K5 Sensor Issues...

Tip: Don't smile when riding a bike..... you get dead flies on your teeth!

at the speeds I go, a dragonfly feels like you got hit with a .22 cal round....
mosquitos would probably chip my teeth..
lol!

Just got off the Phone with SRS, they are going to arrange pickup and replacement of my K5 on Friday,(Replacement time is stock dependant) Bravo! Can I just say, this is brilliant Customer Service and Can I also say that it's nice that whether done directly or indirectly a Company like Pentax can hold their hands up quickly and get the issue dealt with.
Kinda makes me want to stick around long term...

Same with me. I rang them this morning and they promised they will get back to me as soon as they hear from Pentax. I was called a short while ago and have arranged for the camera to be picked up on Friday.
Well done SRS and Pentax.

Well after several tests I've come to the conclusion mine is not worth bothering about, and I'm still not 100% convinced its a problem with the sensor despite giving it a wet clean and it still been there, and in the process managing to put more crud onto the sensor than I took off??? I cleaned it a second time and the mark was still there, and I still managed to leave some muck on the sensor.

One thing this problem has highlighted for me is that wet sensor cleaning is not all its cracked up to be

Wait till it dries then "Butterfly "it!.......I've never had any joy with wet cleaning either!

I've always had the best success wet cleaning. Unfortunately some crap is sticky and sensor shaking or other dry methods won't work. YMMV of course

Well, I spoke too soon. Just checked mine at 100% in ACR and I have three areas of concern. One looks like a smudge and two are blobs.

I have put an image on Flickr under 'SENSOR - for those who know'

WHE are waiting for Pentax to get back to them with a proposal.

I'm sure it will be sorted eventually, I hope the financial cost to HOYA is not enought to bring Pentax down. I understand that the problem is showing up in America and Canada too.

I got my call from SRS yesterday (Wednesday) evening and we will arrange a replacement in the beginning of January as I am rather busy this year (got some 'very special fight scenes' during a church wedding and an extra £250 for not publicizing them and I will stick to this. The evening reception is canceled but I got my full fee and the extra. RESULT!)
Tomorrow I got the Christmas due of one of the parties involved and I hired an extra body just in case.
This is for me the busiest time of the year and also I usually do not do weddings it was a favour for a friend.
I am happy so far with the K-5 but I can see in A3 pictures with a white wall in the back and having a deep DOF because of having 3 rows of guests the 'bubbles' but only because I know where they are.
The issue with the flash overburn has been resolved by stepping down the output and ISO so I am happy with a replacement but I know there are people with worth problems then my one so I am happy to wait as it is nothing where I can use my clone tool on till such time when my replacement is with SRS.
I hope that all of you who have problems get it sorted soon!
Shame really that no official statement from Pentax has emerged so far.

I'm sure the accountants on the boards are advising caution, as this could be a very expensive mistake for someone. Hopefully, public pressure and bad publicity will force a favourable resolution.

I can not see a problem at all. Problem with the K-5 was logged with SRS 3 days after purchase. SRS agreed to a REPLACEMENT for my camera. I know there may be quite a few out there with the fault but look at it as a whole. It seem to be a small percentage overall of all K-5's sold.
Its just a shame that Pentax has nothing bought out official so far. Guess they are still busy investigating.
The K-5 is their flagship and I can not see them being in any way awkward if you are affected.

There may be owners who are not Internet minded and who do not know they have a problem, especially if it is minor, so not seen on the images. There may also be others who are not bothered. Becuase of this we will never really know how widespread it is.

Actually the only evidence we have shows that it seems that just over half of K-5s are affected. There's no evidence to show otherwise at the moment.

Actually 'the evidence' shows that just over half the people who have responded have the issue. As Monobod said there could, and probably are, people out there who have no issues with the K-5, or are unaware of the issue and totally unaware of the polls on the pentax forums.

It is not definative that over half the K-5 are affected.

The poll has just atarted to swing in favour of no problem, but it is hardly definitive for the reasons stated.

We do actually have further evidence though, and that is that Pentax have said that only a very small number of cameras are affected. One would presume that they have a larger sample available to them!