A fast card is a given to get the fastest write speeds, but even a standard card should not be taking that long.

I would suspect that something has been activated that is taking the camera time to process - check lens corrections, bracketing, HDR capture, digital filters, etc., to see if anything has been switched on.

Very slow shutter speeds will also bring in dark frame subtraction, where a second blank exposure is made by the camera to record the underlying noise structure. This is then removed from the actual shot to reduce noise. A 15 second exposure would be followed by a second 15 second blank exposure, for example.

You do need to set the appropriate custom setting to permit use of the aperture ring. Perhaps this hasn't been done on the cameras causing the problem?

If using a Pentax lens, the camera will know its distortion characteristics, so it would make sense to let the camera make the adjustment?

The data mentioned is linked to somewhere on this forum, but where I can't say, it will need to be searched out again.

But failure at 1000 or so exposures cannot be the norm for all of the models made, or mayhem would have ensued. Only a percentage of anything will fail, and then we tend to hear about those. We don't generally hear a peep from owners of cameras that don't fail.

The crop factor is more like 1.5x on Pentax (1.6x on Canon), but yes, you've got the idea.

The WR makes it worth an upgrade IMHO. If needing to replace I wouldn't hesitate in going for the HD version with WR, but we don't know yet whether or not the new collapsible version adds a new dimension to the situation. However, I wouldn't wait, we could wait forever and never get anything!

The original thread is in Your Photos, but here is fine as well.

Clearly the contents are very exciting as your hand is shaking as you take the shot, so I hesitate to think what might be inside. So let's just say that what you're thinking is probably what I'm thinking too.....

I think going through the thought process and really thinking about what we are doing is a great thing, but I also think that for most of us film is not viable. My favourite films may no longer be made, nor are the chemicals so readily available. I honestly no longer have the time to spend all day in the darkroom and in any event much of what I produce is destined for the internet anyway. The process would be too slow and inconvenient.

Having said that, a nice film image is beautiful, and so is a nice digitally produced one.

My conclusion is that it's not the camera that produces the image, it's the photographer. It's also not the imaging process that produces the image, it's the photographer.

If there was a problem with a batch of parts for the K30 or even K50, then I would think it would make sense for the K70 to have addressed that. If it's just a batch of parts that has long since worked its way out of the system, then there would be little to fear.

Given that all marques have a failure rate, and Pentax one of the lowest failure rates, the the grass may well not be greener elsewhere.

Samyang 14mm f/2.8. Looks promising so far.