Memory Card Error K10D

My friend's K10D says Memory card Error when you switch it on. We have tried various different memory cards. Upon googling the problem it seems that it is usually associated with dropping or banging the camera, this didn't happen in this case.

He was shooting some outdoor shots and when he took the last one it gave a message saying that the image failed to save and after that all he got was memory card error.

I have read somewhere that there is a switch inside the memory card holder that detects if the memory card is set to locked or not and that this switch can sometimes stick in the locked position and can be freed with a prod with a cocktail stick.... is this true?

In the worst case scenario and it's a hardware issue where is the best place to send it (Yorkshire area if possible,) my mate isn't working and cannot afford expensive repairs by Pentax etc...

Thanks for any advice.

Jay

I would imagine if the internal switch was stuck the message would be 'memory card locked'

Have you tried removing the battery to effectively reboot the camera and/or resetting to factory defaults?

Yes we have tried both those things. Any more ideas?

Sadly, no I don't but I'm sure someone else will come up with more suggestions.

Just a thought, you could try re-installing the firmware.

I thought you did that via the memory card Ken

Have you tried switching the camera on without a card in? it should say "no memory card" it could be a way of determining if the cards are at fault, if the error message still reads memory card error with no card in then it odds on the fault is with the camera.

Sometimes when we get a card fault, the card will work in one camera but not in another identical one. So we get the images off via a card reader, or via the camera if that's all that works, and then discard that card. The images are the imprtant thing, so a new £5 card is neither here nor there.

If the cards are any particular age, the a new one may be OK. Also, don't forget to format the card in the camera every time you want to delete all the images. If you don't there is a small risk of card failure.

Hope that helps!

Doh!

Fatspider, it says No Memory Card when you switch it on without a card.

We have tried several different cards of different brands.

So can anyone tell me a decent repairer please? Preferably local to Yorkshire.

The obvious choices are JP Service Solutions, Asahi Photo and Harrow Technical.

The first one gives 20% discount to PU Plus members.

Thanks John.

hi jay
have your friend tried this shop
http://www.dalephotographic.co.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/DalePhotographicOnline/_C...%20REPAIRS/142543/Camera%20Repairs
neil

I bought a K10D with a similar error for not much- thinking it wouldn't be that hard to fix. Turned out to be dry joints on the inter-board connector between the motherboard and SD card board.

Trouble was that in taking the two boards apart two tracks got broken on the PCB because there wasn't enough mechanical strength left with the bad joints not holding. Now I've got a K10D in pieces, but broken and without much chance of a fix

It may well be something similar on yours
Matt

Hi, my mate went today buy apparently it's shut down.