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UK K30 Repair/Replace conondrum 2021

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VictorDB

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I bought my wife (A Pentax shooter from the 80s) a K30 many years ago and she's since backed that up a 90mm Macro and a 50-200 AF lens and she loves using them. This year it developed the aperture block issue, dark images issue which I understand is due to a camera capacitor problem affecting the lenses with electronic aperture actuation.

I took it into the shop that it was bought from and they quoted a repair cost of £250 with a 3 month guarantee which doesn't sound unreasonable except, that according to some on these forums, the solution might not be permanent.

My question is.

1. Who does Pentax Digital SLR repairs in the UK?

2. Does anyone have specific experience of them?

3. If 2 is the case, and you had the aperture block issue in the UK has it stood up to the repair?

An alternative suggested by the shop was to buy a K-70 at either £599 new or £459 used. (I am also currently looking at 7 different Pentax DSLRs (new and used))

I am a Nikon DSLR user but am happy to support my wife's Pentax preference as there are advantages to her system that suit her shooting , such as long familiarity with the system, in-body image stabilisation and very acceptable JPEGs straight out of the box (with RAW for rescue purposes).

There are money no object solutions but I don't live in that milieu :-)
 
Solution
R
Sorry to hear of your issue.

As far as I know, the official Ricoh/Pentax service agent in the UK is John Pye.

Loading…

www.ricoh-imaging.eu

I used them just over a year ago to repair my Pentax K5iiS and the service was fine.

My other recommendation would be to ask SRS Microsystems.

Hope you get sorted one way or the other.
As far as I am aware there is far less reported anecdotal evidence of K70s having this issue. So that would probably be a reasonable path to take.

However, if you are looking at other discontinued 2nd hand bodies; give serious consideration to a K-5ii or K-5iis. If she is familiar with Pentax she can't go wrong with the K-5ii / iis
 
Thanks Pentup,

The 7 repacement options I mentioned that I'm looking at include some of the cameras you own (new and used) but that's probably my next line of enquiry and would probably entail taking her back to the shop we originally bought the camera from for a "hands on" selection.

Still interested if anyone has had first hand experience of this problem and UK repairs.

Regards

Vic
 
Sorry to hear of your issue.

As far as I know, the official Ricoh/Pentax service agent in the UK is John Pye.

Loading…

www.ricoh-imaging.eu

I used them just over a year ago to repair my Pentax K5iiS and the service was fine.

My other recommendation would be to ask SRS Microsystems.

Hope you get sorted one way or the other.
 
Solution
She got the email from Pentax on the K3 iii but besides the initial price shock, I could not get her excited about the kind of additional functions that would light my bushel. So K-3 ii, K-70, K5-ii are on the cards (with K3-iii on the cards as an exceptional treat).

Being a Nikon user, I've not kept up on the fortunes of Pentax, and I went EM-FM-FE2-F5 (35mm)-D300(DX)-D750(FF), missing my film wides all the time with the DX move. Think my wife's macro is actually a 70mm Sigma, which gives that lovely 105mm (FX) equivalent FOV for her floral pics.

This is why I think, (although it would excite me very much) a full frame (used) K1 would be a mistake as she's very happy with DX for her needs.
 
Rod,

Thanks exactly what I was looking for, I have seen John Pye mentioned but their web site takes you to their refurbished electronic goods auction site, what did you do to contact them and get your kit to them?

Well aware of SRS Microsystems, that's where I bought her lenses from, good service great shop to visit in Watford if you like a huge selection of Pentax stuff and for me 2nd hand Nikkor lenses. More than likely to buy from there depending on outcomes.

Regards

Vic
 
Ah thanks, should have followed your link.
 
If you end up looking at secondhand, looks like MPB have several K3 bodies in stock which might be worth a look - I’ve had very good dealings with them in the past.
 
Rod Herdman said:
Sorry to hear of your issue.

As far as I know, the official Ricoh/Pentax service agent in the UK is John Pye.

https://www.ricoh-imaging.eu/uk_en/camera-info/service-centre

I used them just over a year ago to repair my Pentax K5iiS and the service was fine.

My other recommendation would be to ask SRS Microsystems.

Hope you get sorted one way or the other.
Click to expand...
I'd recommend SRS as well - a good place to go if you're going down the used route, I've traded in a K10D for a K7, the K7 for the K5 (mk i) and that K5 for my K1 with them (added a used K5-iis not from them) and when the K1-iii arrives guess what will happen.

When I spoke to them about servicing (I think at least 1 lens and possibly the K1 need adjustment) they said they ship things to John Pye, and thought they were better the previous company (who went bust).
 
VictorDB said:
She got the email from Pentax on the K3 iii but besides the initial price shock, I could not get her excited about the kind of additional functions that would light my bushel. So K-3 ii, K-70, K5-ii are on the cards (with K3-iii on the cards as an exceptional treat).

Being a Nikon user, I've not kept up on the fortunes of Pentax, and I went EM-FM-FE2-F5 (35mm)-D300(DX)-D750(FF), missing my film wides all the time with the DX move. Think my wife's macro is actually a 70mm Sigma, which gives that lovely 105mm (FX) equivalent FOV for her floral pics.

This is why I think, (although it would excite me very much) a full frame (used) K1 would be a mistake as she's very happy with DX for her needs.
Click to expand...
Victor,

I haven’t had my K3iii long enough to make a definitive recommendation with regard to your Mrs getting one. But I am very excited by what I am seeing with it so far. That said my K5ii is still my favourite camera and my dad has the K30 so I can compare the two. I think your Mrs would absolutely dig the upgrade (not in pixels but in performance) that she would get with a K5ii (or K5iis) from her K30.
Obviously the later DSLRs K3, K3ii, KP and K70 have higher megapixel sensors if that is important to your Mrs, but the image output and ergonomics of the K5ii is really good with its 16mp sensor.
 
thanks will do, still looking at options too.
 
It's not a capacitor problem, it's a solenoid problem. History is that the original solenoid used by Pentax in this function was made in Japan (to a high standard). Then, for the K-30, they changed to a Chinese-made one - which causes this problem.

The same mechanism is used on all Pentax entry-level DSLRs (including the K-70), but the most recent seem to be using a somewhat improved version of the Chinese solenoid.

The problem seems to rear its ugly head when the camera is left unused for a while (but may happen at any time). And once it starts misbehaving, the solenoid has to be replaced (ignore stories involving anything less than this!). The way to fix it permanently is to replace the solenoid with an earlier Japan version (obtained from a donor camera). This is not at all guaranteed if the camera is merely sent in for repair!

You can easily identify the Japanese item, because it's white, as opposed to green. And there's loads of info on the 'web on how to swap it out. But just t o repeat - ignore all "fixes" which don't involve swapping the green solenoid for a white one.

But you don't need to do this - you can still use the camera with any lens which has an aperture ring. Set the camera to "Enable Aperture Ring" and use M mode with stop-down metering.
 
Well, that was a description of the nature of the problem, but in your situation, I'd be looking for a good used K-5/K-5ii/K-5iis/K-3/K-3ii.

They're all wonderful cameras, and use a completely different aperture control mechanism.

Keep the K-30 and use it for cheap (but good) vintage lenses. Or sell it with the defect declared.
 
Futax said:
Well, that was a description of the nature of the problem, but in your situation, I'd be looking for a good used K-5/K-5ii/K-5iis/K-3/K-3ii.

They're all wonderful cameras, and use a completely different aperture control mechanism.

Keep the K-30 and use it for cheap (but good) vintage lenses. Or sell it with the defect declared.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your correction, ie.solenoid not capacitor, wife loves the K-30, from what you are saying but repair itself might not give us the peace of mind we want.

Her 50-200mm seems to work okay with no problems but using it with vintage lenses means I have to give her back all the PK lenses I filched off her for my toy M4/3 camera ;-(

Yes still seriously looking at K-5 to K-3 et al. With the K70 perhaps new. I'm a Nikon user, so I'm useless at fathoming the controls and menu so she needs hands on to see what she thinks.

Regards

Vic
 
PentUp said:
VictorDB said:
She got the email from Pentax on the K3 iii but besides the initial price shock, I could not get her excited about the kind of additional functions that would light my bushel. So K-3 ii, K-70, K5-ii are on the cards (with K3-iii on the cards as an exceptional treat).

Being a Nikon user, I've not kept up on the fortunes of Pentax, and I went EM-FM-FE2-F5 (35mm)-D300(DX)-D750(FF), missing my film wides all the time with the DX move. Think my wife's macro is actually a 70mm Sigma, which gives that lovely 105mm (FX) equivalent FOV for her floral pics.

This is why I think, (although it would excite me very much) a full frame (used) K1 would be a mistake as she's very happy with DX for her needs.
Click to expand...
Victor,

I haven’t had my K3iii long enough to make a definitive recommendation with regard to your Mrs getting one. But I am very excited by what I am seeing with it so far. That said my K5ii is still my favourite camera and my dad has the K30 so I can compare the two. I think your Mrs would absolutely dig the upgrade (not in pixels but in performance) that she would get with a K5ii (or K5iis) from her K30.
Obviously the later DSLRs K3, K3ii, KP and K70 have higher megapixel sensors if that is important to your Mrs, but the image output and ergonomics of the K5ii is really good with its 16mp sensor.
Click to expand...
Yes thanks I noticed that the K5ii is basically the "enthusiast" contemporary of the K30 (using DPreview's wonderful comparator) and has all the bells and whistles she likes plus some. 16Mp is plenty of pixels for her photography and I must say even in film days she was taking better pictures than me even when she hung up her 35mm SLR for 35mm and digital compacts. Embarrasing when I was just learning to use my F5 from my FE2 and she was using a Canon underwater compact as her tote camera.
 
Thanks James,

I have been to them ibought stuff from them and and love window shopping whenever we go to Watford.

Regards

Vic
 
Just a couple more things: the Pentax "enthusiast level" cameras (i.e. K-5 on...) have beautifully damped mirrors/shutters - my K-3 is like a Rolls-Royce compared to my K-50 (which in itself is pretty decent).

And for your wife's K-30, a couple of cheap autofocus lenses which will work (using "green button metering"), and which are excellent or good:

From the 90s, the F35-70 - superb sharpness, all focal lengths, all apertures. And from slightly later, the FA35-80, not quite so sharp, but still quite useful stopped down.

The F35-70, in particular, is a rather well-known gem nowadays, so finding a bargain which isn't one of the few bad examples in existence might be slightly problematic. It's less of a problem with the humbler FA35-80. But consumer zooms do vary in quality somewhat - then and now...

Good hunting!
 
I had my K30 repaired under warranty by the old official pentax uk repairers dealt with thru' SRS. It broke again and speaking to SRS it just didn't seem worth getting it repaired again. It sits in the back of a cupboard reminding me the folly of buying it. I've avoided those models and later like the plague. Now I've only got a KP. I've used the new Pentax UK repairers that you've been pointed to for my DA*300 whose SDM motor failed under warranty. They did a reasonable job, the lens came back working lovely. It did take quite a while, as in weeks, to get it repaired. However the lens is starting to go faulty again, so again as with the K30 the repair isn't permanent and it means I can't trust it so it never goes out anymore....

--

Walt
My newer photos https://photos.app.goo.gl/TbE6jH4NJepscrDm9
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A quick word on using lenses with aperture rings (which you may want to try, given that you have such items):

You need to go to menu item "Use Aperture Ring" and set to On (or 2, can't remember offhand).

Set camera to M mode. Frame the subject and press the green button. The camera will stop the lens down and take a meter reading. You can now take the photo.

There is another method for use with K-50s (and probably K-30s) which have the aperture block problem, which allows use of Av mode, and no need for the green button - come back to me if you're interested.
 
Thanks, I'll show her your comments and your outcome with te aperture block issue.

It might affect her decision although what you say about your lens repair is a little unsettling about Pentax reliability.

She loves her set up despite the current issues and I have a trinity of M42 Asahi lenses from 1959/61 and love using them on my G5, along with stealing my wife's old PK manuals and although I have four decades of Nikon use, I still have a soft spot for Pentax from the days of the ME-Super which like the Olympus OM-1 et all seemed more jewel like than my lumphammers of the FM/FE2. Actually love and would like a good example of o Pentax 50mm f1.7 for general use on my GF (having had the stuck max aperture issue with my wife's copy).
 
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