New K70

Does anyone know if a new K70 could experience aperture block problems? They (Pentax) have known about this problem for some time now and should have rectified it. I am considering buying one from SRS as their deal is very tempting. I am concerned as my K30 has just started with the problem after about 6000 shots, very frustrating.

Hi, As far as I'm aware, I haven't heard of any K70's suffering from it nor the K-S1 or K-S2. I think the common rumour is that The late K30's and K50's were made with a "different" batch of solenoids which are the ones that caused the problem.

I certainly hope not because I have a K70 on order.

The K-S1 and K-S2 have had some issues with the part but I would suggest that they could be more to do with random failures rather than a weakness in the mechanism.

The part doesn't exist in the flagship series but instead a similar kind of failure might be caused by a broken shutter mechanism - we just won't hear so much about it since it's not a common problem.

In any case, it is a relatively easy fix. The last K50 I did only took about 25 mins.

I've got a K-30 waiting for a fix, after doing my brother's K-30 a while ago. Just need to get motivated to do it

Our 2 year old KS2 is back in for repair for the second time with an aperture block problem - I cannot comment about the internals however externally and spec wise it is very similar - we chose to go the KP route . Hope this helps

It's scary and sad to see this issue continue into later lines such as the K-S1 and K-S2.

From memory the higher spec range models, such as K-3, use a different mechanism (max shutter speed on these is 1/8000s vs 1/6000s on the K-30/K-S range).

The KP model really blurred the lines between the lower range and the higher range, sitting somewhere in between with elements from above and below ranges.
Shutter mechanism wise though, the KP has a max shutter speed of 1/6000s, so it does get you wondering if they've finally used up that bin of faulty parts stock...