K3II Intermittent Overexposure Issue

Hi all,

My K3II has an intermittent overexposure issue, every now and again every other photo is overexposed.

I photographed at a race meeting a week ago and everything was fine, no overexposed images, at the meeting I was at last Sunday I had quite a few overexposed images, but it was only every other image.


Removing the battery seemed to cure the issue for a while.


This happens on single shot and on continuous mode too.


Has anyone else had this problem with their K3II?


Below is an example of the issue.

Using the same lens ?

John

Exif the same?

The EXIF suggests the exposure is consistent between the shots so could it be the lens aperture isn't closing down. First thing therefore is to try a different lens and see if the issue goes away. Also check the lens you've used for sluggish diaphram blade closure, it is an issue that can affect some older lenses (guess it could with new ones too) and is a common cause of unexplained over exposure.

Yes using the same lens, 50-135 DA*

The lens works fine on my K5II body.

I've only got one more meeting of the season in October so I'll try a different lens.

Regards, Chris.

Well try it before you go Chris; save disappointment!
Have you tried it on the K5ii since the issue?

If it is definitely fine on one body but not the other it does point to a camera problem. Definitely worth doing some further tests to make sure.

Hi John,

it only seems to happen after approximately 900 /1000 images so I won't really be able to check beforehand but I will put one of my other lenses on my K3II for the next meeting.


There's another track I go to now and again whos season doesn't end until November so if I get a chance to go there then I'll put the 50-135 DA* on my K5II body and see what results I get.

Regards,

Chris.

** Update **


I put the 50-135 DA* on my K5II body and took 1102 shots at Sundays race meeting, the lens performed faultlessly, no over exposed shots at all.

Just need to check my K3II body out with a different lens.

Regards,

Chris.

Given the huge number of shots before it fails, it does sound like a weak battery in the K3ii.
Have you got a spare you can swap over with when the issue occurs? If that solves it it'll confirm the problem. If not it would surely be the camera itself, but it's odd it'll take hundreds of shots in a session and then fail, yet be OK again next time. I'm guessing you'd have charged the battery in between sessions?

Edit: One thought that comes to mind is if the camera is getting hot in an extended session and that is somehow causing a problem A capacitor failing perhaps causing it to run hot?

The CIPA rated battery life for the K-3ii is 720 shots.
https://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/pentax-k3-ii/pentax-k3-iiA6.HTM
however, that would include using the flash for some of them too. So achieving up to 1000 before it fails seems to be par for the course.
What is the battery charge indicator showing when the failures start to occur?

Sorry for the long delay in replying to my thread, its taken some time to do the lens/body checks I needed to do.

All the lenses I tried on my K3 II gave the same intermittent overexposed results.
All the same lenses I tried on my K5 II worked perfectly.

As the K3 II is still within the 2 years warranty period I called SRS earlier on today and they said to send it in for a check/warranty repair.

Regards,

Chris.

** Update **

Just received my K3-II back from SRS/John Pye Technical.

Letter inside box says....1000 shots taken, no fault found.

I'll be using at a race meeting this weekend so I'll give it a good work out and see what happens.

Regards, Chris.

K3ii s have a reputation for gobbling batteries (mine does and will get through two in a day!) but it has never caused this problem and I run them right to the end.
As an aside, you can extend their life by turning the camera off between shots.

No fault found is the worst outcome.

I had a recent electrical fault on my K1 and putting it into continuous drive mode and firing it off would present the fault every time. They replaced the electrics board.

Good luck

** Another Update **

Well....I only got to shot number 129 and guess what, the over exposure fault was there again.

I'll phone SRS again in the week.

Regards,

Chris.