my fix of the K-30 aperture problem without disassembly

Shoka wrote:

I just had a similar problem start today with my Pentax K-70. Not from any damage; one day I put the camera away working fine, and the next day it didn't.

While framing up an image in the viewfinder, the lens aperture would be wide open, but as soon as it took a photo, the aperture would change to the smallest possible for the lens, no matter what the metering called for, and even if I sent it on aperture priority. i.e. set aperture for f-8, and it would set the shutter speed accordingly. For example, f-8 at 1/60. But it would take the photo at f-22 or f-29, whatever the smallest was at the current zoom factor, and still at 1/60 second. That of course resulted in very dark images, mostly black. If I manually set the aperture to that, say f-22, then it would meter and set the speed correctly, and the photo would be OK because I was using it at the only aperture that actually worked, but I'd always have to shoot at the smallest diameter aperture (highest number) for that lens.

This occurred on all 3 of my lenses. None of my lenses have internal motors.

The first thing I did was upgrade to the latest firmware version, but that didn't help.

However, your solution came up in a search, and it worked for me!

I set up my wifi/fx2 button (menu 5, button customization) to be "Preview" and I set my aperture priority to f-22, and hit the button 15-20 times, forcing the camera to cycle from max to min aperture. I tried a photo after each set of 15-20, and after the 3rd set, it started working again. I shot a dozen images, turned it off and on, and took some more. So far, it's still working. I'm sort of scared to change lenses...

Thanks for posting your solution.

My 4 years old K30  is now idle most of the time since I mostly use my K3. I thus decided to give it a test shooting yesterday, and I got the same dark frame issue.

Your tip to fix it via the optical preview worked for a few shots then the dark images came back randomly.

Another quick fix I have used is to shoot a high rate burst or an auto bracketing: usually, only the 1 or 2 first pictures are dark.

I wont repair my K30, nor sell it, because it is not worth it, and there is also another issue since august 2017: the white plastic hook that holds the battery broke. Happily, the battery door can hold the battery in place.

IMO, Pentax entry level gear is not more reliable than Canon Rebel or Nikon entry level, it just feels a little more heavy.