How tough is the K5

Hi everybody recently went on holliday and dropped my K5 on the pavement picked it cleaned it of and found a small scratch on the back still works ok. few days later tripped on a foot path dropped the K5 this time the alloy back was broken turned the camera on guess what it still worked. the camera is insured and they replaced the K5 with K5ii, thats why I use Pentax. Derek

Trust a fellow Yorkshireman to find a way of upgrading their camera without having to pay for the upgrade

Only Joking Derek, I know exactly what you mean, one of the things that first attracted to me to Pentax was the robust feel of the cameras.

Don't make a habit of testing just how resilient they are though, the insurance company may get suspicious

Carl

Imagine doing that to a C....n!

Even the plastic K100 is tougher than it looks. I've dropped mine twice onto a concrete path with only minor scratches and no adverse effects.

Well there are another two names I've noted not to buy anything from

I know that that this is not an "I can top that" competition, but I thought that you may be amused or amazed by the following true story.

Many years ago (in the early 1980s) a friend of mine was climbing in the Alps when his Pentax (it was an ME Super) fell out of his rucksack. He actually managed to find it when they got back to the bottom of the climb.

He reckoned that it had fallen the best part of 1000 feet! Result - smashed lens, dented (rather badly) pentaprism housing and one strap lug ripped off. He put a new lens on it and it still worked.

Last time I saw him about 6-8 years ago he still had it and it still worked. Now that is tough!

Phil

better than my D-FA 100

I can't top that, but I can say that the old Spotmatic is pretty tough. I accidentally dropped my wife's Spotmatic onto a stone pavement (the shoulder-strap broke while I was carrying it). Flattened the lens hood, cracked the yellow filter, but it was still working fine 30+ years later, when we last put a roll of Kodachrome through it.

Martin

Two left feet or what, enjoy the new camera
Regards Dave

The only problem is that when you drop them the focus screen frame tends to unclip and drop. Then you have to do some interesting shaking and rattling to get the focus screen out of the way so that you can get the lens off without mangling the screen or the mirror and clip it back in. Pentax should really do something about that

Actually there has been a device on the market for a very long time that totally eradicates this problem - a neck strap

Carl

That method is not immune to user error - not having it round one's neck at the time

Funny you should say that because my Canon G10 hit concrete more times than I care to think of - mostly from shoulder height and one time fell two floors in an old derelict building, bounced and (what were the chances) fell through a hole barely bigger than the camera and onto the floor on the floor beneath the floor I was on - well I was partway down a metal ladder actually .

I made my way down to the next floor - expecting to find lots of pieces of what was once a camera to find it still in one piece. The casing had opened a few millimetres so I just pressed hard to re-close it and went for the power switch, praying, ... well what do you know still works to this day

Oh yes I also , in Bala (Wales) , launched a Canon 1000fn film camera, again from shoulder height, onto the road. There was a dent on the pentaprism and flash no longer worked - otherwise it was fine

Newest camera to be tested:
Dropped my K3 onto the tarmac. Embarrassed or what - Granddad nodded off whilst sitting in the sunshine and the camera fell off my lap. It has an excellent Optech strap attached, but as already noted, the strap needs to be around one's neck in order to work effectively.

Damage, two or three very small pinhead paint chips on the top of the pentaprism housing and the popup flash has a 1/4 inch split in the thin plastic cover. Despite all that everything is still working fine.

I've had cameras, including my K-30, fall on the floor because of a neck strap - camera on a table, neck strap dangling, someone walks past and catches the strap......... No damage luckily. I prefer a lanyard most of the time because of this.