K50 Aperture Problem, how did Pentax respond?

Hi

I think my K50 has developed the Aperture problem that seems to have affected the K30 and K50

I can get it to work in Manual and it seems to work in LV but any other setting seems to result in a dark image .

Firmware is all up to date ad I’ve even tried it with AA batteries but to no avail.

Shutter count less than 4000 as it’s a backup body.

Anyone any ideas? , did we ever get a formal response from Pentax on the issue?

Pete

I had the same problem, just kept clicking the shutter button and it cleared up. Probably only temporary but so far fingers crossed it is ok. Also worth checking your lens, move the aperture lever on the mount and it should snap back instantly, if not that could be the problem.

Rob,

Thanks, I’ve just put it on high speed shutter and let it fire away and it’s now burst into life. Fingers crossed and thanks

Needs the proper fix because the problem will almost certainly happen again, and just when you don't want it to happen - see elsewhere here or on the US forum.

Thanks , can you send a link or details , be much appreciated

Pete

There is a You Tube Video out where an Indian gentleman repairs the fault in 14 minutes.
I had mine repaired at a cost of £200 so not very happy.

This forum
The US forum - there are several lo.......ng threads here
PS: My K-30 now has a "white" solenoid, sourced by me and fitted by Asahi Photo in Brentford (and now has the hacked f/w to make it think it's a K-50, and it works well with the 55-300 PLM )

The Indian gentleman's repair was probably the one involving sanding part of the solenoid - "history" indicates that it will probably fail again. Also runs the risk of bricking the camera in the process of the "repair".

The £200 repair sounds like a Johnsons Photopia job - and probably with a "green" solenoid, and so it might fail again!

I don't think that Pentax have acknowledged the problem at all and used the same faulty part in multiple models over multiple years. I'm not sure if even now they're still using it. Is the K-70 affected? I don't think I've seen any reports of K-70s with this problem, it's mainly 30s and 50s.

Somewhat relevant thread here on the US forum
PS: somewhere in that thread is an indication that Pentax DID change the sourcing of the solenoid, and could be using that on the K-70 (etc.). MIGHT also be using it for repairs to the other affected models - though I doubt that anyone can confirm/deny that.

You wouldn't believe the amount of reading I did and the number of shop visits I did back in early 2014

And yet I still bought a K30 with no idea this was even a thing!

I won't write 'touch wood everything ok so far' otherwise you know what will happen....

mmm , yes it works intermittently, if I leave it for a few hours it will not work. If I fire off a number of shots it will start working again. It seems to work on manual at the moment so if anything I’ll go back to the old days and use it in fully manual mode.

Pete

From reading various threads, regular use (daily/weekly - not annually) seems to the key to preventing the problem happening