K-3 II firmware bug? anyone else got it?

Just noticed that today and it's also reported on US forums.

When manual lens with no A setting on ring is mounted and I'm in live view and in M mode the green button will not set the shutter speed. It works OK when using viewfinder though.

Anyone knows how to report that to Ricoh?

Greg

its ok ricoh will give you an anwser in what say a years time
on a seriouse note though you would be better finding the email address for ricoh/pentak usa than the uk

If you go to their UK website you can report issues through that.

Went to UK website, to contact us. Loaded support form, filled all in than it asked me for camera model and I there's no K3 II in drop down selection menu. Had to chose: Other.

Got answer from Ricoh, direct copy from received email:
Thank you for contacting Ricoh Imaging.
Herewith we inform you that in "M" mode the camera doesn't adjust any settings because in "M" everything should be set manually.
What you would like to achieve should be possible in "Av" mode.

If you are in need of further assistance, please respond to this email or call our technical support center.

Sincerely,
Ricoh Imaging Technical Support


WTF?? Do they even know what their camera is able or not to do??

I sent them quote from page 90 of K-3 II manual, see what they think of that.

Told you they are as much use as a fart in a cullinder
Sorry john Riley but this as to be said

Pentax UK needs to be taken by the short and currys and given a good shake and people put in place that are passionate about the product not just there because it is a job

How old is the lens you are trying to use? 'A Series' lenses were first produced 31 years ago so yours must be older. Microsoft etc. only support products for a few years.

Most old lenses haven't metered correctly on Pentax bodies since at least the Z-1 came out.

If you knew about Liveview you would know that it has to stop down the lens to show the picture. Is it stopping down? (I doub't it).

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Algi don't Pentax say all of there old lenses will work it is somthing they all go on about

If it can't stop the lens down in Liveview it won't work correctly. I've never tried it because I use full manual and sometimes LV to help focusing, but never metering.

LV focusing isn't too hot either because the lens is usually stopped down

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I've tried with Tokina RMC 400 5.6 which hasn't got A setting and with Vivitar S1 105mm set to something else than A.

From K-3 II manual, page 90 Highlighted box:
How to achieve correct exposure with aperture ring not set to A:
1. set the mode dial to M
2. set the aperture ring to desired aperture
3. press green button, the correct shutter speed will be set
4. If the correct exposure cannot be achieved adjust ISO sensitivity


It works like that in viewfinder but not in Live View. When you press green button in live view you can hear lens stopping down and then opening and picture in LV blinks but it doesn't adjust aperture. The lens does stop down when taking picture.

It worked like that in both modes on K-5 II.


I think it's a bug and I think the guy from Ricoh who answered my query never had Pentax DSLR in his hand.

I've just tried on a K-5 with a Pentax-K 50mm f/1.2 and it does seem to meter correctly in LV. LV is always wide open at f/1.2 except for the very short time it meters.

I also tried a Pentax-A 50mm f/1.4 and in non-A mode set at f/11 it closes down to meter and then opens up again. It seems to stay closed down for longer though.... nearly a second so maybe it meters differently than the K lens.

On the A setting it doesn't seem to close down, but the iris was partly closed anyway. If you shine a torch at the lens you can see the iris open and close.

Both lenses have perfect snappy aperture blades.

Possibly the K-3 works differently?

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After sending them quote from manual I got another reply today:

Thank you for contacting Ricoh Imaging.
We have forwarded your case to our product specialists for investigation. They will test the camera in the same situation as you described.
After the testing is done we will get back to you with an advice.

If you are in need of further assistance, please respond to this email or call our technical support center.

Sincerely,
Ricoh Imaging Technical Support


They got product specialists. I wonder what will be their reply?

Just checked on my K3 - using a non-a lens (in this case a Sigma 28mm) green button does work in manual mode and LV. After obtaining the correct exposure in M via green button, with viewfinder, I then switched to LV, stopped down by one stop, pressed green button and shutter speed halved. K3ii should behave the same!

To be honest I'm only sending those emails for the fun of it. That Tokina 400mm is the only fully manual lens I got and I don't use it at all. And I very rarely use LV, so for me it's a non issue. But it could be frustrating for someone else.