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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 12-15-2010, 07:42 AM  
Got the replacement K-5 back today!
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 3
Views: 2,199
I got a call from my local distributor today telling me they have the replacement K-5 for me to pick up. Although I was extremely busy today I still went to their office in the afternoon as they are located only one bus stop away from my office.

There it was, inside my original packaging there wast the new replacement camera along with a new warranty card. My old (affected) K-5 has an S/N of 3827xxx and the new one is 3905xxx. I borrowed their 18-55 and did a quick test in their office, shooting a piece of white paper and could not see any issues on the LCD after zooming in. I also cannot see similar stain signs by looking at the sensor/AA filter surface directly with the aid of the LED flash on my iPhone 4.

I did a more "proper" white LCD screen test on my home computer tonight and couldn't find any problems either. Looks like I got a good one back. By the way this replacement is already on Firmware 1.01 out of the box.

Although I had to send back my old K-5 and waited about two weeks for the new one. My conclusion is still the same: the K-5 is a wonderfully balanced camera and quite possibly the best Pentax has produced in the digital age in my opinion. The fact that Pentax could quickly replace bodies with this issue is a sign of improved customer service and response. I hear affected users in Shanghai are also getting called in to pick up their replacements today. So it seems they're dealing with this problem in a timely fashion, in China at least.

I hope other affected users get their replacements soon. Christmas is just around the corner and you don't want to be without a camera!

Best,

Peter
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 12-06-2010, 10:11 PM  
Some K-5s shipped with stains on the sensor/AA filter?
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 292
Views: 75,583
Mine was 3827XXX. I think at least two users who responded to my dpr forum thread claimed to have K-5's with serials in the 3900XXX range.

Peter
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 12-06-2010, 08:49 PM  
Advanced Stainology
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 96
Views: 33,344
My original speculation was that it could be some kind of tools that are used to pick up the parts in the assembling line. Almost every case reported so far have the stains or particles at or near the center so it's not some random locations.

Peter
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 12-05-2010, 11:09 PM  
Advanced Stainology
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 96
Views: 33,344
Hi Falk,

Many thanks for providing us with such an insightful analysis. I think we can now be quite certain about where the dusts/particles/stains are located and it eliminates the possibilities of cleaning them from the outside. This also sort of echoes some preliminary feedback from some local distributors that the stains were not on the outer surface of the AA filter and thus they cannot clean it easily for their customers.

I will give my distributor a call today or tomorrow and see if they have any updates from Pentax.

Peter
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 12-03-2010, 10:54 PM  
Some K-5s shipped with stains on the sensor/AA filter?
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 292
Views: 75,583
I tried using Pentax's O-ICK1 sensor cleaning kit but it did not improve the situation at all. In fact I can't even be sure if the stains were on the outer side of the AA filter. I did not dare to use other methods to try cleaning it, fearing that I may cause my own scratches.

A few users who returned their units to the Shanghai distributor were told by the engineers there that it was between the CMOS and the AA filter. The engineers tried to remove the AA filter but said they couldn't due to a change of design since the K-5. It is possible that the AA filter is assembled differently compared with the Samsung sensor used by the K20D/K-7.

I will wait for updates from my distributor. I know them rather well and I believe they will let me know whatever verdict that comes out of Pentax.

Peter
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 12-03-2010, 10:37 PM  
Some K-5s shipped with stains on the sensor/AA filter?
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 292
Views: 75,583
It's funny that you mentioned RH's blog. I actually said in the Chinese discussion thread yesterday that since the issue were reported by a few Hong Kong users already, I wondered why RH hasn't picked it up yet. And the next morning, I saw him linking the same thread in his new blog article!

Peter
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 12-03-2010, 10:01 PM  
Some K-5s shipped with stains on the sensor/AA filter?
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 292
Views: 75,583
Hi Everyone,

It was only during the past week that I noticed this: A few users who purchased the first batch of K-5s in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan have posted to Chinese language forums about signs of stains they found on the sensor or the AA filter of their K-5s. The situation quick accelerate to a state that more than twenty people now have claimed to have observed this issue and a majority of them have posted sample images to forums. Some of these users have already taken their cameras back to the distributors. It looks like Pentax is aware of the issue and will replace the affected bodies free of charge after some simple tests.

I had been extremely busy for the past week but I was curious after reading all those local discussions. So I did my own test and I did find out that my K-5 also has stains near the center of the image sensor or the AA filter although I cannot tell exactly where the stains are. I used an LED flashlight and looked at the sensor directly with the mirror up and I could see a small trait of dirt (around 1.5mm long) near the center. It looks a little bit like the leftover of adhesive material when you peel off a sticker but didn't do it right. This could be introduced during the assembling process at the factory.

My test process is as follows: K-5 with the FA31 Limited, I started testing from f/8 and went all the way through f/22. I pointed the camera at a blank white page of my 27" iMac LCD and focused to infinity so the LCD just served as a uniformed white light source. I can start seeing the stains (just barely) at f/11 and it becomes quite visible at 100% view at f/22. Here's how it looks at f/11 and f/22 (100% crops):

f/11:

http://petefang.smugmug.com/Images-from-reviews-and-tests/Pentax-K-5-Samples...55_4zzp8-O.jpg

f/22:

http://petefang.smugmug.com/Images-from-reviews-and-tests/Pentax-K-5-Samples...75_Q8TT3-O.jpg

To put things in perspective, here's a 1920x1280 downsized version of the whole f/22 image, if you look carefully you can find the stains near the center, slightly to the lower right direction:

http://petefang.smugmug.com/Images-from-reviews-and-tests/Pentax-K-5-Samples...94_wkjwa-O.jpg

Let me be clear that those stains are not the same as dusts on the outer side of the AA filter. Dusts appear as bigger, rounder and more out-of-focus in the images and can be easily cleaned by using the dust removal function or an air blower. Some Chinese users reported they had their K-5s tested at a distributor in Shanghai and were told the stains were not on the outer side but in between the sensor and the AA filter, therefore hard to be cleaned easily.

So to sum up, I haven't noticed this in real world images in the few weeks after I purchased the K-5, partly because I almost never use apertures smaller than f/11. I probably won't notice anything in the future either in my real world use of the camera. Based on the recommendation from my distributor, I still sent my K-5 back to them and see how it turns out. I encourage other K-5 owners to conduct a similar test and see if you can find similar signs of stain. Will this affect your everyday photography? Probably not. Does this make the K-5 a problematic camera? No. The K-5 is still the most balanced picture-taking tool that Pentax has produced in the digital age. I think the likely outcome of this is Pentax exchange affected bodies for new units and as soon as they find what was causing this in the manufacturing process I am sure we won't see more cases of this issue.

As a reference, this is the Chinese discussion thread that chronicles this issue very thoroughly:

ÅųýÕù³³ ×ܽáÌÖÂÛ PENTAX±öµÃK-5ÎÛµãÎÊÌâ Çë¸÷·½Ó¸ÒÃæ¶Ô - ÎÞ¼ÉÂÛ̳

Let us know if you have similar issues but don't let this small issue stop you from enjoying taking pictures with this wonderful camera. Nobody shoots blank walls everyday. emoticon - smile

Best,

Peter
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 01-02-2010, 07:35 AM  
Pentax marketing mistake :0
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 34
Views: 13,711
Well that's not really marketing any more, that's more like telling the truth. :p
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 12-27-2009, 11:45 PM  
New "silent" K7 firmware...
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 24
Views: 9,438
As far as I know "Fine Sharpness 2" has nothing to do with the SR issue. It is simply a different set of sharpening profile, just a bit more aggressive compared with the existing Fine Sharpness one.

Peter
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 12-27-2009, 07:51 AM  
New "silent" K7 firmware...
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 24
Views: 9,438
I am sure there are some K-7 users that had occasionally encountered slightly blurry images when viewed at 100% with SR enabled and at faster shutter speeds. I first saw this when I was using an external flash, some of the images turned out to have a bit of "motion blur" effects but it's not easy to detect if not viewed at 100% on a computer. As I looked deeper into this, I found that this issue happens more often when the shutter speed is at or near 1/180s. At this speed, using a lens like the FA*28-70/2.8 or the DA*55/1.4 doesn't really need SR to kick in, but somehow SR was in action and caused the minor blur effect. In live view this never happens, only in regular shooting mode. If I turn off SR, the images will be tack sharp. This has caused me to turn off SR when using an external flash and in bright lighting when I am sure SR is not necessary.

I have been too busy to write about this in here but I have asked a few K-7 owners that I know in person and all but one could reproduce this issue. I had used the K10D, K20D, K200D and K-m previously and none of them had this issue.

Today I saw this "secret" firmware upgrade and decided to give it a go. Since I installed this 1.02.00.16 over my previous 1.02.00.14 version, I have yet to be able to reproduce this issue on my K-7. Having SR on or off at 1/160s shutter doesn't seem to make any difference any more.

Therefore I'd like to ask K-7 users here who have encountered the SR inconsistency issue to re-download this 1.02 release and give it a try.

It seems to have cured it for me so far but I'd like to hear other people's experience. If this was one of the fixes contained in this secret release, I have to say I am not fond of this kind of communications with customers by Pentax. If there's a bug (an important one this is too) we deserve to know when it is fixed.

Peter
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 08-02-2009, 04:37 AM  
K-7 shutter/mirror problem
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 15
Views: 5,593
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.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 07-14-2009, 06:31 AM  
K-7 + Rapid Fire = Corrupt images
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 9
Views: 3,761
After different kind of issues with A-Data and Transcend SD cards in the past I had decided to go exclusively with Sandisk Extreme III cards two years ago. I've never had a single issue ever since.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 07-08-2009, 08:28 AM  
Picked up my K-7 today (ISO 1600 image inside)
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 15
Views: 3,933
I edited the links in my first post, do they work now? Thanks.

Peter
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 07-08-2009, 08:18 AM  
Picked up my K-7 today (ISO 1600 image inside)
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 15
Views: 3,933
Hi everyone,

I was supposed to pick up the K-7 on Monday but I had to make a short trip to Shanghai and didn't get back until late last night so it had to wait.

This morning I got my K-7 back and did a few test shots in doors. Here's one of the ISO 1600 shots I tried with the A* 85/1.4 lens. Image mode was natural, High ISO NR is set to OFF. AWB. I used live view to assist manual focus and found that with the much-improved resolution of the LCD it's quite easy to do MF now. This is a 1920x1280 downsized version of the **** JPEG original. No further processing except downsizing in CS4.

http://www.pbase.com/pfang/image/114746175/original

Here's the 100% crop:

http://www.pbase.com/pfang/image/114746437/original

I think at High ISO NR Off this is actually cleaner than the K20D could deliver although I don't have the K20D any more so I can't make a side-by-side comparison.

By the way, I tried using the K-7 to take photographs of my colleagues and every time after I asked them to pose and took the picture, I would be asked "did you take the shot?" because they couldn't really hear the shutter sound at about three meters away. This says something about how quiet the K-7 shutter is! :lol:

Best,

Peter
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 06-01-2009, 03:51 AM  
K-7 probably has the most quit shutter mechanism of all DSLR's
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 44
Views: 11,779
I guess you're right about the mirror size but good dampening also counts here. I think Pentax did a good job sealing the sound on the K-7 on top of a new quieter, well damped shutter / mirror mechanism. When I played with the K-7 engineering sample, I tried listening to the shutter sound with no lens attached and the sound was a bit louder, more on the "crisp" side. But when a lens is mounted, the overall sound was quieter and pleasing to the ears. :)

Peter
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 05-31-2009, 07:24 PM  
From China with love - beta K-7 + FA31
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 17
Views: 5,300
The blogger, whose initials is YJP, is a Pentax Shanghai employee. These new baby pics were taken with a K-7 (0.20 firmware) and the FA 31 Limited lens.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 05-31-2009, 02:37 AM  
K-7 probably has the most quit shutter mechanism of all DSLR's
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 44
Views: 11,779
I handled an Olympus E-1 many years ago, I was using the *ist D at the time. I remembered the E-1 to be extremely quiet. When I tried the K-7 engineering sample I was very pleasantly surprised by the quiet shutter / mirros slap sound. I'd like to compare it with the E-1 side by side if there's a chance.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 05-25-2009, 12:30 AM  
D-BG4 photos?
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 65
Views: 22,234
I'd be surprised if the grip uses the same magnesium alloy outer shell. I guess it's similar material as the D-BG2 but I don't have any hard info. Just my guess.

Peter
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 05-24-2009, 06:31 PM  
D-BG4 photos?
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 65
Views: 22,234
From this angle, it appears that the D-BG4 has added so much in "depth", I guess that's what it takes to accommodate six AA batteries...

http://www.digitalcamera.jp/html/HotNews/image/2009-05/24/K7-026-L.jpg

And from the side:

http://www.digitalcamera.jp/html/HotNews/image/2009-05/24/K7-020-L.jpg

This shows how big the grip is compared with the compact size of the K-7 body:

http://www.digitalcamera.jp/html/HotNews/image/2009-05/24/K7-007-L.jpg
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 05-22-2009, 04:22 AM  
My first impressions of the Pentax K7
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 52
Views: 15,612
I was most pleasantly surprised by the K-7's much quieter shutter / mirror slap sound when I tried the engineering sample. This could be near the top of my reasons to get a K-7, although I'd love to be surprised by the AF performance of a production version. With firmware 0.20 I really couldn't properly evaluate AF, metering and image quality.

Peter
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 05-20-2009, 06:52 AM  
Possible Major Constraint on the 1/180s X-Sync Limitation
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 177
Views: 21,507
Yes, if I recall correctly, the D70 was the first one to use this kind of "hybrid shutter" for faster X sync speed.

Peter
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 05-20-2009, 04:03 AM  
No AF- adjustment in K7 ?
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 6
Views: 3,896
You can choose not to trust me, I won't mind at all. ;)

K-7's AF fine-tuning looks exactly like the K20D's, at least on the 0.20 firmware I tried.

Peter
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 05-19-2009, 07:08 PM  
Hands on with Pentax K7
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 141
Views: 32,201
Thanks to everyone who read my hands-on and provided kind support. Like yesterday I am on an extremely busy work day here so I can't go into details answering many questions. I have to point out that I am not a beta tester of the K-7 and I no longer have access to the engineering sample that I tried for the hands-on article and pictures. For those of you who want full specs of the K-7, they will come out in exactly 12 hours, that's the official release time. I only had access to the body and do not have any spec sheet. That's why in my hands-on I had to use trials to find out the viewfinder coverage is indeed 100%. There are many things that you can't do with firmware 0.20, such as actual video shooting so I didn't spend that much time trying to figure out why I can't do this or that with this version of the firmware.

A few things that I missed out in the hands-on that I want to let you guys know, remember this relates to the engineering sample and the final spec may change.

1. X-Sync is 1/180s, I do wish that they could do 1/250s here.

2. Shutter and mirror slap sound is very quiet and is easily the quietest of all Pentax DSLRs I've used. I was very pleasantly surprised by this. I believe for 5fps Pentax used a totally new mirror box and mechanism, as well as new shutter. This is now close to the Canon EOS 40D class, perhaps a hair quieter even!

3. There was a menu item for slow shutter NR but with firmware 0.20 the only options are Auto and On, if I recall correctly.

Gotta go back to my conference call now, hope this helps! Let's wait for tonight's official launch guys! :)

Peter
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 05-19-2009, 03:40 AM  
Hands on with Pentax K7
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 141
Views: 32,201
In my Chinese original text I wrote that estimated price of the K-7 is going to be slightly over RMB8,000, not far from K20D's introductory price here in China a year ago. I bought my K20D shortly after it was available in China, for RMB8,300. Now it's only RMB4,xxx. I will wait for the K-7 to drop below RMB8K to start consider buying it as I will need to get new batteries and possibly a new grip for it.

Peter
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 05-18-2009, 10:56 PM  
Hands on with Pentax K7
Posted By Peter Fang
Replies: 141
Views: 32,201
Good catch. :) I actually tried to find out, but couldn't make sense of it. When you select that item, you'll see this:

Flickr Photo Download: K-7 Image composition adjustment?

I forgot to include that image in my gallery and now I have added it.

Can anyone provide an educated guess?

Keep in mind that this is firmware 0.20 and this option may well be gone in the final firmware. :)
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