K-30 random exposure failure issue

Hi,

Anyone else with a K-30 experienced this?

Happened a few times to me recently on holiday. Same settings in Manual occasionally returned nearly completely black images for no reason. Kit lens, nothing changed setting wise.

Googled it and found there may be a widespread issue with the K-30 due to a failing aperture drive motor? Just wondering if anyone else had experienced this and thought I'd make people aware if it hadn't been mentioned before?

In my case I turned the camera off and back on again quite a bit, but it looks as though it's just random so that wasn't really helping anything.

'Other Pentax Forum' example
youtube example
Flickr discussion

No, mine has been fine.

Andrew

I haven't had a problem either.

Nor me.

Sounds like a bit of grit jamming the works.

Following up on this I'm in discussions with Johnsons Photopia to take a look at this, as it's under warranty just.

I've taken a video to attempt to recreate the issue and have just uploaded it to youtube so I can share it. This is the youtube link

I'd appreciate any comments, though not about my slack 'kiwi' accent nor my filming ability whilst I hold an iphone to record also!

Other example link 1

Other example link 2

Other example link 3

I just got a k30 a few days ago.. now im a total newbie with these cameras so i couldn't figure out if it was me or the camera but in video mode if i set the exposure to P is was perfect but if i put it on manual, no matter with the aperture fully open the image with the same light was alot darker.. i didn't investigate more yet.

Well done on your purchase

Going to Manual mode does offer the opportunity to make more setting changes than 'P' mode, and that could lead to the situation you are experiencing.

Namely I'd take note of the shutter speed when you are in manual. Typically you'd set this at half the frame rate as a rough rule. So if you have set the frame rate at say 30fps, then you'd set the shutter speed to 1/60 of a second.

If you have a much higher shutter speed then you wont be letting in as much light and the image will appear dimmer. Also check that the ISO is the same between modes, to ensure you're comparing apples with apples.

Following up again on this, the camera has now been returned to Johnsons Photopia for service. Hopefully these guys can sort it, they get good reviews online. Luckily this was just still under warranty so I took the plunge to return it from New Zealand. That was a pain as I got to the post shop and found you can't send Lithium Ion batteries anymore, so I had to go home and unpack everything!

I made another youtube video (link here) as this seemed the easiest way of sending a video, rather than dropbox etc. They're not great quality videos (taken on the work iPhone) but it shows what's been happening and helped me visualise the problem.

Basically at times the camera doesn't manage to set the aperture correctly. This has happened on multiple lenses, so it's a problem inside the camera body. If this failure happens during the metering process you end up with crazy estimates in the likes of Av and Tv mode to get the right perceived exposure. This inevitably leads to over or underexposed shots. Kind of like sticky aperture blades, on a sticky aperture motor!

Update again. The camera has now been returned to my sister in the UK from Johnsons Photopia. I haven't tested the results but understand the technician was able to replicate the fault so that was a huge relief with the postage effort and all.

The report is very quick and vague (ha reads like a Pentax firmware update change log) :
REPLACED DIAPHRAGM MECHANISM- ADJUSTED & CALIBRATED- CLEANED- CHECK & TEST

I have no idea where or what a body Diaphragm Mechanism is, but hopefully it does the trick. Others appear to have reported an Aperture Motor fault but I'll know when I get the camera back to New Zealand later in the month.

Johnsons Photopia were quick and easy to deal with.

I would imagine that they are both the same thing.


I'm intrigued that you send the camera to the UK, are there no Pentax agents in New Zealand?

[quote:3496ace15f="richandfleur"]That was a pain as I got to the post shop and found you can't send Lithium Ion batteries anymore, so I had to go home and unpack everything![quote]

Might be worth checking as I understand you can provided they're installed in something...like a camera!

I'm sure there's a thread on here somewhere about it.

Got the camera back and used it over the weekend with not a single erroneous exposure issue at all. Happy again.

I opted to do this as there is no service centre in New Zealand (as in tools/skills etc). The closest was Australia and frankly the shipping costs are fairly similar. Basically I wanted to send to the most capable and competent location possible, so I opted for the UK. The NZ agent gets terrible reviews

Honestly Pentax barely rates a mention here, with maybe 1 page of typical magazines relating to shop funded advertisements of Pentax equipment.

Cost was $100 NZD / £50 for a round trip shipping. Weighed that up against a failure and repair outside of warranty and decided to go for it.



Yeah I was able to send if the batteries were inside the camera, however it had to be the most expensive shipping option, and the post shop is required to drop test the packaging from 1.2m in order to test it's sufficiently secured and the battery doesn't explode etc. I opted to remove it completely and repack to avoid the need to do that to my camera body!

Not sure what "diaphragm mechanism" is? That which actuates the lens diaphragm?

Well this failed again over the weekend. Not exactly sure what the issue is, but appear to have lost metering, autofocus and have a weird optical issue as well.

Looking through the viewfinder it looks like a tiltshift filter has been applied (focussed at bottom of the frame but blurry at the top) but through the optical finder, so something mechanical is not quite right. Metering is off leading to massively overexposed shots and the autofocus isn't moving the lens, so doesn't work.

In movie mode it works fine, focuses properly, but movies are overexposed in places. Sounds like a mirror fault maybe, as this seems to work ok when in movie mode, when the mirror is up and out of the way.

The unit locked up several times and required the battery to be removed. Rapidly losing faith with this model.