[zerodaze]

Arrgh! My K-7 was delivered today; I promptly fully charged the battery, read the manual and... and... am completely frustrated. The fully charged battery and new SD card and DA* 18-55 lens were installed. I followed the instructions to set language, time and hometown and everything was fine. When I pushed the shutter button, the mirror/shutter mechanism goes into a rapid-fire beat, with no picture. ANY button or switch I touch forces this click-click-click and will continue as long as the button is pushed. Nothing seems to help (reformating the card, resetting default settings, etc.). This is my first digital SLR and am a neophyte. Surely someone on this forum can help this hot Arizonan.

Of course, I meant the DA* 16-50. LeDave, thanks for catching...

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Last edited by zerodaze; 08-02-2009 at 08:08 AM.

[LeDave]

Wow nice first DSLR man. I'm pretty sure you meant DA * 16-45, unless you meant DA 18-55. If you only press the shutter button to cause this then I think it might be on continuous mode, but if you press any button and it does it I think something might be wrong. And I don't know if the picture doesn't show up being wrong or not but on my K-m/K2000 I've turned off the quick preview after shooting something. I could be wrong since I don't own a K-7 or know all that much about it so maybe someone who has one can help.

[rawr]

Hmm. My first thought was you may be confusing the buzz of the dust reduction feature at startup with the shutter. But if any button you press fires off the shutter, that's not it.

My other first impression was also power/ battery related - but if it's a new battery, and you can only put it in one way, that's also not likely to be an issue.

What happens if you dismount the lens, then try powering the camera up, and shooting off the shutter? Does the same thing happen on a lenseless body? Or try mounting another lens. This will at least identify whether the issue is lens/ lens contact related, or isolated to the body.

[Peter Fang]

Hmm. My first thought was you may be confusing the buzz of the dust reduction feature at startup with the shutter. But if any button you press fires off the shutter, that's not it.

The K-7 uses a new type of dust removal which is similar to the way Olympus has been using, so there's no click sound at all when you use dust removal or during start-up. It's a huge difference from the K10D/K20D.

[zerodaze]

The problem does persist when the lens is removed. No picture displays on the LCD.

[inferno10]

Try updating the firmware to 1.01. If the problem still persists, then it's possible that the shutter button is stuck in a depressed state.

[dopeytree]

Wow nice first DSLR man. I'm pretty sure you meant DA * 16-45, unless you meant DA 18-55. If you only press the shutter button to cause this then I think it might be on continuous mode, but if you press any button and it does it I think something might be wrong. And I don't know if the picture doesn't show up being wrong or not but on my K-m/K2000 I've turned off the quick preview after shooting something. I could be wrong since I don't own a K-7 or know all that much about it so maybe someone who has one can help.

Correction there is no DA* 16-45mm there is a DA* 16-50mm f/2.8 SDM Lens or a DA 16-45mm f/4 Lens.

Camera Lens - Official PENTAX Imaging Web Site

Sorry to be pesimistic

[zerodaze]

Firmware has been updated to 1.01 - problem persists. I will try Pentax customer service tomorrow. Very frustrating to have this problem out of the box. Am appreciative for everyone's advice and support.

[nostatic]

Firmware has been updated to 1.01 - problem persists. I will try Pentax customer service tomorrow. Very frustrating to have this problem out of the box. Am appreciative for everyone's advice and support.

Where did you buy it? If a unit is DOA it usually is a return/exchange with the retailer.

[zerodaze]

Purchased from Adorama. They have a 14 day return policy and this item was purchased July 23 (although arrived July 30). The Pentax packing inserts included a "Do Not Return This Product To Your Dealer" with Pentax contact info. What would you do with a seemingly defective product in this case?

[Wheatfield]

Purchased from Adorama. They have a 14 day return policy and this item was purchased July 23 (although arrived July 30). The Pentax packing inserts included a "Do Not Return This Product To Your Dealer" with Pentax contact info. What would you do with a seemingly defective product in this case?

Return it and get another one.
Adorama sold a DOA, let them deal with it.

[bogiesbad]

I would contact Adorama first. One of their customer service reps is a member here: Helen Oster. Sorry to hear of your plight...must be very frustrating.

[zerodaze]

I spoke with Pentax customer service this morning and the representative indicated that this shutter/mirror problem is something he hasn't heard about before and he suggested I try things I have tried several times already (primarily reset to default settings). His suggestion was to return to Adorama for an exchange, but he did offer that I could return directly to Pentax and have it repaired under warranty.

I phoned Adorama and the customer service rep told me to return it to Adorama for an exchange. She then emailed me a return UPS label - everything prepaid. I am not an Adorama rep and don't own stock, but I am pleased with their handling of this obviously defective machine - so far at least!

I thank all of you for your advice and support. Now I just wait for the replacement.

[jimby]

I phoned Adorama and the customer service rep told me to return it to Adorama for an exchange. She then emailed me a return UPS label - everything prepaid. I am not an Adorama rep and don't own stock, but I am pleased with their handling of this obviously defective machine - so far at least!

That's as it should be from any reputable camera store. Both Adorama and B&H earn their reputations on how they handle the inevitable problems, which is why they get my business.

[Mike.P®]

Sorry to be pesimistic

I think you mean pedantic.