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The dreaded K30 aperture motor failure strikes again

DonaldM
Posted 27/10/2014 - 22:00 Link
Heartbreaking to read, such a fine camera as well.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3742443#forum-post-54639962
jemx99
Posted 27/10/2014 - 22:21 Link
The K30 certainly does have a problem with this same fault mentioned on a number of different sites. Speaking to technicians at Johnsons Photopia they have not seen this problem with K50's though.
richandfleur
Posted 27/10/2014 - 22:57 Link
DonaldM wrote:
Heartbreaking to read, such a fine camera as well.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3742443#forum-post-54639962

Wonder who that user could be...
DonaldM
Posted 28/10/2014 - 20:56 Link
I only saw your K30 ap motor issue months after it happened and really thought it was a freak incident. When I saw this though I was just a surprised to read of another example of motor failure.
I still think the K30 is a great camera although if I had one I might be kinda wary,hopefully though the issue is rare.
jemx99
Posted 28/10/2014 - 21:12 Link
DonaldM wrote:
hopefully though the issue is rare.

Unfortunately I wonder whether it's a more common issue than we would like.
richandfleur
Posted 29/10/2014 - 02:46 Link
I found a few previous entries elsewhere and printed the forum discussions off as support for my case when returned.

Early K-30's especially I'd be keeping an eye out for it, though they're probably all out of warranty now anyway.

The warranty issue is a tricky one in the wider scope of things, as how long should a new camera from any maker last really? I had my K100d for ages with no problems, other than some of the limitations of the actual model itself. (Namely it back focussed almost all the time which annoyed the heck out of me when I clearly wanted to photograph the person standing in the middle of the frame...) It scrubbed up good as new on the day I sold it, so really I think 5 years should be fair for this type of product? If it fails earlier than that I'd be disappointed.
jemx99
Posted 29/10/2014 - 22:57 Link
Yes the first batch of K30s will be out of warranty now. Hopefully Pentax /Ricoh will help out anybody with this fault even if their camera is out of guarantee as this is a true well documented manufacturing fault. My K30 has been in Johnsons for almost 3 weeks waiting for parts - Lucky my camera was covered by it's 2 year guarantee (which would have run out in December).
Opethian
Posted 29/10/2014 - 23:21 Link
What about these things?

EU Standard 2 Year Legal Guarantee - http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/shopping/shopping-abroad/guarantees/index_e...

The Sale of Goods Act - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8253915.stm

Even Apple is respecting the Sale of Goods Act:

Quote:
Consumers have the right to choose whether to claim service under the Apple One-Year Limited Warranty or under their consumer law rights.

From - https://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/ipad-english-uk.html

Well, I hope this helps!
jemx99
Posted 30/10/2014 - 21:26 Link
Opethian wrote:
What about these things?

EU Standard 2 Year Legal Guarantee - http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/shopping/shopping-abroad/guarantees/index_e...

The Sale of Goods Act - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8253915.stm

Even Apple is respecting the Sale of Goods Act:

Quote:
Consumers have the right to choose whether to claim service under the Apple One-Year Limited Warranty or under their consumer law rights.

From - https://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/ipad-english-uk.html

Well, I hope this helps!

Interesting stuff thanks.

By the way my K30 arrived back from Johnsons - seems as good as new!
Edited by jemx99: 30/10/2014 - 21:27
JohnX
Posted 31/10/2014 - 11:02 Link
I think you'll find that the EU 2 year warranty was an opt-in by Country, and the UK didn't choose to do so.

As I understand it the UK argued that we have better consumer protection.
DonaldM
Posted 01/11/2014 - 10:26 Link
I wonder if the guys at SRS have seen much of this, might be reassuring if they could advise how many K30's they sold and what percentage are they aware of with this problem.
jemx99
Posted 01/11/2014 - 16:18 Link
DonaldM wrote:
I wonder if the guys at SRS have seen much of this, might be reassuring if they could advise how many K30's they sold and what percentage are they aware of with this problem.

Yes would be interesting to see the stats.
The K30 is a fantastic camera apart from this problem. I'm glad mine is home again - I did miss it when it was being fixed
Posted 01/11/2014 - 18:29 Link
Does make me worry bout my k30. Wonder if I should consider trading it in while its still OK. Though tbh prefer the looks if the k30 over the k50.
Deltaart
Posted 02/11/2014 - 17:02 Link
AArrrghh! I started scanning the forums to see what was the matter with my K30 and i think I have found the issue. What the person on he 'dpreview' site matches exactly with my recent experience. It vastly underexposes with auto lenses but is fine with fixed manual lenses like the 50mm-M.
It was fine the previous week. Gone bad overnight.

sigh... Dissapointed. Is it Cheaper to fix or just buy a new camera?
jemx99
Posted 02/11/2014 - 20:09 Link
Deltaart wrote:


sigh... Dissapointed. Is it Cheaper to fix or just buy a new camera?

As mentioned above I've just got mine fixed by Johnson's Photopia - my camera will be 2 years old next month so was still covered by the 2 year guarantee after buying from SRS. This does seem to be a well documented common problem so hopefully Pentax will honour repairs even when K30's are out of guarantee.

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