Nearly K5

But the camera is still a new product the fact they have had some faulty items is irrelevant for the retailer.

A company like Jessops or Amazon are just not going to have the resources to have employees check all their stock that 'may' be faulty or have an issue. Far easier to sell the product and then deal with it later if the customer complains. This is what happens in every other line of business.

No wonder you don't see many around, it takes 5-7 weeks for stock to arrive!

We had a coolpix 8700 on which, well out of warranty, the sensor went bad. We sent it off for a quote, it came back fixed, gratis, as it was known issue.

If Pentax wants to retain loyal customers, I think the approach of dealing with the issue whenever it arises would be best.

I had it good then.....oh dear

Anyway, if I have to have another replacement I bet it'll take longer than your second one, so there

Gwyn, they don't develop staining, staining is the term used because that's what it looks like. They are marks on the sensor caused by sloppy manufacture and even sloppier quality control. They are there or they are not. If you have them, Steve has the record for time taken to remedy the problem. Your goal is to beat that time.

I should have known better than make adverse comments about pentax on a pentax forum, but....

I dont like to pay full retail on anything I have bought all of my cameras from (NZ E-Bay) called Trademe. The trader imports cameras direct from Japan.

I have bought the Km, K20D and my current Kr from him. I was not happy with the Km at all. I rang the NZ agent for pentax and said I had a problem with the autofocus. He just about told me to get stuffed, as you didnt buy it through our dealer chain. As it turns out the problem was with the sigma lens I was using wasnt compatible fully with the camera. But that showed me that even pentax will not take responsibility for pentax cameras unless bought through their dealer chain. The guy I bought it from did tell me if there was manufacturing fault send it back to him and he will sort it out.

Nevertheless, I like to purchase a good brand, and get a working product without having to worry about relying upon warranty, manufacturers defects etc. OK sometimes a fault does occur with a new product, but this should not be an inherent problem with a large number of items without it passing quality control. Although I expect to buy a good brand and get good quality, I dont expect to pay exorbitant prices.

While a little different, 20 years ago I bought a new Honda, the day I picked it up I saw that inside the boot the paint job was peeling, I should have told them to stuff it. But they said they will fix it - very nicely. It also started to rust after a few short months. The touched up the paint job, I was without the car for a few days, after a few months it started to rust again. It was only after I threatened to go to a consumer watchdog that they repainted and fully rustproofed the vehicle. I was without it for a week. What stress and what a hassle. Last year I bought a new subaru, no difficulties, no stress, no problems. Was the Honda a one off. Some years later I found that the paint problem was with a couple of brands, who used the same painting and assembling plant. Kept that hush hush, should have had a recall. I will never buy a honda again.

Would you buy a K5, if there was a note attached, stating that " there may be sensor problems, but we will fix it for free, and you will only be without your camera for four weeks" All things go through your mind, will that camera be the same again after its taken apart. Will a new sensor be put in, or will they just clean the old one. Will they scratch the sensor, or will they fix the cause of the problem. Will the problem occur again just after the warranty period expires.

I was quite annoyed after I heard of the E-Dial and low light focus problems with the Kr as well, but so far so good, no problems with the Kr, but what is done is done, I cant go back. But if my daughter was buying a camera I wouldnt recommend a pentax. Incidentally years ago I bought and Olympus point and shoot, from a reputable dealer, it took about three mintes from the time I pressed the shutter, till the picture was taken. Any picture of even a slow moving target was always lost. I wrote to the importer and explained how the camera was s**t, hoping that he would give me a credit and let me get a better model. Same agent as for pentax incidentally. He told me that they have nver had any complaints about the camera, and it was a good camera. Like hell. So I dont trust any agent, dealer, or manufacturer to stand by a product, without a hassle and banging the table. I also dont like to pay for extended warranty. If the product is that bad, that you need extended warranty, dont buy it.

So Pentax, better get your game right before I am due to buy my next camera.

Andrew, it is you who need to "get your game right". You admit that you buy grey market items outside the dealer chain to get the lowest possible price. You act as though it is your right to do so. And it is. But then you must take responsibility for this choice. You didn't buy from an acknowledged local dealer but you expect local dealer service? Sorry, you lose. Service costs money and you refused to pay that money.

What you need to do instead is ship the camera back to Japan at your expense and get it serviced.

This is nothing to do with Pentax, by the way, as every company in the globe would act exactly the same way.

Your choice: Buy from a reputable local dealer and get service or take your chances and save some money. Either way, act like an adult when the cards are revealed.

yes but...
The Pentax dealer prices in NZ are so ludicrous, grey or US import is the only sane choice sadly.
ie http://www.photowarehouse.co.nz/pentax-k-5-16-28mp-hd-video-18-55mm-kit/
yes that is $3300 which is about $US2732...
I could fly to NYC and pickup a K-5 and still come out ahead

Pete

Grey market or not, Still a camera made by Pentax. It wasnt the dealer, ie retailer I approached, but Pentax's agent in New Zealand. Remembering my contract law, an agent is still responsible for the principal. No matter where I purchased the camera, if the camera was out of the warranty period I would expect pentax or their agent to repair the camera and charge me, if still under warranty they should either repair or replace and charge Pentax Japan. I am sure the agent doesnt do all this for free.

Ok the agent has missed out on his markup, but Pentax still made their profit. The agent should honour all pentax repairs and charge Pentax Japan. If he had tried to be more helpful, I may have reconsidered purchasing in the future through his dealer network. It wasnt me who allowed parrallel imports to come into New Zealand, it was the government of the day. It is a legal purchase.

The same Pentax K5, as quoted above by "transit" can be bought on Trademe, new (NZ - Ebay style) for NZ $1,861-00.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Electronics-photography/Digital-cameras/Digital-SLR/auc...

Still a camera made by Pentax, whether bought on grey market or not. Where does it state that you only get a good camera if you buy from the dealer network, or you only get it fixed if you buy through the dealer network. Thats 77% more, from the retailer. Why should you have to pay that because Pentax have got it wrong. Not once, but inherently.

However I do not wish to denigrate the retailers. From the comments on this forum, SRS in the UK, seems like a good honest and reliable dealer as I'm sure there will be others.

If you pay the full retail, I am sure most often you will get the best service. Understandable. But why should you have to pay extra because the brand has bad quality control. If the brand is not of sufficient quality to pass the test of time you certainly cannot purchase on the grey market, duty free, whilst overseas, or dare I suggest second hand, unless you want long delays and problems.

As someone stated above this is not a dealer problem, but a Pentax problem. When I say Pentax, I mean Pentax Japan and all of its subsidiaries and primary agents, not retailers.

Sorry to lay another post on you, but I cant edit the one above any more.

I did not expect a local dealer to give me local dealer service. I approached Pentax (through their agent in New Zealand)

So. You approached Pentax. And they said "where did you buy the camera". And you said "I went for the cheapest possible source and got it grey market from Japan". And then they said, to your great surprise, well, you're on your own then dealing with Japan. And then you went to Japan, right? Or wrong?

Believe me I might do the same to save some money. But I'd live with my choice. (And have, in fact.)

Well, that's enough time wasted on this thread.

As it turns out the fault was not with the camera but with the lens. But the point I have been trying to make is that an efficient and "costly" dealer network should not be there to cover shoddy workmanship on a product. I do feel sorry for the dealers, with parallel imports, internet buying etc, but that transition has affected all sorts of retailers and people from music outlets to Rock Bands. It unfortunately is the price of progress, good or bad.

I am so sure the dealer network is as unhappy about the whole "K5 sensor issue" as the consumer, and perhaps even more so. They dont like to be connected with returns and recalls, which waste time and effort.

Back to Pentax. Generally a good camera. I have had lots of pentax cameras over the years. I am sure the K5 is an excellent camera, and would love one. But when they design these things, and dont take time for adequate testing, and quality control, they should front up, and ensure that their error, is mitigated as far as possible.

The K5 problem was well and truly known when ambient housewife purchased her new K5. No matter where she purchased her K5, (unless it was a chinese copy) Pentax, through any dealer, any agent, or any country should have fronted up and given her a full replacement no questions asked, if the sensor stain came up. Thats what I would call service. That would keep me buying Pentax forever and a day, with no questions asked.

What they do with the repaired models I wouldnt have a clue, but sell them as fully refurbished models at a cheaper price, OR get it right in the first place.

I wonder what committment Ricoh will make to the consumer.

The fault lay with the Sony-sourced sensor, on some cameras only. When alerted to it, Pentax dealt with it, so what else was there to do?

These things happen and are unrelated to price. At the moment Leica are having problems with something as simple as the SD cards in their cameras. No doubt they will solve that in due course, just like Pentax will have solved the sensor issue.

John, I have a great deal of respect for you, and you look like a decent chap. You seem to be assuring any Pentax K5 purchaser that they should not be concerned. I am lucky that I am not caught up in this, but I would be interested to know if anybody who has bought a K5 after this date, being 25 August 2011, and have Sensor problems.

This would really show whether the problem has well and truly been solved.

What I'm saying is that I'm personally not overly excited by it, and I've proved that by buying two K5s myself. Sue and I have been using these for some time now and they're both fine. Like every other manufactured item, buy from a good source (SRS or Park are good examples in the UK)and if there's a fault address the problem.

I personally wouldn't abandon a marque because of a batch fault, because it could happen to any manufactured product.

There have been other instances and the last Pentax one I recall was the K20D Banding Issue. That too was solved and there's no particular reason to avoid the K20D or the K-5. We can be aware that if we buy from some sources then there mau be residual rogue cameras in the supply chain.

Sadly that doesn't appear to be true, many people have noted the spots gradually appearing.