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K50 pictures completely dark

Roxmarie
Posted 03/04/2019 - 09:05 Link
My k-50 has the black picture after 3 years, i bought IT new.
To repair IT costs 190 euro.
My camera is in germany at Pentax.
There where 3 problems i cant all remember. Diafragma failure block, fireware and onother thing.
Really dissapointing. So what is a good replacement without this problem. K-70?
JAK
Posted 03/04/2019 - 13:41 Link
Hopefully once you get it back you won't need a replacement. If you were considering something else I can't think why you would pay out to get that one fixed.
Welcome to PU by the way!
John K
Edited by JAK: 03/04/2019 - 13:41
mckendrick
Posted 04/06/2019 - 18:23 Link
A second camera is always useful, JAK.
This what happened to my K-50 - so I got it fixed and now it's a second camera as I got another camera in the meantime.
Welcome to the forum, Roxmarie.
M.McK
Bodies: MX, LX, *ist D, K-50, KP

Optics: SMC Takumar 28-80mm 3.5-4, SMC Takumar 80-200 4, SMC 200mm 2.8, SMC A28mm 2.8mm, SMC A50mm 1.4, SMC A100mm 2.8 macro, DA10-17mm 3.5-4.5 Fisheye
Edited by mckendrick: 04/06/2019 - 18:23
teresem
Posted 22/09/2019 - 12:52 Link
The exact same thing happened to me, got my K-50as a birthday present two years ago. It's been working fine until last week. LiveView worked fine, not darker than usual. But the pictures were completely black or very very dark. Googled around a bit and did some trouble shooting so I got the same as many of you. It seems to be an aperture control block failure. I fired of multiple shots in speed mode and it started working again. So like for the rest of you it'll also stop working again.

Lucky for me I have an old lens with an aperture ring, Hopefully I can just use that one instead and continue to use the camera. I'm not a rich lady, and I just passed the warrant expiration date so I guess I don't have much of a choice. I read that some of you have been reporting the failure, getting in touch with pentax and using the pentaxcamerarepair.com team. But I live in Sweden and the shipping costs are huge.

It's just something to accept unfortunately. Good luck everyone!
Edited by teresem: 22/09/2019 - 13:22
JAK
Posted 23/09/2019 - 15:54 Link
teresem wrote:
The exact same thing happened to me, got my K-50as a birthday present two years ago. It's been working fine until last week. LiveView worked fine, not darker than usual. But the pictures were completely black or very very dark. Googled around a bit and did some trouble shooting so I got the same as many of you. It seems to be an aperture control block failure. I fired of multiple shots in speed mode and it started working again. So like for the rest of you it'll also stop working again.

Lucky for me I have an old lens with an aperture ring, Hopefully I can just use that one instead and continue to use the camera. I'm not a rich lady, and I just passed the warrant expiration date so I guess I don't have much of a choice. I read that some of you have been reporting the failure, getting in touch with pentax and using the pentaxcamerarepair.com team. But I live in Sweden and the shipping costs are huge.

It's just something to accept unfortunately. Good luck everyone!

If it's only just out of warranty contact your dealer or https://www.ricoh-imaging.se/ and see if they can help.
John K
OldTaffy
Posted 23/09/2019 - 16:44 Link
JAK wrote:

If it's only just out of warranty contact your dealer or https://www.ricoh-imaging.se/ and see if they can help.

I second that suggestion. Some good Pentax dealers seem to be able to persuade Ricoh to repair free of charge even if warranty has recently expired. I am grateful to our friends at SRS who managed to have the aperture block failure on my K-S2 repaired free when the fault developed 2 months out of warranty. That was about a year ago, and the camera has been working well since then.
A few of my photographs in flickr.
Lizars 1910 "Challenge" quarter-plate camera; and some more recent stuff.
Posted 05/04/2020 - 20:16 Link
Could anyone point me at an online source for the exact aperture electromagnet - preferably of decent quality - to fix the ubiquitous K50 problem? Got lots of time on my hands to do this with care and attention to detail just now!
Thanks very much for any assistance.
Posted 22/03/2021 - 09:38 Link
Does anyone know the cheapest place to get this fixed currently?
mckendrick
Posted 22/03/2021 - 16:08 Link
greentricky wrote:
Does anyone know the cheapest place to get this fixed currently?

I don't know who 'the cheapest' is - and I'm not sure I'd go there.
However, the official repair agent for Pentax/Ricoh in the UK is:

John Pye Ltd (Service & Repairs)
39-40 Marchington Industrial Estate
Stubby Lane
Uttoxeter
ST14 8LP

Phone: 01283 384409
Contact: [email protected]

Drop them an email or give them a call.

Also;

You could try Park Cameras who have a well established and trusted reputation for repairs. Details here:

https://www.parkcameras.com/services/in-store/camera-repairs/
Bodies: MX, LX, *ist D, K-50, KP

Optics: SMC Takumar 28-80mm 3.5-4, SMC Takumar 80-200 4, SMC 200mm 2.8, SMC A28mm 2.8mm, SMC A50mm 1.4, SMC A100mm 2.8 macro, DA10-17mm 3.5-4.5 Fisheye
Edited by mckendrick: 22/03/2021 - 16:14
Posted 23/03/2021 - 09:16 Link
Thanks, mainly asked as I had the fault repaired a few years ago by Johnsons Photopia but before it was recognised as being the solenoid issue. Assumed it might be viewed as a standard repair now it is more widely known and somewhere doing it for a fixed price. I'll contact John Pye.
mckendrick
Posted 23/03/2021 - 13:32 Link
greentricky wrote:
Thanks, mainly asked as I had the fault repaired a few years ago by Johnsons Photopia....

Do you recall the repair cost with Johnson's..?
Bodies: MX, LX, *ist D, K-50, KP

Optics: SMC Takumar 28-80mm 3.5-4, SMC Takumar 80-200 4, SMC 200mm 2.8, SMC A28mm 2.8mm, SMC A50mm 1.4, SMC A100mm 2.8 macro, DA10-17mm 3.5-4.5 Fisheye
Posted 23/03/2021 - 15:09 Link
mckendrick wrote:
greentricky wrote:
Thanks, mainly asked as I had the fault repaired a few years ago by Johnsons Photopia....

Do you recall the repair cost with Johnson's..?

It was £113 in April 2017 according to the invoice
davidstorm
Posted 23/03/2021 - 20:26 Link
greentricky wrote:
mckendrick wrote:
Quote:
Thanks, mainly asked as I had the fault repaired a few years ago by Johnsons Photopia....

Do you recall the repair cost with Johnson's..?

It was £113 in April 2017 according to the invoice

If you have some precision screwdrivers this is a repair that most people who are reasonably handy can easily do themselves. There are loads of youtube videos on how this repair is done and also the solenoids are in ready supply on ebay. Alternatively, you may be able to fix the existing solenoid in the camera by shaving off the shoulders with a small file, again there are videos on youtube showing how this is done. Taking apart a K-50 is pretty straightforward, as it is with most of the Pentax DSLR's, the shells come off easily when you've removed the right screws. You need a screwdriver that is a '00' gauge crosshead.

Regards
David
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Nicola's Apartments, Kassiopi, Corfu

Some cameras, some lenses, some bits 'n' bobs
HarisF1
Posted 25/03/2021 - 16:42 Link
I second the procedure above. It's something that can be done in a couple of hours with a Youtube tutorial running in the background.

Just remember to use a loop of tape to put your screws on as you remove them. Even better if you write 'front/left/right/rear/bottom' on a bit of paper so you can remember where they came from.
All the gear with no idea

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