Shutter issues

Hi all,

I have just returned from a trip through Africa and have had an ongoing problem with the shutter on my Pentax K-5. In the past I have had very rare occasions were the shutter has frozen mid-capture and never thought to much of it as a simple power off/on returned the shutter to the correct position. Unfortunately in Africa the shutter became jammed/frozen in its closed position. On pressing the shutter release button you could hear the shutter release trying to activate the shutter but it seemed like there was either not enough battery power to complete the release or the shutter was simply jammed in place? On top of this a message had appeared on the screen reading 'battery depleted' and the camera would the power off. I promptly ordered a third party battery(I had been using an original pentax battery), and when the third party battery was used the shutter began to work again. This lasted approx. 24 hours before the shutter problem and message returned. In frustration I gave the camera a good whack and what do you know, the shutter began to work again. This was then my method of repair on several occasions during the trip as well as flick the mirror manually which would also work in freeing up the shutter.

Has anyone else had this problem? The shutter count currently sits at just over 32,000 so should have plenty of life left yet.

Would appreciate your advice input.

Regards,
Matt

i had the mirror lock up with battery depleted showing, switched off and on still same ,switched off removed battery and mirror stayed up, fitted fully charged battery still same, did factory reset and mirror dropped. this has happened 3 times over a period of weeks, also had the shutter refused to operate same procedure did not cure it, changed lenses still the same, only after 3 factory resets did it clear and yes i did clean all the contacts first. was ok then for a while but then had another mirror lock up which cleared with a reset. just waiting for it to pack up altogether then it will be in the bin as no doubt the repair will be beyond the value of the camera, which has done half your shutter count of yours. i believe there have been various mirror faults since the K5 was released and they are still still appearing on the K3 it seems.

Now I'm worried...

I wouldn't worry too much Andrew, there are not many reports of failures of the shutter on here.

BTW the reports on the K-3 are not shutter lock-ups they are of the camera going into 'machine gun' mode.

I know this is no comfort for Matt, but these things seem to be pretty rare.

Regards
David

Thanks David. That's reassuring.

I was hoping that the K5 might see me out, ably assisted by the venerable K100 and K10. When you retire your income, such as it is, is disposed of by the petro-chemical industry, utility companies, local authority (by far the largest slice) and the inland revenue. There's not much left for the fun things in life...

Oh no Andrew, don't you have one of those lists of things you really want to experience before finally departing this existence ... You know the sort - drive a racing car, have a skydive, bungee jump, go snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, go Full Frame ... ... I know, I know, I suppose you're right, FullFrame would just be a pointless indulgence, and as you've pointed out, the bills still have to be paid even in retirement!