Returned K5 - Where to now?

After the recent debacle about my new Pentax K5. I am now confused what to do.
I have sold my all my Nikon kit (except flash), so it's not as simple as just going back to Nikon.

I have requested a refund from the dealer where I bought the camera and lens.

While I loved the handling of the Pentax (always have), I have new doubts. My camera had the stain issue and the viewfinder seem dirty (fingerprints) and dark (pixelated) (I was using the DA70 f2.4 for the most day I had it) - can't recall it being that way when I tried it in shop from one of the high street retailers.The DA 70 seem to wobble a lot too and to be honest the pictures were not terribly sharp

So is this a once off issue? Is Pentax QC not up to scratch? Am I being too fussy?

Your esteemed advice kindly wanted

As others have already said ..... SRS

Toying with getting one myself, and it will certainly be from there if I do

I have had sensor stained K5's and they have been replaced without cost to myself by SRS.

I echo similar advice - buy a K5 from SRS.

I think you were very unlucky

I'd honestly discuss this with someone like Chris at SRS.

Many of our members buy all their new stuff from him [ I do for one except for my camera which was got in the USA ]. I've found him extremely helpful [ and so are all his staff ] and willing to go that bit further to help

Recently I realised I needed a new ' every day ' camera bag which would take my gear . I emailed him to see if they would be willing to do a trial pack in the shop for me [ a mere 400 ish miles away ] and quickly got a response from him - having done the trial pack. It was as far as I could see an honest opinion and so I bought the bag and am absolutely delighted with it .

Service from Chris is good and an added Bonus is that if you give them your Pentax User name you get free postage

I bought a little white Optio P70 from him last year - knowing full well that it was going to be superceded by new models , and another Forum member had also bought one [ the ad said he had two of them remaining ] . I used it on holiday and it suddenly developed what looked like a sensor problem On my return phoned Chris and the camera was returned and to my utter joy he found another new one hidden in the depths of his store rooms and sent it straight up to me . He had genuinely been unaware of this red one Now THAT is service

Not sure what you found about the Pentax DA 70 Ltd lens 'wobbling a lot' - care to expand a bit on that? I can't find much on mine that is capable of wobbling.

Also, what settings were you using to get pictures that were not sharp? If you were to post (with EXIF data) that might be a help.

[IMG]http://i56.tinypic.com/4vrbtg.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i54.tinypic.com/314pd94.jpg[/IMG]

As a Pentax/Nikon user, I can't see where you were getting IMO "poor' picture quality. Certainly Pentax don't over sharpen by default in camera. I find Nikon and Pentax so close in use that I shoot both side by side without issue.

You need to expand or give better detail about the lens. Mine is fine in all respects. The stain issue would not affect IQ.

Let's hope you get the issue resolved soon.

Best regards

Hard to tell from the small images, but it looks like it is focussed very slightly beyond the intended subject. In the first one that might be due to the centre AF sensor picking up the wood grain at the centre of the frame rather than the subject just below centre.

In the second one it looks in focus on the base of the tube, so may well be back-focussed slightly if the centre of the tube was the target.

The autofocus is easy to adjust on the K-5.

Sounds ike you have had some very bad luck / not chosen the best supplier, and are also suffering a nasty case of 'buyer's regret' - an affliction I also tend to suffer from. It's a feeling that soon goes away when you start taking 'real' pictures and get to know your new camera better.

Re the replacement K5, Clifton Cameras are advertising 'guaranteed stain free' 2011 stock on their website. I bought my K7 from them - clean as a whistle. It sounds like you were fobbed off with a camera someone had already returned.

There's something wrong with the two pictures you posted. The look like they've been taken with a 2Meg point and shoot If they are from jpgs you need to set the jpg size to 16M and the Quality to ****

The viewfinder looked small to me but it's OK now that I have put a KPS 1.3x magnifier on it. link

It sounds like you have been very unlucky however as far as the K5 goes it is a fantastic camera .... I love mine so much that I'm now selling my back-up K7 to get another K5.

You only have to read the reviews on all the major sites to know how good this camera is. The 70 is a highly rated lense - something is definitely wrong with your set-up or settings.

Stick with it. Get your refund and get a K5 from a reputable dealer - everyone seems to love SRS and that would be good enough for me. I'm sure once this is sorted you'll love your kit.

I don't see how they look like P&S images the DoF is impossible for a P&S.


The images may be slightly misfocused. I don't know how a DA70 could wobble as there is nothing to wobble.

You stripped the photos of the EXIF data so we can't help there.

The pictures were taken at 16 MB in either RAW or JPEG at the highest quality setting. The hosting site might have done something to it, but I certainly haven't stripped the EXIF data. If anyone has a suggestion where I could host them, that would be helpful. (If you download the image and right click you can still access some data)

Regret? Unlikely with how I felt the camera handled. The K-5 is still miles ahead of anything else I would consider.

Try Flickr, Photobox or Picasa all keep the EXIF intact.

with any slight movement, it seemed the barrel would knock against the body on the DA 70mm (nothing on the kit lens and any other lens I had owned previously) - more surprising as there is no zoom mechanism to cause any "wobbliness" - sorry it's a bit difficult to explain




here (here resized and jpeg)


http://www.flickr.com/photos/63148942@N08/