Electronic level innacuracy - how long to fix?

I thought this was too good to be true! The electronic level is off on my new K5. I was down at the Seven sisters using the elctronic level and it is about 3 or 4 degrees off compared to the actual horizon (which is actually quite a lot on a photo). Has anyone in the UK had this adjusted by Pentax under warranty and how long did it take?

I wished they put in an option so you can "reset" the base/zero value of them. I have heard about more with the same problem.

It's the same ( that is not accurate or properly calibrated) on my K5. In fact both of the last 2 bodies were the same. The lack of QC is starting to bug me.

you do test it on the tripod right?

Shouldn't make any difference Stefan- if it says it is level in should be level, on a tripod or not. Mine is thankfully.

I don't think it's physically possible for it to ever work
properly...... it's just a gimmick and most of the error that
you see is probably user error, due to the sensor not
being exactly parallel with what you are photographing,
although I have seen some on the US forum that were seriously out.

When I checked mine it was as near as possible (with this type
of gadget) level with two bars showing through the viewfinder,
but even that isn't very accurate I still use it like
that, but a lot of shots are better slightly off level anyway.

The automatic trim to level suffers from the same problems.
I doubt if it will be fixable by a firmware update. The whole
mechanism depends on how accurately the sensor has been fixed
in the camera.

Even checking it is a nightmare, if you photograph a spirit
at about 3 ft. it has to be exactly level and parallel to the
camera sensor.

No you're right but it's hard to see when you handhold it.
Also when you take a photo, when you press the shutter your camera tilt as well a bit, i think that's forgotten.

Surely our own eyes/brain is the best level measurement device.

If you can see it's 'off' when you look at the image at home surely you can see it's 'off' through the viewfinder?

It is miles out on my K7!!
Good job they don't make levels for bricklayers

Regards
Chris

Never use mine, don't even have it switched on.

I have software to alter the horizon if necessary.

Thanks for the general chat guys. My second K5 had an accurate level and I do use it. The whole point of this and the auto horizon feature is because rotation in software causes image degradation. Also, I paid £800 for a camera and this is one of the features that swayed it for me. So, back to the question. Anyone had it fixed by Pentax or do I send this one back as well? I am sure I read a post somewhere from someone who did, cannot find it now though.

I use mine quite a lot, saves messing around with the hot shoe level I used to use - it's level when showing 3 bars to the left so I just remember this when using it, still be nice to be able to calibrate it though!!

Simon

I used to use it on the K7 all the timey, and it worked very well. It is way out on the K5, and the amount it is out varies considerably each time I switch the camera on, so it is completely useless! I don't understand why it is not re-settable by the user. I haven't tried the automatic levelling, but wonder if that is out too, since presumably the two functions get their information from the same source.

You may be happy to accept such sloppiness in QC but I don't think most people spending a great deal of money on a camera would be quite so forgiving. Neither should they. If everyone took that attitude Pentax could turn out any old rubbish they wanted and get away with it. That would do them no good at all.

I don't use AF as much as most people but I still want it to work properly when I do. Surely that's not unreasonable.

Ummm, I don't think I actually said anything about accepting it did I?. What I did say was that I don't use mine. I tried it yesterday and its spot on.

Now switched it off again.

If you have a problem then complain about it to Pentax, simple really.