Follow up - K1 misbehaving when unused for a day or two.

I posted some while ago that when my K1 had been sitting around unused it would make an unusual 'click' and refuse to do anything else. The recorded 'exposure' is simply black. It is often necessary to remove the battery and replace it to regain control, when it makes a loud clatter and will work faultlessly for the rest of the day.

One or two others have had the same trouble but nobody could finger the cause. Today, instead of trying to get it to resume business I removed the lens and looked inside. I found myself looking at the shutter curtains (closed) and discovered that the mirror was stuck in the 'up' position. (shades of LX here). Removing the battery and replacing it, then switching it back on resulted in the same loud clatter as the mirror returned to its rest position.

So, now we know what is going on, does anyone have any suggestions to fix it?

The only things I can think of are updating the camera Firmware and checking the battery contacts inside the camera. IIRC Pentax cameras woulkd lock the mirror up if the power level was too low, but I don't know whether or not this is still the case.

Another thought, is the battery fully charged and is it a Pentax one. Also, how old is the battery as they do have a finite life.

I haven't put the very latest firmware in as I have no use for it. I rotate Pentax and 3rd party batteries of various ages and these don't appear to have any pattern of interaction. I sometimes get 'battery depleted' if that is the case. After the mirror has been freed it will work all day on the same battery. I will give the contacts a scrub with a pencil eraser.

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