty. Sent it off and it came back working in perfect order! I was fortunate as I had a second body because it took 6 weeks!!

covered by insurance? like home and contents insurance? or something else? how does that work?

awo425 · 01-19-2009, 02:50 PM

Is it hunting, but can not obtain focus, or just not engaging AF motor at all?

johnny_rino · 01-19-2009, 03:37 PM

Hi Vylen,

I took out extended warranty, lost/stolen and accidental damage insurance at time of purchase. It put a 10% premium on the total purchase and was for a 3 year term.

Spyder · 01-19-2009, 03:48 PM

I had something similar happen over Christmas, it was working fine and then all of a sudden AF stopped. It would just shift the focus a tiny fraction and then the give up and flash the green hexagon in the viewfinder like it was really dark, even though I was outside in some nice sunshine.

I put the lens into MF mode (had the bigma on the camera at the time) while leaving the body on AF and spun the focus motor for a second, then put the lens back into AF mode and it's worked fine since. Still not sure what happened in the first place.

amoringello · 01-19-2009, 03:48 PM

Likely not related but jst in case... my camea did not correctly auto-focus for about one week while I was on vacation. When I got back the focus was again perfect. (just my luck).
I cannot explain why it came back but one thing I did do was swap out batteries.

I have not had the opoutunity to do an extended test with he other set to make sure that was indeed the cause/fix. But someone mentioned that to me and the issues "seemed" to be resolved about that time.

Just something to try if you do have another set, or if you have a grip, swap the batteies.

gmcotton · 01-19-2009, 06:35 PM

Originally posted by awo425

Is it hunting, but can not obtain focus, or just not engaging AF motor at all?

It is not engaging the AF motor at all. It is very strange, I was taking photos of the shoreline as the ship was heading south out of port. All working fine and then poof the camera would not focus.

To amoringello, I have the grip on and have 6 batteries. Have swapped batteries, charged batteries, grip on grip off and still the same. Thanks for the suggestion though.

01-18-2009, 09:20 PM	#1
gmcotton New Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Moncton, NB Canada Posts: 15	K10D Auto focus died Before I send email and camera off to Pentax, has anyone else on here had the autofocus die? I was taking some photos as I was leaving Fort Lauderdale last weekend when suddenly the camera would not autofocus. I was using my Sigma 18-200 at the time and thought perhaps the lens motor had given out. Tried my 18-55, 28-105, 80-320 all with the same result. As I am an old school photographer, lack of autofocus doesn't bother me too much, but it made it difficult when my wife wanted to use the camera. The only thing I can spot on the body is that one of the contacts on the mount seems to be depressed. It is the third from the left when looking at the body with the lens removed. Not having studied this area all that much before I am not sure if that is normal or not. Any thoughts? Oh and yes, the AF-S / AF-C / MF switch is in the AF position when it will not autofocus.

01-19-2009, 06:35 PM	#15
gmcotton New Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Moncton, NB Canada Posts: 15 Original Poster	Originally posted by awo425 Is it hunting, but can not obtain focus, or just not engaging AF motor at all? It is not engaging the AF motor at all. It is very strange, I was taking photos of the shoreline as the ship was heading south out of port. All working fine and then poof the camera would not focus. To amoringello, I have the grip on and have 6 batteries. Have swapped batteries, charged batteries, grip on grip off and still the same. Thanks for the suggestion though. Last edited by gmcotton; 01-19-2009 at 06:58 PM.

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01-18-2009, 10:02 PM	#2
quattro Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 45	that depressed pin is normal, so it must be something else.

01-18-2009, 10:13 PM	#3
inferno10 Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: San Francisco, California Posts: 342	This is a last ditch effort, but have you tried to reset to factory defaults?

01-18-2009, 10:49 PM	#4
gmcotton New Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Moncton, NB Canada Posts: 15 Original Poster	Yes, I tried doing reset and so far nothing. I will download the firmware tomorrow and install it again as well.

01-19-2009, 05:12 AM	#5
gmcotton New Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Moncton, NB Canada Posts: 15 Original Poster	Well reloaded the 1.30 firmware and still the same thing. Not looking good, so I guess it will be off to the repair centre.

01-19-2009, 11:01 AM	#6
Canada_Rockies Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Sparwood, BC, Canada Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,385	Originally posted by gmcotton Well reloaded the 1.30 firmware and still the same thing. Not looking good, so I guess it will be off to the repair centre. Have you tried cleaning the contacts with isopropyl alcohol and a micro fiber cloth? Does the problem happen with only one lens?

01-19-2009, 11:58 AM	#7
gmcotton New Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Moncton, NB Canada Posts: 15 Original Poster	No, I haven't tried cleaning the contacts as of yet. Joys of traveling and not having everything with me. No autofocus with any of my AF lenses.

01-19-2009, 12:36 PM	#8
Canada_Rockies Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Sparwood, BC, Canada Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,385	Bummer. It's not likely the contacts are your problem. I suggested it because my copy of the 50-135 DA* is very sensitive to the slightest hint of maybe having seen dirt within the last 20 years - or so it seems. I have to clean contacts almost every time I use it.

01-19-2009, 02:27 PM	#9
johnny_rino New Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Downpatrick, Northern Ireland Posts: 21	Hi Gmcotton, My autofocus died on my K10D in November. It kept making an electronic whizzing noise but not able to focus. Luckily I had it covered by insurance as it was outside it's warranty. Sent it off and it came back working in perfect order! I was fortunate as I had a second body because it took 6 weeks!!

01-19-2009, 02:43 PM	#10
Vylen Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Sydney, Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,262	Originally posted by johnny_rino Hi Gmcotton, My autofocus died on my K10D in November. It kept making an electronic whizzing noise but not able to focus. Luckily I had it covered by insurance as it was outside it's warranty. Sent it off and it came back working in perfect order! I was fortunate as I had a second body because it took 6 weeks!! covered by insurance? like home and contents insurance? or something else? how does that work?

01-19-2009, 02:50 PM	#11
awo425 Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: NYC, USA Posts: 481	Is it hunting, but can not obtain focus, or just not engaging AF motor at all?

01-19-2009, 03:37 PM	#12
johnny_rino New Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Downpatrick, Northern Ireland Posts: 21	Hi Vylen, I took out extended warranty, lost/stolen and accidental damage insurance at time of purchase. It put a 10% premium on the total purchase and was for a 3 year term.

01-19-2009, 03:48 PM	#13
Spyder Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: West Sussex, UK Posts: 62	I had something similar happen over Christmas, it was working fine and then all of a sudden AF stopped. It would just shift the focus a tiny fraction and then the give up and flash the green hexagon in the viewfinder like it was really dark, even though I was outside in some nice sunshine. I put the lens into MF mode (had the bigma on the camera at the time) while leaving the body on AF and spun the focus motor for a second, then put the lens back into AF mode and it's worked fine since. Still not sure what happened in the first place.

01-19-2009, 03:48 PM	#14
amoringello Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Virginia, USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,562	Likely not related but jst in case... my camea did not correctly auto-focus for about one week while I was on vacation. When I got back the focus was again perfect. (just my luck). I cannot explain why it came back but one thing I did do was swap out batteries. I have not had the opoutunity to do an extended test with he other set to make sure that was indeed the cause/fix. But someone mentioned that to me and the issues "seemed" to be resolved about that time. Just something to try if you do have another set, or if you have a grip, swap the batteies.