For those with K5 lock up problems:

[SBS]

I talked to Pentax USA and they say there is no service/recall bulletin on this issue.
I talked CRIS repair and they said:
– They would have to order the part (shutter motor).
– The part would have to come from overseas.
– They have three such parts that have been on back order for six weeks.
– The cost of the part is $300.

I sent a web mail to Pentax about this issue on their website asking that Pentax cover the cost of this repair. I suggest everyone with this issue do the same to hopefully get their attention. Got to try something.

For me this really sucks. Not only for the expense, but I'm in the middle of wedding season and can't let go of my camera for that long. If I used a Canikon I could at least rent a camera that would match my lenses. I'm beginning to think that attempting to shoot professionally with Pentax is just too big a rock to push uphill.

(Yes, I have a second camera - K20D. I was waiting for Pentax's new camera so I could make the K5 my second.)

 

[baldeagle21b]

I talked to Pentax USA and they say there is no service/recall bulletin on this issue.
I talked CRIS repair and they said:
– They would have to order the part (shutter motor).
– The part would have to come from overseas.
– They have three such parts that have been on back order for six weeks.
– The cost of the part is $300.

I sent a web mail to Pentax about this issue on their website asking that Pentax cover the cost of this repair. I suggest everyone with this issue do the same to hopefully get their attention. Got to try something.

For me this really sucks. Not only for the expense, but I'm in the middle of wedding season and can't let go of my camera for that long. If I used a Canikon I could at least rent a camera that would match my lenses. I'm beginning to think that attempting to shoot professionally with Pentax is just too big a rock to push uphill.

(Yes, I have a second camera - K20D. I was waiting for Pentax's new camera so I could make the K5 my second.)

If you derive more than 51% or more of your yearly income from photography, you qualify for Pentax pro level service which includes rush 72 hour service and access to short term rental of equipment. Otherwise I'm afraid you have to stand in line like the rest of of us. Lensrentals.com has Pentax camera bodies and lenses for rent also.

 

[Adamant]

Lensrentals.com has Pentax camera bodies and lenses for rent also.

+1 on LensRentals.com.

 

[dfrat]

I got my K5 back 2 weeks ago for the same problem. I drop my camera causing the problem to start off. I have over 30,000 shots without a problem. It took 3 month from the time I sent it and received it back. The part was on back order causing the delay. The cost was $160 plus $15 for shipping. I did not pay $300. They replaced the shutter motor,cleaned and any adjustment . The camera is working great. I did buy a 2nd K5 because of the price.
--
http://www.dantefrattophotography.com
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/dantefratto

 

[SBS]

I got my K5 back 2 weeks ago for the same problem. I drop my camera causing the problem to start off. I have over 30,000 shots without a problem. It took 3 month from the time I sent it and received it back. The part was on back order causing the delay. The cost was $160 plus $15 for shipping. I did not pay $300. They replaced the shutter motor,cleaned and any adjustment . The camera is working great. I did buy a 2nd K5 because of the price.
--

I'm very glad to hear about the price.. I was quoted $300 from a CRIS employee, but perhaps she was mistaken. I'm not happy to hear about how long the repair took. I use my camera to make money, so a 3 month long wait is simply not doable. It sounds like the only option is to buy another camera, which increases the repair bill significantly.

 

[SBS]

By the way, why do you think dropping the camera caused your problem? Isn't possible the problem has nothing at all to do with your drop?

 

[Greyser]

Would you please clarify in details what is wrong with your camera? There are a few common problems with K-5 and people call them very differently.

 

[SBS]

Would you please clarify in details what is wrong with your camera? There are a few common problems with K-5 and people call them very differently.

The camera will freeze up and cannot be activated. It usually happens when you are pressing the shutter halfway to get focus on a shot The only way I can get it to work again is to remove the battery and then reinsert it. Apparently, others have also had this experience with their K5's. Some have offered solutions, or at least work arounds. I have tried them, yet still had the problem occur at a most inopportune time. Replacing the shutter motor seems to be the only true solution. If the above poster's experience is the norm, it will take 3 months to repair. I've had my camera less than a year and a half, and I'm trying to use it professionally. Ask yourself, if you had sold someone a tool that went defective after a year and a half, and it wasn't an isolated incident, how would you respond? So I've been thinking about investing in Pentax's newest camera and possibly some more lenses, but now, I'm thinking: "Maybe not." This doesn't seem like a good business attitude to me, but I guess it's not that unusual anymore.

 

[dfrat]

I have spoken to people that it only took 2or3 week for repair but parts were in stock. I have had a lens fix from CRIS in 2 weeks.
I guess it depends on a lot of thing!
--
http://www.dantefrattophotography.com
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/dantefratto

 

[jm_mac]

The camera will freeze up and cannot be activated.

Still not sure what this means. I was having problems that were lens related (18-135mm). This problem occurred only with this lens, and over two bodies. When the problem occurred with my setup, the shutter button would not respond to presses. All camera operations seemed good - lcd worked, buttons, wheels worked, I could power on and off. But when I tried to get the lens to focus... nothing. No movement of the AF motor at all, shutter would not respond. I would powering on/off, remove/re-attach the lens, switch from AF-S to AF-C and back. I didn't try the battery thing. Eventually, the lens and body would begin communicating again.

I sent the lens back for service, it was fixed and returned under warranty, and so far the problem hasn't shown up again - but I 'm not calling the problem fixed, because it only seemed to show up on vacation when I was outdoors in hot weather, and I haven't put the camera in that weather since i got it back.

 

[Greyser]

Sorry, I never had such experience in almost two years of using K-5. However, I had a different problem with my mirror extra flops in AF-C mode.

I heard that something similar to your issue may be caused by "bad" memory card. I use only SanDisk Extreem III cards and can't confirm it. But it may worth to try your camera with the best of the best card.

 

[awaldram]

I believe there is tthee nearly identical issues

1 the full lockup camera frozen now button function, this can be anything including failed SD card to low battery, I;d not bet on it being the mirror box

2 mirror over run camera shoots normally then subsequently delivers clunk but no shutter actuation, Persisting in firing the shutter leads to low battery warning and eventually camera will fully reset losing all settings. A sharp tap will often restore functionality temporarily, A replacement shutter motor and maybe MB is required.

3 Mirror flop, This is caused by faulty battery or failed regulator a new MB is required

Looking at repairs I think there was probably an engineering revision to address 2 but early cameras seem to be failing around 50,000 shots, Mine is also awaiting parts for just this issue 63,000 but as a pro purchase still under 2 year warranty.

--
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[Greyser]

The mirror flop happens only in AF-C mode. Otherwise it's fine. Per your advise I'll try to check it with both my batteries: the genuine one and a 3rd party (works fine so far). May be the issue is associated with cheap battery. Also the camera has somewhat in between 50K to 60K shots.

I believe the DPR team got the same issue with their K-5 while testing K-30 and comparing both cameras. They said that the mirror was flopping like crazy and advised do not use AF-C to prevent full camera failure. For some reason I can't find their exact description of the issue anymore.

 

[awaldram]

If it is the regulator issue then a slightly depleted battery normally fixes the problem.

Noy easy to use slightly depleted batteries all the time though

The mirror flop happens only in AF-C mode. Otherwise it's fine. Per your advise I'll try to check it with both my batteries: the genuine one and a 3rd party (works fine so far). May be the issue is associated with cheap battery. Also the camera has somewhat in between 50K to 60K shots.

I believe the DPR team got the same issue with their K-5 while testing K-30 and comparing both cameras. They said that the mirror was flopping like crazy and advised do not use AF-C to prevent full camera failure. For some reason I can't find their exact description of the issue anymore.

--
My PPG
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/andrewwaldram
My Photo Stream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/awaldram/
1x.com
http://1x.com/artist/awaldram/wall

 

[dfrat]

There could be a possible that it wasn't from being dropped. I was not having any issue with the camera. After the drop I could not take a shot. So I would have to say it was from the drop!
--
http://www.dantefrattophotography.com
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/dantefratto

 

[SBS]

I heard that something similar to your issue may be caused by "bad" memory card. I use only SanDisk Extreem III cards and can't confirm it. But it may worth to try your camera with the best of the best card.

Thanks, but not applicable.

 

[SBS]

I believe there is tthee nearly identical issues

1 the full lockup camera frozen now button function, this can be anything including failed SD card to low battery, I;d not bet on it being the mirror box

In a previous thread, the problem was pin pointed to be the shutter motor. Since Pentax repair was waiting on the parts to replace three of these when I called, I suspect this really is the problem. I checked out other options already.

 

[SBS]

The camera will freeze up and cannot be activated.

Still not sure what this means.

I'm sorry for being inarticulate. It means that although the camera is on, with visible information in the viewfinder, etc., it refuses to function. It does not respond to depressing the shutter. It will not focus. It will not turn off.

 

[SRT201]

Mine still makes a bizarre flop-buzz sound, sometimes, when leaving LiveView. It's fairly frequent though it has had no functional impact. Exiting LiveView is the only time I hear this strange sound and sometimes it's just the normal mirror parking sound. For me this doesn't seem to have anything to do with battery status. I hear it just the same on a well used battery.

Do you think this is related to the regulator issue? I'm still under 10k shots.

--

Any government that has the power to correct any injustice and level any inequality also has the power to do ANYTHING it wants.

 

[malcolmw]

This happened one time to me, a year ago this weekend taking photos of an Ironman bike race.

AF-C, 60-250 and it would lock and I would have to pull the battery.

The battery was charged before I went, and should have still been pretty, full but after the third lockup I switched to a fresh battery for the heck of it and the problem went away.

I believe I may have been half pressing a lot without firing.

I don't use AF-C much and it hasn't happened since.