K50 pictures completely dark

Hi Everybody! I have a Pentax K50 for about a year. It been stationary for a few months. Now being on vacation in Venice I pulled it out and ... Photo completely dark, the image you see just barely. I tried in all the ways, Auto, M, TAv, I reset the machine but nothing. Any suggestions?.. K50 with basic lenses WR. Thanks in advance! Yuri.

Is LiveView 'dark'?

If it is then you need to take it in for repair.

Do you have a manual aperture lens?
Either an older manual focus lenses, or a newer Tamron lens for example, which includes a manual aperture ring on the lens.

Try fixing the aperture manually on the lens and then taking a photo. Sounds suspiciously like an aperture motor failure, which I had hoped was limited to the early K-30s only...

Two possibilities spring to mind. Check you are not set to spot metering, use matrix or centre weighted. Check you have not set some minus exposure compensation.

Hi Everyone! And thanks for your answers.
@SteveLedger: It's evening here now, too late for outdoor shooting, but yes, inside the room in LV mode the display is rather dark. I can see the lamp's bulb although but only if I point to it directly. Is it sensor problem or else?.. Thanks.
@richandfleur: No, I have no others lenses. I thought to buy some but remain without job for months. So photography became very second for me. It's why I left my camera forgotten about it for some months. Hope you understand what I mean.
@johnriley: Do you speak about AE metering? Yes I check it. I use center-weighted always, after resetting it must be multi segment if I'm not wrong. So not this problem. Checked exposure too. 0 (zero). Well, with +5 (plus five), so maximum one, 1 second time, F4, ISO 3200, in Auto mode you can see what there are inside the room... Better, but not acceptable. I repeat, in the evening, small room with a lamp. Well, it's difficult explain maybe the light condition I have now, but believe me, I shot many pictures inside the museums, churches and so on, places where normally you can't use flash, at least here in Italy it's forbidden to use flash in museums. Never had this problem before.
Well, I think in every case I have to bring it to the assistance. I can't believe it but I have to. So sad.
Thanks Everybody for taking your time to answer me!
Kind regards!
Yuri.

Yuri,

It could be an aperture motor control problem on the body. If you Google it I'm sure some info will come up.

Worth checking your settings first though.

Hi lennythelion!
Thanks for taking your time to answer me. So can you explain, is this a (widespread) problem with Pentax cameras?.. And in every case I have to bring it to an assistance? Then, when you speaking about checking settings which one exactly? Remember, I even tried to reset the settings. So I suppose some so called "probably wrong AE metering" for example or else, always if there was any, must be reset too?..
Thanks,
Yuri.

The only wide spread problem with Pentax cameras I'm aware of is carbon based
Yes, there are some issues which are reported a number of times, but even if a dozen people report a similar problem it doesn't make it wide-spread.

Personally, I'd say it has developed a fault. Best to send it in for service.

Hi richandfleur! Yes, seems I fixed it. I've put it in Sport mode and made more than thirty shots I think. Now it seems to be turned back to normal. I say "seems" because some shot continue to be dark. I hope it will "wake-up" completely these days, and if it won't I have to bring it to assistance, maybe just for full check-up. So Thank You very much for your suggestion, Thanks Everyone for your attention! All the best! Yuri.

In my opinion, if that 'fixes' it, then you most likely have a failing aperture motor component.
Over time this will most probably get worse, so it needs to be returned for repair to replace this part.

Is it under warranty?
I had mine replaced free of charge (apart form shipping) right near the end of my warranty and it's been absolutely fine ever since.

I'm disappointed at the occurrences I'm reading about for the K-50.
I'm aware the K-50 is essentially a facelift K-30, but I had hoped this problem was limited to the early K-30 models. This does not appear to be the case.

Hopefully this 'take some fast photos' approach will get you through your holiday period though

I never even considered that an expensive item from such an old and respected camera manufacturer could fail...............until I started to read [the] forums

Aside from the K-01 and now the Q losing date settings when I change batteries, thus far nothing serious has happened to any of my Pentax cameras since the *istDS.

Yes, I think I'll bring it to assistance. Yes, it's under warranty.
Thanks for kind words! I really appreciate this.
All the best,
Yuri.

Well, the same for me too... I must correct myself... The same was for me too .
Although, Thanks for your attention to mine!
Regards,
Yuri.

You're clearly one of the lucky few then Steve ... just like myself in fact!

I think its inevitable that these sort of issues will get highlighted, and perhaps gain more attention than the actual rate of occurrence would justify ...... especially when most forums have a 'troubleshooting' section.

I think we should balance things up and create a new sub-forum ... 'Faultless Cameras' ..."(post all your daily reports here of perfectly working Pentax cameras, performance as described in the manual and comments of a fully satisfied and contented nature " I'll certainly kickstart it with a full rundown on my experiences with the K7 over nearly 4 years. And I'd have to round it off by saying that the only impairment to perfect pictures I've found has been well and truly carbon-based