[LeDave]

o_o sounds like bad luck. I basically dumped my gx-10 into a bucket of water (literally) and nothing happened.
For $670 USD, you could get another K20D!Why fix if you can get new? Or you can just get the K-7!

I agree, why pay that much? Are they mad? That's a little MORE than a price of a brand new K20D body!

[pentaxmz]

Pics or it didn't happen

And to the Op, I hope you can get it fixed somehow! condolences for the camera.

Remind me later and I promise I will post a picture. I think I already have a picture of it... if not, the camera is in storage about 2500 miles away but I intend to retrieve it this coming December.

[pentaxmz]

I agree, why pay that much? Are they mad? That's a little MORE than a price of a brand new K20D body!

RE: My Sony story.

Sony reviewed my camera and sent it back, stating that it was beyond economical repair. And this was a $3K camera! It's ridiculous that Pentax wanted to charge that much to repair a K20D.

[Peter Zack]

Fine, fine.... perhaps I was a bit too harsh, however, I still maintain that these cameras are not as water proof as some Pentaxian's want others to believe.

For the occasional rain splatter the Pentax K20D and K7 offer more protection than perhaps any camera under $1000.00..... However, I doubt that the differences in weather proofing between the K20D/K7 and the Canon D50 make any difference in real world conditions.

Like I said many times, if you value your Pentax, don't test it's weather proofing, keep it away from liquids!

This is not a negative comment about Pentax, but rather, a pragmatic one.

BTW, this come from experience with a 'weather proofed' canon video camera that didn't survive a very light grapefruit juice spill. The camera partially works but most of the controls no longer function and the LCD screen is upside-down. The weirdest result of that ever since, the LCD screen also displays a sad face! I'm not joking!

Never mind the warranty, things like this are NEVER covered.

Wrong period. Add a WS lens and you have a tight weatherproof package. I have shot in some terrible conditions on a number of occasions. Pouring rain blowing snow and for hours at a time. It's not made for swimming but it certainly is no marketing gimmick.

[Peter Zack]

I'm sorry for the OP's loss but agree with Gus. What a great unit for MF use on screwmount lenses. Put in a split screen and keep enjoying the camera.

[pentaxmz]

Wrong period. Add a WS lens and you have a tight weatherproof package. I have shot in some terrible conditions on a number of occasions. Pouring rain blowing snow and for hours at a time. It's not made for swimming but it certainly is no marketing gimmick.

The Pentax K20D and K7 are NOT weatherproof! They are weather resistant! There is a significant enough legal and practical difference in the terminologies.

And (I thought it went without stating) but these cameras are only as weather resistant as the weakest link. How many of us have WS lenses? By WS, you do mean WR, right?

For certain, the lens that came with my K20D kit is not weather resistant.

I stand by my original statement, it idea of weather resistant gives a false sense of security; the bottom line is, try to avoid liquids if possible. That is all I was emphasizing and there is nothing incorrect about that!

BTW, How the heck to you shoot in pouring rain? If the lens gets wet, it can't focus... the optical properties of those tiny raindrops scattered on the lens will ensure that.

[jamesm007]

Pics or it didn't happen

And to the Op, I hope you can get it fixed somehow! condolences for the camera.

They are 100% for sure as weather-proof or WR, but dust is much more able to get in than rain and these things are 'dust proof' as we say and Pentax says. Download the GX10 service manual, and have a look, there is not one place water could enter, the amount of sealing and engineering is very serious indeed. Have a look at this site.

K20D : Digital SLR Cameras : PENTAX

The K20D or GX10 have much greater sealing than a Canon 40D its not the same level of sealing and then over marketed. They are air tight! I have seen pics of people who left their WR lens on a camera and went on a flight came home and the viewfinder was cracked not from abuse but from the air pressure on the glass; the K10 was able to hold air long enough to cause an air differential sufficient to break the glass. I have done tons of research on this and its for real. What would make you a believer is the service manual. The front and rear dials are seriously sealed, the doors, the seams are all sealed, the bottom tripod mount the hole where the latch for the built in flash is sealed down below in its own box, the Pentax WR models retain WR even with the flash up! Many, many people have ventured into harsh weather with no problems at all, only a very few cases have been reported with water leaking in. And only one with a WR lens on the camera.

I have used my GX10 in pouring rain all day. I just bought the WR kit lens for my K20D and put it to the test. They passed being rained on for an hour with not a single microscopic drop of water found pass any of the seals that I could find. This is with me not wiping the camera and using it in hard rain. I also pointed my garden hose up, and let the water fall like rain and gave my K20D and WR kit lens a soaking. No problem and they are working fine. No water got in at all. Like I said its kinda hard to believe unless you have seen the schematic and pics of the camera being disassembled, then you will believe




Here I put it on the roof of a 12 story building with heavy rain and wind

For about an hour I let it get soaked using the camera and lens now and then


Here is a couple pics from the service manual, it shows you step by step with pics on how to take apart the GX10 (they show a K10D though) and put it back together. Plus it has an exploded view with all part numbers. There are thousands of parts in these things. Anyways I don't mean to be loud about it or anything, but if someone had the book and looked they would not hesitate to do what I did I am into this type stuff, how things are made, and how well.

This pic also shows how thick and well made the fiber reinforced polycarbonate front shell is. There is so much WR built into these things I can't post so many pics, but hope you get some idea

---

Last edited by jamesm007; 07-25-2009 at 09:53 PM.

[Rondec]

I thought the K100D didn't have weather sealing? I know the K110D doesn't, and I thought the only difference between that and the K100D was the shake reduction?

It doesn't -- that is my point -- that the K10/K20 have easily withstood weather exposure that sent my K100 to the yard sale pile. If weather sealing didn't work, my K10 would be there too.

[Peter Zack]

The Pentax K20D and K7 are NOT weatherproof! They are weather resistant! There is a significant enough legal and practical difference in the terminologies.

And (I thought it went without stating) but these cameras are only as weather resistant as the weakest link. How many of us have WS lenses? By WS, you do mean WR, right?

For certain, the lens that came with my K20D kit is not weather resistant.

I stand by my original statement, it idea of weather resistant gives a false sense of security; the bottom line is, try to avoid liquids if possible. That is all I was emphasizing and there is nothing incorrect about that!

BTW, How the heck to you shoot in pouring rain? If the lens gets wet, it can't focus... the optical properties of those tiny raindrops scattered on the lens will ensure that.

Ok yes they may be classed as weather resistant (most likely for legal reasons). But in practical terms they are capable of taking most of what mother nature throws at them. You can't go underwater of course.

I'm not discussing this point from my armchair. I shoot upwards of 3000 frames a week from May til October. Rain or shine, the Pentax is out there making money. Between that and the SR is why I haven't switched brands. I've considered it a few times for better high ISO's but the K20D is pretty good 95% of the time for that.

As for focusing in pouring rain? MF. It's not an issue at all. I built a couple of foam extended hoods to slip on the DA* hood and extend the front element protection from rain drops. I shoot a little wider to avoid vignetting and just crop the image. Works fine.

Yes you should avoid bad conditions if you can but I use my cameras for work. July has been a horrible month for rain in the East Coast of N America and I've easily shot 4000 images in rain and drizzle. The gear has taken it with flying colours. For one thing it has impressed a number of wedding guests and at the last one I did, there was a university prof who teaches a photo course. He had his Nikon 300 there (he was also in the bridal party), he took his camera inside at the first hint of rain. It started to rain and he suggested it was time to take cover. I said no, we could keep on shooting and he was very surprised I would. We continued for an hour more with the B&G using an umbrella, except when I hit the shutter. They like their shots and he got an education on how tough a Pentax with the correct lens can function in bad weather.

Oh and I shot with the flash as well. A plastic bag and it's still firing!

A little rain ain't gonna hurt:

[rindler]

Was using the DA14mm at the time, so the lens didn't have weather sealing, but it's hard if not impossible to say where the water entered the camera.

The AF motor is still working, but is hunting, and the symbol for "in focus" is working, so it feels like a minor problem. Can't really understand why they have to change the main electronics.

Just have prime lenses, so it's not really a big deal using them as MF, but it would be interesting to know what Pentax mean when they talk about weather sealing. Pentax in Sweden say that the K20D stand "a lot of water, but you cannot drown it". And, for sure my camera was never under water, even though it got a lot of water from above.

[Peter Zack]

The water came in through the lens mount. Since the lens isn't sealed to the body, there's room for water to get in. It only takes a drop to fry a circuit board that has water shorting a couple of contacts that have power running through.

Sorry to say and a warning to others, but using the camera without the correct Ws lens in conditions like you described, wasn't a good move. The lens wasn't designed for water exposure and could easily be damaged as well. You risk, at the least water spots inside or fungus later and at the worst, corrosion and damage to the internal circuit board of the lens.

Have you tried another lens? Do they all react the same on the body?

[rindler]

I know, it's my bad. Just a stupid decision to bring the camera that day. Same problem with the other lenses.

The question now is just if waiting to fix the camera would cause any more damage? Can anything more than the main electronics and the upper flexblock broke when using it like it is now?

Otherwise I have to get back to my MZ-S and the dark room, yey.

[jamesm007]

I know, it's my bad. Just a stupid decision to bring the camera that day. Same problem with the other lenses.

The question now is just if waiting to fix the camera would cause any more damage? Can anything more than the main electronics and the upper flexblock broke when using it like it is now?

Otherwise I have to get back to my MZ-S and the dark room, yey.

The AF module is at the very bottom of the mirror chamber. If you look inside down below the mirror there is a small well with the AF module. So water came in and soaked the module. I say let it dry a bit more than clean the AF module. If the modules eyes got wet and are now fogged or scummy it could be why its hunting. Flip up the mirror in sensor cleaning mode and have shot at cleaning the little lens down there with with a Q-Tip, There is not much harm you can do, but let some dust get on the sensor that you will have to clean, however you need. But at this point its worth a try. It seems everything is working but the AF module lens may have just gotten a bit dirty. I have read of this problem before. Its at the very bottom of the mirror chamber with a smooth path for water leaking in past the lens mount to get to. I hope its this simple. Let us know.

link help you find it: number 7 is the AF module, clean 6 as well its the mirror behind the big mirror the bounces light to the AF Mod
http://kmp.bdimitrov.de/technology/AF/safox_1.jpg

[rindler]

Flip up the mirror in sensor cleaning mode and have shot at cleaning the little lens down there with with a Q-Tip, There is not much harm you can do, but let some dust get on the sensor that you will have to clean, however you need.

Thanks for the advice. Will try that. Just a dry q-tip, or do I need any magical cleaning agent?

[jamesm007]

very small amount of lens cleaner should do it, good luck.