K20D fuzzy image problem.

I fear I know the answer to this one.

I am in Romania for work. The other day I went to take a picture of a large Roman tower and the images were very very fuzzy despite bright light etc.

Back at base I decided to test the camera further and so I set it up on a tripod and used the 2 second mirror-up delay etc. Whether SR was on or not, the camera made a horrible clonking noise as the timer counted down, and I was getting images with the main image looking OK-ish but a second ghost image slightly offset from it.

I think the SR has developed a nasty fault and at a very inconvenient time. Any suggestions folks, apart from send it for repair?

I have a batch of macro shots to do today and I am going to have to revert to using the LX and BW film. Shame I left the FB-1/FD-1 viewfinder at home but at least I have my hand held meter. (Yes, I know the LX has excellent metering but the artefacts are set on black background which I want to be black, not gray!)

Best wishes, Kris.

I had something very similar sounding with my K20D (along with every other fault going). The diagnosis was that an internal screw (I think from the tripod socket assembly on the base) had worked itself loose and lodged itself under the magnetic sensor plate, preventing the sensor from moving properly.

Mine was fixed under warranty, so I don't know the cost to repair. If it is that problem and if hasn't damaged the sensor then I don't think it should be expensive. In fact regardless of the age of the camera I would ask them to do it for nothing because it's something that shouldn't happen - someone might have neglected to glue the screws in place during the assembly process.

I thought you had to put off SR when you are using a tripod.

Yes but:

Actually, the 2 sec timer turns SR off automatically.

K.

Well off to the repairers it goes on Wednesday... Just hope they take less than the four months they took to repair my DA* 50-135mm

Thanks all. K.

Could it maybe be the shutter?
You could try a long exposure to see if that sounds different...

As for the repairs, you use the camera for work so just say that and they will probably repairs yours faster.
At least that's the case here.

The sensor is held in a particular position by the magnets whether SR is on or off. If something is stopping it being in that position then the SR will keep trying to move it to that position. That's the noise.

I had this with a camera where initially it worked but then the frame that holds the filter in front of the sensor came loose. The resulting image consists of a sharp image overlaid with an offset ghost image where the sensor moved during the exposure. It worked for horizontal pictures, and for one orientation of vertical pictures, but was a total mess the other way up.

Check your insurance. If this happened 'in transit' you might be covered.

Sadly the quote for repair is over £150...