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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
06-09-2011, 02:17 PM
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Finally got this resolved, sort of.
Victoria Camera Services diagnosed the issue as an intermittent problem on the main board, and estimated almost $500 for the repair. They said battery type had no impact but agreed that an Eneloops would have lasted a few minutes longer.
Future Shop's extended warranty is administered by another company who refused the repair. The policy was that I could get a replacement equal value camera (but they don't sell Pentax any more) or a store credit. Since I have a bunch of Pentax lenses, I was not interested in another brand of camera and currently need a camera (not a refrigerator).
So, Future Shop gave me a 100% refund on the original purchase price. I think this was VERY reasonable on ther part.
There have been comments about buying camera equipment from specialty stores, but I don't necessarily agree with this. When I purchase a camera, I go thru the various reviews (e.g. www.dpreview.com) and choose a shortlist of recommended cameras. I then check one out in a store to see if it fits my prejudices. Of so, then price is the only object for me.
I have been to Future Shops across Canada, and agree that the sales reps don't necessarily know more than what is on the brochure. And a lot of them are very pushy. I am lucky that the store in Nanaimo BC is laid-back and exceeded my expectations with customer service.
Just my $0.02Cdn....
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-24-2011, 06:59 AM
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As stated before, a repair place says there is excessive battery drain. Regardless of the type of battery used, if the camera is draining a battery excessively then there is a hardware issue. This is what the repair place is looking for.
I have no idea what batteries they are using to test, it was sent without batteries.
Thanks for the feedbacks from Mangusta... I have forwarded these comments to the repair shop.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-22-2011, 04:05 PM
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I beg to differ -- I see nowhere in my manual that says alkaline batteries can't be used. Maybe we have different manuals. Here's what mine says about AA alkalines:
"Of the batteries that can be used in this camera (Ni-Mh, lithium and alkaline) only the Ni-Mh batteries can be recharged."
"AA lithium and AA alkaline batteris that can be used in this camera are not rechargable."
"Capacity & Plaback Times:
Alkaline (23deg C): 200 normal; 80 (50% flash) 20 *100% flash)
Alkaline (0deg C) Not applicable"
"AA Alkaline batteries may not support all the camera functions under certain conditions."
The only restriction on alkaline batteries that I see are they should not be used in cold weather, and under "certain conditions" (which I read to be cold weather).
For the first year of operation, alkaline an rechargable batteries worked just fine (altho the alkalines didn't last as long).
The first repair place said they replaced $180 worth of parts, the second says there is something flaky in the camera that is causing battery drain. Dollars to donuts (not the odds they used to be!!!) says that putting lithium or Eneloops in the camera will not fix my problem.
Rgds, g.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-22-2011, 10:34 AM
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Generally, I agree with you about the merits of purchasing from experts instead of a big box store. They are like lawyers -- 90% of them make the other 10% look bad :o)
In my case, FutureShop has been really good. My issue is with the "authorized Pentax repair" facilities (Vancouver BC in this case).
Camera came back after 7 weeks, and the repair shop said that my only issue was that I needed to use Li-ion batteries. Well, I picked up the camera, put in fresh batteries (copper tops) and the camera had exactly the same issues that it was sent away with.
A professional cinematographer friend recommended Victoria Camera Services, and Future Shop arranged to have the camera sent there for repairs. After a couple of weeks, VCS says "has a very strange battery drain and is very flaky". Looks like this may be one of those cases where it the best bet is to bite the bullet and scrap the camera.
FutureShop's extended warranty says they will replace with similar priced product if the camera cannot be repaired or takes more than 60 days (I am now looking at 10 weeks). They have offered this, but my issue is that the location no longer sells Pentax DSLR's. I really want Pentax, because I have a pair of MZ-7's with 18-82 and 150-300 zoom lenses, as well as the 50-200 and 18-55 zooms for the K200.
Folks in the camera dept say they may be able to special-order a Pentax body, and I will be following up with a customer support supervisor to see if this can be done. Can't get the K2000 new any more, but K-X body is the replacement and available (altho I really don't care about doing movies) and I will see if they will do this instead.
I'll keep the forum posted. Sure wish I had my K200, I have been in withdrawl since February and am spending a fortune on film processing!
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
04-10-2011, 07:51 PM
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Now FutureShop says the Pentax repair facility has done repairs, the $180 was the parts costs. They say cleaning should be covered under extended warranty. I will update.
:o)
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
04-10-2011, 10:31 AM
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Originally intermittent, now permanent. I have gone from rechargables to Energizers and CopperTops and even bought the optional 4xAA battery grip. All to no avail.
Took the camera back to Future Shop under extended warranty. After 4 weeks, I got feedback there is nothing wrong with the camera, just needs cleaning ($180!!!) not covered under warranty.
I will be "discussing" this with Future Shop today.
Any similar experiences out there?:eek:
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