my fix of the K-30 aperture problem without disassembly

Futax wrote:

Tatouzou wrote:

My 2014 K30 had met the stuck aperture issue and, after trying different non destructive fixes, I thought it was bricked forever.

Today, I tried shooting different film era manual lenses, which dont have electronic connexions with the camera body. I used exposure compensation to get correct exposure when closing the aperture ring; worked OK but MF hit or miss when shooting at large apertures, though I had mounted Pentax viewfinder magnifier on the K30.

Then I tried film era AF lenses with aperture rings. Much nicer, as AF is more reliable and much faster than MF. Still needed to play with EC to get correct exposure when closing the aperture ring.

Then, after the liOn battery was empty, I put the AA adapter with 4 new Duracell alkaline batteries and, just out of curiosity, I fired a high speed burst with the lens on A position: after a few black frames, the camera delivered correct exposure again!

Last fall, I had tried metal hydrure AA cells before, and they didnt bring the aperture motor back to life again. Will try again tomorrow when they will be fully charged.

With the alkaline AA batteries, I tried today different digital era lenses with no aperture ring, and I was happy to check they all worked fine again, though I got some occasional black frames.

I will keep exercising my K30 and hope it will work again.

It would be interesting to try AA Lithium primary cells (Energizer Ultimate), which have a somewhat higher terminal voltage than alkaline batteries.

My guess would be that you'd get even better operation.

Having said that, the feeling is that these types of "fix" will work only temporarily though.

My main Pentax camera is K3, which I keep because I own many nice lenses, like the 15, 21, 35, 70 DA ltds, the 40XS, the 17-70 f4, 18-135 and 55-300, though I now mostly use my M43 system.

Thus I dont plan to spend money to fix the K30.

AA lithium are expensive. AA alkalines are cheap, and I also have a set of rechargeable AA NiMH.

My K30 works now again on the OEM LiIon battery and will probably work on the AA NiMH.

I like the K30 small size and light weight compared to K3, which is nice for hiking, though K3 AF is much better.

But i dont trust my K30 anymore and use it only at home.

I now go hiking with M43 gear.