K5 - Dead.

Oh Dear.

Went for a walkabout, shot 40/50, got home, cuppa tea in the garden, shot 4 or 5 more. Next shot, depressed the shutter .....'Thunk' and ... nothing (WTF ?!?) .... again ...... 'Thunk' .......and again and again - then 'Depleted Battery' icon appears. This 'Thunk' is a very dull noise I haven't heard before.

Strange. OK change the battery ..... 'Thunk' ..... Thunk, Thunk, Thunk .... 'Depleted Battery' icon ....WTF !?!?! Change to 3rd battery .... one 'Thunk' then ..... 'Depleted Battery'.

Camera can not take a shot. Switches on (though metering looks a bit strange 1/8,000 @ f4 ?!?) metering settles down, AF works fine on all 3 batteries.

Any ideas .... suicide doesn't count ?

30 mins after I placed my order

Hope you get sorted quickly

Hope you get sorted Frogfish. Sounds like a replacement job.

Thanks Alan & Smeggy. Ah well if it's a replacement then the up side is I can go back to zero actuations from 30k. Look on the bright side eh.

We'll keep our fingers crossed its a swap and not a repair then.

30K shutter count. It would be interesting to know if that has any bearing on the fault considering they're rated to 100K

Ha ha - thanks Spider.

Sean - my mistake - my K7 has 30k, the K5 has around 15k.

Still....good shootin

You are not alone. This happens alot. I took mine in with the same problem and the Pentax tec. tapped it on its side and it came back on. Just tap it and put a battery in it and start shooting. I googled it and we are not the only ones with the problem. Just crummy product at a premium price.

'This happens a lot' Can you provide some figures?
'I googled it' Can you give us the link?
'the Pentax tec. tapped it' Who was this and where?

Yes, like Ken I'd like to know more about this ! I've also not seen this fault mentioned anywhere before - and I spend hours a day on photography sites.

Bit late for me this time though as I have already given back to the shop I bought it from, I imagine it's in Japan now.

Even if it can be 'fixed' with a tap I'd still send it back in though since it's obviously a fault that needs rectifying whilst still under guarantee.

New member signs up and posts vague negative comment

Must try harder

Yes, well assuming this post is on the level...

If you have to 'give it a tap' to get it working there are two possible reasons for this: either a mechanical part is 'stuck' and needs a physical jolt to free it, or there is a loose electrical connection, usually what's known as a 'dry joint'. (The latter was the classic fault with old CRT television sets you had to whack to get them started). Either problem can potentially get worse with further usage and could eventually render the camera permanently inoperative. Therefore you need to insist the problem is fixed properly or the camera replaced. For a 'Pentax Tech' to just tap it and give it back to you in the same state is shockingly unprofessional.

Until the info he has provided is backed up with a bit of detail...i.e. what tech.....what link to the problem? .....Then I don't think feeding the troll is advisable. He may turn out not be a troll but let's wait and see

Yup - great first post

You can be pretty sure that if a hammer or a tap doesn't work it may well be an electrical problem

Hope you get your camera sorted Frogfish, a replacement might be in order.....