For those with K5 lock up problems:

[JeffAHayes]

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.

I had this "lock-up" or "freeze," as I call it (either name) happen to me once within a month or two of buying the camera... Maybe twice. In both situations, it seemed like I was pushing too many buttons in too rapid succession when it happened, and in both cases, as with you, SBS, the ONLY solution I found for it was NOT to turn the camera off and back on, but to actually remove and re-insert the battery.

UNLIKE YOU, however, I just shrugged off this anomaly. I've been owning and using home computers since 1985. I'm on my 9th Windows computer (I built this one from parts bought from Newegg, once I discovered I could create a custom system I wanted for about 1/3rd the price of what Dell or HP would charge me -- and THEY insisted on only certain parts -- I got to choose my own)... Anyway, this is my 6th Windows machine, and I've also owned 3 Macs along the way, and I've NEVER, EVER had a single one that didn't occasionally LOCK UP or FREEZE once in a while. And sadly, unlike our cameras, which have flash cards that have every last image up to the most recent SAVED, if we don't continually save our work on our computers, it's lost when that happens.

I just chalk this up to the quirks of electronic components -- ALL OF THEM -- and I consider a digital camera just a computer with a lens and shutter attached. Once I realized I had to not push buttons too fast, and that if it DID lock up all I had to do was remove and re-insert the battery (VERY similar to the reboots usually required when computers lock up), I gave it no further thought. UNLESS this is happening to you on almost every shot -- or so regularly that you can't USE the camera, I certainly wouldn't be spending $300 -- or even $150 and waiting WEEKS for a replacement -- especially if it means you're going to probably have to buy a K-30 or something to shoot weddings in the meantime.

Just get really good at popping the battery in and out. If you've been using the battery grip and this is happening a lot, STOP using it, as popping the battery in and out is a laborsome process with the grip (I bought one and although I don't have this problem any more, I still rarely use it). It's A LOT easier to carry a spare battery in a pocket.

At any rate, good luck with your K-5. While I agree we shouldn't have to put up with such stuff, I think sending it off to have the shutter replaced when it likely IS just the quirks of electronics may simply be overkill (if mine now starts doing this every other shot, I promise, I'll EAT MY WORDS
Jeff

--
A word is worth 1/1000th of a picture... Maybe that's why I use so many words!

 

[Nicols]

I had this "lock-up" or "freeze," as I call it (either name) happen to me once within a month or two of buying the camera... Maybe twice.

Same here. It happens twice, and hasn't happend again the last six months. As you, I just considered it a usual behavior for electronic divices .

Cheers - Klaus

 

[Zablot]

"The Pentax K-5 was very highly regarded among its user base, despite having some issues with its default JPG settings, low-light focus capability, and a sticking shutter problem that would show itself as the camera aged."-- http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409929,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121

This problem is a noted weakness of the k5 and has been a common issue for this camera. In similar fashion, my K10d locks up in very hot weather conditions. The only fix is to remove the battery and the camera resets itself to some other settings. Unfortunately, I shoot insects which are usually the most active during the warmest part of the day. I hope that the new K5's have improved components so that the camera becomes as reliable as an old film dslr..................................Jim

 

[jm_mac]

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.

No worries, I was just wondering if your issue was the same as I've been having. It seems different than mine - mine was definitely a lens problem, not a body problem. Good luck in resolving your issue!

 

[rlwilsonjr]

I got my K5 back from Pentax service in Arizona yesterday, have not yet had time to test it much. I had owned it for a year and a half and love it. But in regard to this discussion:

(a) It was just over one month from when I shipped it to when I got it back. I had telephoned once and I was told typical time was 2 to 3 weeks, presumably that means time in their hands.

(b) What it had been doing that I called "locking up" was this: Starting about two months ago, fresh battery and good SD card, etc, sometimes push trigger and mirror flips up, stays there. Turn off, no effect. Remove battery and replace after a few seconds, fixes it. If you tried viewing stored pictures, or using menus, rather than pushing the trigger, that worked, except that once you tried to fire the shutter and it was locked they would not work either. This "sometimes" became more and more frequent.

After about a week of this, removing battery for a short time did not fix it. Took battery out for over 24 hours, no good. Did full reset, no good, so sent it in.

(c) The invoice says they replaced they "REPAIRED REFLEX MIRROR". It does not say whether they replaced the mirror box or anything else, and (I don't have a shop manual for a K5) I am not sure whether some things like the shutter motor would be considered part of the mirror box, from their viewpoint, or not.

(d) It also says they updated the firmware: I had already brought it up to the latest I have seen posted. It now says it is running 1.13, I am sure that is what I had installed. So maybe they do this just as a matter of course to any camera that comes in.

(e) It says cleaned and checked to manufacturers specifications. They don't mention "lubrication", the L in CLA.

The people I dealt with by telephone, both when first reporting the problem and when asking status, were friendly and tried to be helpful, although when I asked for status there was really not much information available.

Note to all of us: I had of course set up User modes the way I wanted them, and that is lost! I should have planned ahead and written down somewhere retrievable all of my favorite settings, they had evolved over time and I can't remember every detail!
--
Bob Wilson

 

[Greyser]

The same here :-(

 

[Chau D]

I believe the OP meant to say people who have the K5 locks up for no particular reason, i.e., not because it was dropped. My K5 was about 3 months old with no more than 200 shots and it locked up twice without being dropped. The first time that happened when I was in my backyard trying out my one-week old K5. The second times was about 2 months ago in the middle of an air show.
--
Obumer did me in!

 

[SBS]

Okay, I used my K5 for a wedding today. When the time came to shoot the bride & groom with the priest, it locked up and I could not get the shutter to work, even by removing and replacing the battery. Several hours later, it still will not work.

So it is not just a quirk. If that were the case, I could live with it. In another post on this subject, someone said that it gradually got worse until it locked up permanently like mine has done.

The Pentax service rep that I talked with on the phone said:

There was no recall/service bulletin from Pentax on this issue. CRIS said they had three waiting for parts. I don't know what the magic number of cameras it takes with a specific issue before Pentax decides it should accept responsibility, so that was why I started this post . If you have this issue, you probably should let Pentax know it. Will your issue get worse, like mine has? Perhaps it depends on your use. For wedding photography, I take a lot of photos in a succinct amount of time. Perhaps there is a heat issue? The Pentax rep raised that question. OR, perhaps it is a numerical issue. In that I shoot about 800 photos per wedding, perhaps I am destined to encounter this problem before some of you.

My questions are:

– Did I not see that this camera had an expected life of 100,000 shutter activations? Perhaps I'm wrong here, but if not, would someone please validate my impression. And,

– Is it really fair to spend $1,400 on a camera that only lasts 18 months before the shutter refuses to function?

 

[Mr Jam]

Your overheating theory is interesting. I shoot runway fashion shows and sometimes I shoot around 1200 shots in an event. My K5 is less than 1 year old and still under warranty. I sent it in to CRIS about two weeks ago exactly for the same problem described here before even reading this thread.

The camera is sitting at CRIS for more than 2 weeks now and not a technician been assigned to it yet. I called and ask the reason for inactivity for a such a long time. They said they get many cameras and I have to wait in line. But they mentioned the turnaround time is around 4 weeks with Pentax.

My K7 never had this problem though I used it with the same shooting pattern. I have an event tomorrow and will be using my K7. Fortunately, it is outdoors and don't have to worry about the low light noise problem.

I will send a web note to Pentax customer support. Thank you for your post.

 

[Ian Stuart Forsyth]

SBS wrote:

– Is it really fair to spend $1,400 on a camera that only lasts 18 months before the shutter refuses to function?

After speaking to others about shutter life and what one could expect I was surprised what many were getting out of Nikon in the D200, D300 and D700 models. Most are in the range of 200,000 before any servicing was required and many stilled work beyond 300,000. This summer I picked up a D800 just to see what it’s like on the other side of the fence, if I can get what others have with previous generations of around 200,000 per photo cost would be around what I was getting out of pentax line. From my own experience half of my body’s never made it to 50,000 which makes it hard to carry a backup body using the previous model.

--
The Camera is only a tool, photography is deciding how to use it.

The most important piece of equipment in photography is the lens cap, if used incorrectly all your photo will be under exposed.

 

[awaldram]

200,000 is a lot of image.

I'd take 'most' with a pinch of salt only professional event photographers could hope to reach that number within the technological life of the camera.

Perhaps your Nikon buddies like to think themselves professional so exaggerate the figure massively ?

K10 = 73,000 / 12 months blown Motherboard so no shutter issue probably my fault replaced FoC new camera.
K20 = 110,000 / 24 months never serviced sold
k5 = 70,000 / 15months mirror over run in service now (Warranty)

For me there is no issue with Pentax shutter life though I feel there is a design weakness in the K5 silent mirror box leading to partial failure at 50-100,00 shots.

I suspect here is a FoF process in place and probably a GM modification for later models.

--
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

 

[JeffAHayes]

Okay, I used my K5 for a wedding today. When the time came to shoot the bride & groom with the priest, it locked up and I could not get the shutter to work, even by removing and replacing the battery. Several hours later, it still will not work.

So it is not just a quirk. If that were the case, I could live with it. In another post on this subject, someone said that it gradually got worse until it locked up permanently like mine has done.

The Pentax service rep that I talked with on the phone said:

There was no recall/service bulletin from Pentax on this issue. CRIS said they had three waiting for parts. I don't know what the magic number of cameras it takes with a specific issue before Pentax decides it should accept responsibility, so that was why I started this post . If you have this issue, you probably should let Pentax know it. Will your issue get worse, like mine has? Perhaps it depends on your use. For wedding photography, I take a lot of photos in a succinct amount of time. Perhaps there is a heat issue? The Pentax rep raised that question. OR, perhaps it is a numerical issue. In that I shoot about 800 photos per wedding, perhaps I am destined to encounter this problem before some of you.

My questions are:

– Did I not see that this camera had an expected life of 100,000 shutter activations? Perhaps I'm wrong here, but if not, would someone please validate my impression. And,

– Is it really fair to spend $1,400 on a camera that only lasts 18 months before the shutter refuses to function?

No, SBS, I DON'T think it is. Of course I have no idea how many shutter releases you've made in 18 months. Perhaps you've long ago exceeded 100,000 shutter activations (which seems like a lot to most folks, but doesn't seem like all that much to me, since I fired off almost 2,000 in one 2-hour pro dance tour last year).

At any rate, based on what you just posted, and some others, yeah, I'd be mad as hell, too!" Apparently, the "once-in-a-while" lock-up that's happened to some of us has just been a quirk, whereas others of you have encountered what may actually BE a real issue, perhaps a real design flaw or technical flaw that SHOULD entitle Pentax owners with this problem to a FREE RECALL to get it fixed. Frankly, considering I've been using toothpicks and whatnot to activate my lens-change button for the past month or so, I'm pretty certain THAT should be a "free-recall" issue, since I've seen that referred to as almost "a bad joke" about the K-5.

This is still a great camera. But there are great cars on the road, too, that get recalls every year because one of hundreds of parts was defective. If they can do it with cars, they can do it with cameras.

On this subject, does anyone have any experience with these extended warranties you can buy for cameras? I didn't even consider it when I bought my K-5. These days, that's looking like something I might think long and hard about the next time.
Jeff

--
A word is worth 1/1000th of a picture... Maybe that's why I use so many words!

 

[SBS]

For me there is no issue with Pentax shutter life though I feel there is a design weakness in the K5 silent mirror box leading to partial failure at 50-100,00 shots.

I suspect here is a FoF process in place and probably a GM modification for later models.

So does anyone know if the K5ii addresses this issue?

 

[SBS]

Here is my reply to the PENTAX RICOH IMAGING AMERICAS CORPORATION representative:

Thank you for your email. So my K5 is now officially nonfunctional. The shutter will not work. I'm sending the camera in tomorrow. CRIS says there are at least three other K5's with this problem that have been waiting for parts for six weeks. I have also read that the problem was attributed to the reflex mirror. Nevertheless, please don't take my word for it. Read the first sentence in this article from PCMag:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409929,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121

You might also read some of the posts about it on the DPReview website. My next question is: Does the K5ii correct this problem? This is a huge question for me. I was considering purchasing the K5ii just for its supposed improved AF capability. But if I can expect the same problem with it as with my camera, then not only will I forgo that purchase, I will be switching to a camera system that is better suited for professional use. Any encouraging information you can give would be appreciated.

 

[Fl_Gulfer]

This is the company I use for rentals... they have a deal going.

Fall kick off at Camera Lens Rentals!

We are offering Fall specials on rentals for the month of October!

Get as much as 15% off your next order with us!

If you order the first week of this month and use the discount code FALL you will get 15% off your next order with us. If you order after 10/7/2012 the discount goes to 10%, so get that order in early! This is for orders that are delivered in the month of October only.

At checkout please use the discount code FALL. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email us or call us. This is a first come first serve basis and there will be many lenses that go fast, so order early!

We are always wanting feedback from you. What can we do to be better? Is there any gear or lenses you would like to see added? Please let us know.

This offer is only good for orders delivered in the month of October. (Receive anytime during the month of October.) Cannot be used with any other discounts or offers
Cannot be used with orders that have already shipped.

Again thank you so much and we hope you have a great fall kick off!

Sincerely,
Camera Lens Rentals

--
-
Gear Listed in "About Me"

 

[awaldram]

Interesting times.

Pentax on the cusp of a complete disaster, How I will they respond.

They could go for the head in sand no we see no ships.

But that will have disastrous repercussions on potential k5ii/s sales

At the very least they need ot assure potential K5ii/s purchases that 18months down the line they won't have an issue.

This would probably leave them with major sales issues for this model though.

Shouting from the roof top it fixed and add pre-mature shutter failure to the lifetime warranty the stain issue has.

This would probably not cost them very much and would remove all anxiety any new purchases may have.

But they have to act fast and Loud.

We'll see if Ricoh does influence the 'Pentax way'

Which is wait till the flood lights come on and your pants are down.

--
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

 

[SBS]

Pentax replies:

"PENTAX Japan has never informed us of any general or known issue with the mirror assembly in the K-5. Since the K-5ll and K-5lls models are not yet available we have not had the opportunity to test them, nor have we received any user feedback on the camera."

??? So who does test the cameras before releasing. It sounds/feels as if Pentax USA is no more than a brokerage/distributor/contractor for Pentax. How does one talk directly to the powers that be?

 

[baldeagle21b]

Pentax replies:

"PENTAX Japan has never informed us of any general or known issue with the mirror assembly in the K-5. Since the K-5ll and K-5lls models are not yet available we have not had the opportunity to test them, nor have we received any user feedback on the camera."

??? So who does test the cameras before releasing. It sounds/feels as if Pentax USA is no more than a brokerage/distributor/contractor for Pentax. How does one talk directly to the powers that be?

OK,

Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company Ltd.
2-35-7, Maeno-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 174-8639 Japan
Attn: President Noboru Akahane

Might as well go right to the top, right?

 

[Mr Jam]

I sent my K5 for exactly the same problem to CRIS about 3 weeks ago. Finally today the status changed from "in repair" to "repair completed". I am happy with the turn around time. Here is repair detail for your information.

REPLACED MIRROR BOX MOTOR
UPDATED FIRMWARE
RESET ALL
CLEANED AND CHECKED TO MANUFACTURER'S SPECIFICATIONS

 

[SBS]

I sent my K5 for exactly the same problem to CRIS about 3 weeks ago. Finally today the status changed from "in repair" to "repair completed". I am happy with the turn around time. Here is repair detail for your information.

REPLACED MIRROR BOX MOTOR
UPDATED FIRMWARE
RESET ALL
CLEANED AND CHECKED TO MANUFACTURER'S SPECIFICATIONS

Thanks for the info. That is certainly a reasonable turn around. I usually get fast service as long as they don't have to order parts.