is my K10 dead?

Bob83 · 01-01-2010, 04:17 PM

Hi!

i've just developed a problem with my K10 and i'm looking for suggestions.

i pulled it out the other day and all the pictures were bright pink.
i checked a few things, and found it is actually recording a pink photo onto the card.
it stopped doing it for a day or 2, but i went out last night and some of them were pink again.

last night i took about 100 photos and got maybe 8 pink ones. Initially the pink was consistant over the whole frame, last night i got a few with pink bands across the frame.

Has anyone seen this before? is there anything i can try? or is it a matter of sending in for repairs?
i'm in Australia, so is that CR Kennedy?

The other thing that concerns me is that i have a trip in Feb which i really need the camera for. does anyone know the service turnaround time in Australia?
if its not back by mid Feb i might have to buy a second body

Thanks

Jadran · 01-01-2010, 06:14 PM

Have you tried swaping SD cards? Could be faulty memory card.

Bob83 · 01-01-2010, 08:50 PM

Hi!

yes, i've swapped cards. however the fault has proved intermittant so i haven't been able to prove if the card swap has fixed anything. i'll take a heap more pics today and report back with any more info.

Bob83 · 01-01-2010, 09:24 PM

well, i just got it out again, and same problem from the first shot. intermittant pink photos.
so as a troubleshooting excercise i removed the grip, changed batteries, cleaned lens contacts and took a series with several lens'. didn't really expect this to do much, but its worth checking.
i'm fairly convinced its in the body itself. i've just pulled the batt out and am going to leave it out for a bit. anyone know if there is any kind of reset i can do?

damn shame really. i like my K10 and its not that old (9000 shots or so)

-Joe- · 01-02-2010, 01:28 AM

I know it wont help.. but I sent my camera in for repair in the US.. It took 7 weeks, I finally complained to both Pentax and c.r.i.s. and got it back 2 days after complaining that 7 weeks was entirely too long for a repair and no communication.

I will find it hard to buy another pentax camera after this, unless I find some other means of warranty repairs.

Jadran · 01-02-2010, 01:57 AM

Bob83, maybe you could try to conntact Pentax service first and explain the problem before sending camera for repair. This realy sounds like memory card write problem, but I guess it could be that camera is faulty.

Bob83 · 01-15-2010, 03:29 AM

well, the answer seems to be 'Yes'
(to the original 'is it dead? question)

fixable, yes. economic? seems not really.
got a quote, just over the price of a K-x new.
needless to say, i'm not too happy about that.
Does anyone have experiences with the price of repairs? aparently the sensor has failed.

so, assuming they are NOT ripping me off (and i'm not yet convinced) i'm at the point of shopping for a new body.

the K10 lasted only 9700 shots and less than 3yrs despite me being really careful with it.

anyone know if there is anywhere in Australia other than CR Kennedy that can fix out-of-warranty pentax?

if not, sending it overseas to be told (probably) the same thing seems over kill.

anyone have any suggestions on what next?

to complicate things, i'm going on holidays in about 4 weeks. i need to decide if to try and afford a new K7 etc by then or try to find an ist or K100 etc to get me through and save up for the new one later.

sigh!

xxDavexx · 01-15-2010, 05:14 AM

Originally posted by Bob83

to complicate things, i'm going on holidays in about 4 weeks. i need to decide if to try and afford a new K7 etc by then or try to find an ist or K100 etc to get me through and save up for the new one later.

sigh!

I think you've answered your own question there. Here in the US, I severely doubt that you'd get your camera back from repair in less than 6 weeks (and that's without international shipping). And the repair price was about the same as buying a refurbished K10d elsewhere.

Anyone in Oz selling a refurbished K10d? Here in the US you can find them at bestbuy.com, but I don't know if they ship outside the US.

KansasHorizons.com · 01-15-2010, 01:12 PM

Switch batteries first, Mine did that at the zoo last summer and I thought the K10 had bought the farm, I switched out the battery for some reason and the problem was fixed. I had later recharged and retried that battery with the same results so ended up pitching it and have never had the issue since.

Bob83 · 01-22-2010, 03:55 AM

Hi all!

i got it back today. unrepaired.

it has absolutely no sign of being opened, so i can't help wondering if the tech was extra careful or just didn't bother.

i've just tried taking a heap of photos with the remote assistant program (as it doesn't use, or even need a SD card)
same issue. about 10% of photos are pink, or have lines.
until i can afford a new body i'll have to make sure i take a few extra shots of everything just in case .

so i guess i now HAVE to afford a K7.
no, i'm not sad about having a K7, its just the timing sucks.

BobRad · 01-23-2010, 07:27 PM

I had a similar problem with my K10D, except all the pictures were either purple or green. The US Pentax repair contractor quoted me a price of $390 to fix it. I ultimately decided to go with the K-x, which is the point of this posting. I loved my K10D, but have found the K-x to be a suitable replacement. Money was not an issue, but I put the money I saved by not going with a K-7 toward a Pentax 12-24mm lens. If you don't need or plan to use the extra bells and whistles on the K-7, than you may be happy with the K-x. I am.

j0n4hpk · 01-27-2014, 06:29 PM

If you still have the K10D, do you remember if the problem began to happen after a firmware update? At least try the following:

Check firmware revision currently in camera and note it
Reload previous firmware revision and test
Update to next, not latest, revision after the one the camera has, then test it

If it doesn't work, there may be a remote possibility: was there a powerful source of radio waves nearby when issue happened? I hope that this still can help you.

AquaDome · 01-27-2014, 06:45 PM

I have never disassembled a K-10, but I have seen similar behavior in other cameras wherein a ribbon cable has shifted in its connector. If one of those conductors looses a portion of its conductivity due to shifting or contamination of the contact, you can see an intermittent problem whenever the resistance of the connection crosses a certain threshold. The sensor itself is a semiconductor. Semiconductors do fail, but as a rule, they fail completely without lingering like this one.

Or, perhaps your K-10 is moonlighting as an infrared camera?

tromboads · 01-28-2014, 12:55 AM

Yeah post some shots.

**i_trax** · 01-28-2014, 05:07 AM

c'mon guys this thread is 4 years old!
Bob83 probably has K-3 by now.............

01-01-2010, 04:17 PM	#1
Bob83 Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 32	is my K10 dead? Hi! i've just developed a problem with my K10 and i'm looking for suggestions. i pulled it out the other day and all the pictures were bright pink. i checked a few things, and found it is actually recording a pink photo onto the card. it stopped doing it for a day or 2, but i went out last night and some of them were pink again. last night i took about 100 photos and got maybe 8 pink ones. Initially the pink was consistant over the whole frame, last night i got a few with pink bands across the frame. Has anyone seen this before? is there anything i can try? or is it a matter of sending in for repairs? i'm in Australia, so is that CR Kennedy? The other thing that concerns me is that i have a trip in Feb which i really need the camera for. does anyone know the service turnaround time in Australia? if its not back by mid Feb i might have to buy a second body Thanks

01-15-2010, 03:29 AM	#7
Bob83 Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 32 Original Poster	Yes. well, the answer seems to be 'Yes' (to the original 'is it dead? question) fixable, yes. economic? seems not really. got a quote, just over the price of a K-x new. needless to say, i'm not too happy about that. Does anyone have experiences with the price of repairs? aparently the sensor has failed. so, assuming they are NOT ripping me off (and i'm not yet convinced) i'm at the point of shopping for a new body. the K10 lasted only 9700 shots and less than 3yrs despite me being really careful with it. anyone know if there is anywhere in Australia other than CR Kennedy that can fix out-of-warranty pentax? if not, sending it overseas to be told (probably) the same thing seems over kill. anyone have any suggestions on what next? to complicate things, i'm going on holidays in about 4 weeks. i need to decide if to try and afford a new K7 etc by then or try to find an ist or K100 etc to get me through and save up for the new one later. sigh!

01-15-2010, 01:12 PM	#9
KansasHorizons.com Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Kansas Photos: Gallery Posts: 183	Switch the Battery Switch batteries first, Mine did that at the zoo last summer and I thought the K10 had bought the farm, I switched out the battery for some reason and the problem was fixed. I had later recharged and retried that battery with the same results so ended up pitching it and have never had the issue since.

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01-01-2010, 06:14 PM	#2
Jadran Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Zagreb Photos: Albums Posts: 105	Have you tried swaping SD cards? Could be faulty memory card.

01-01-2010, 08:50 PM	#3
Bob83 Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 32 Original Poster	Hi! yes, i've swapped cards. however the fault has proved intermittant so i haven't been able to prove if the card swap has fixed anything. i'll take a heap more pics today and report back with any more info.

01-01-2010, 09:24 PM	#4
Bob83 Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 32 Original Poster	well, i just got it out again, and same problem from the first shot. intermittant pink photos. so as a troubleshooting excercise i removed the grip, changed batteries, cleaned lens contacts and took a series with several lens'. didn't really expect this to do much, but its worth checking. i'm fairly convinced its in the body itself. i've just pulled the batt out and am going to leave it out for a bit. anyone know if there is any kind of reset i can do? damn shame really. i like my K10 and its not that old (9000 shots or so)

01-02-2010, 01:28 AM	#5
-Joe- Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: KY Photos: Gallery Posts: 47	I know it wont help.. but I sent my camera in for repair in the US.. It took 7 weeks, I finally complained to both Pentax and c.r.i.s. and got it back 2 days after complaining that 7 weeks was entirely too long for a repair and no communication. I will find it hard to buy another pentax camera after this, unless I find some other means of warranty repairs.

01-02-2010, 01:57 AM	#6
Jadran Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Zagreb Photos: Albums Posts: 105	Bob83, maybe you could try to conntact Pentax service first and explain the problem before sending camera for repair. This realy sounds like memory card write problem, but I guess it could be that camera is faulty.

01-15-2010, 05:14 AM	#8
xxDavexx Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: NC Photos: Albums Posts: 26	Originally posted by Bob83 to complicate things, i'm going on holidays in about 4 weeks. i need to decide if to try and afford a new K7 etc by then or try to find an ist or K100 etc to get me through and save up for the new one later. sigh! I think you've answered your own question there. Here in the US, I severely doubt that you'd get your camera back from repair in less than 6 weeks (and that's without international shipping). And the repair price was about the same as buying a refurbished K10d elsewhere. Anyone in Oz selling a refurbished K10d? Here in the US you can find them at bestbuy.com, but I don't know if they ship outside the US.

01-22-2010, 03:55 AM	#10
Bob83 Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 32 Original Poster	Hi all! i got it back today. unrepaired. it has absolutely no sign of being opened, so i can't help wondering if the tech was extra careful or just didn't bother. i've just tried taking a heap of photos with the remote assistant program (as it doesn't use, or even need a SD card) same issue. about 10% of photos are pink, or have lines. until i can afford a new body i'll have to make sure i take a few extra shots of everything just in case . so i guess i now HAVE to afford a K7. no, i'm not sad about having a K7, its just the timing sucks.

01-23-2010, 07:27 PM	#11
BobRad Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Maryland Posts: 80	I had a similar problem with my K10D, except all the pictures were either purple or green. The US Pentax repair contractor quoted me a price of $390 to fix it. I ultimately decided to go with the K-x, which is the point of this posting. I loved my K10D, but have found the K-x to be a suitable replacement. Money was not an issue, but I put the money I saved by not going with a K-7 toward a Pentax 12-24mm lens. If you don't need or plan to use the extra bells and whistles on the K-7, than you may be happy with the K-x. I am.

01-27-2014, 06:29 PM	#12
j0n4hpk Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ohio Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 293	If you still have the K10D, do you remember if the problem began to happen after a firmware update? At least try the following: Check firmware revision currently in camera and note it Reload previous firmware revision and test Update to next, not latest, revision after the one the camera has, then test it If it doesn't work, there may be a remote possibility: was there a powerful source of radio waves nearby when issue happened? I hope that this still can help you.

01-27-2014, 06:45 PM	#13
AquaDome Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: New Carlisle, IN Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,475	I have never disassembled a K-10, but I have seen similar behavior in other cameras wherein a ribbon cable has shifted in its connector. If one of those conductors looses a portion of its conductivity due to shifting or contamination of the contact, you can see an intermittent problem whenever the resistance of the connection crosses a certain threshold. The sensor itself is a semiconductor. Semiconductors do fail, but as a rule, they fail completely without lingering like this one. Or, perhaps your K-10 is moonlighting as an infrared camera?

01-28-2014, 12:55 AM	#14
tromboads Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Melbs Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,240	Yeah post some shots.

01-28-2014, 05:07 AM	#15
i_trax Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Perth Western Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,621	c'mon guys this thread is 4 years old! Bob83 probably has K-3 by now.............