PENTAX 645N Problem!

My Pentax 645N is displaying a message on the eyepiece screen that is not

anywhere in the instruction manual.

In place of where shutter speed and aperature should be is the display: "1000

F --"

 

While displaying this, it will not auto focus nor will it adjust settings for

light changes. I have tried the obvious solutions (changing to AF from MF,

auto shutter speed and aperature priority, etc...)

 

I have tried every setting, shutter speed and aperature as well as fresh

batteries and nothing has changed the problem.

 

Has this happened to anyone else? Any ideas? I am going to send it back to KEH

to be fixed at the end of the week, I was just hoping for some advice for now.

 

Thanks, Paul

Does "fresh batteries" mean all of them or just the ones in the autowinder grip? I wonder if you removed all, including the little button battery underneath, if that would reset the factory defaults when batteries are replaced? Otherwise, I am not much help as i use the P645.

Not sure whether this applies to the 645N (it does to the old 645) so it may be a stupid question. But here goes anyway:

 

Do you have film in it?

Or, if it has film in it, has the film been advanced to the first frame? [i've seen this as well,

and I'm racking my brain to recall what the message meant.]

Yes! That's it! A camera without film does not show the "1000F--" readout. However, when

I put a new roll of film in my Pentax 645 NII and partly depressed the shutter release button,

the "1000F--" appeared in the viewfinder. When I completely depress the shutter release

button and the film automatically advances to the first frame, the "1000F--" goes away and is

replaced by the regular readouts. Now I'll be able to sleep tonight.

Paul, you should be able to sleep too. Put some film in it, advance the film to the first frame,

and start taking pictures. I'm betting that the 645N and 645NII are very similar and that

everything is fine with your camera. The Pentax 645 is a great camera and one of the best

values in medium format (IMO).

It happened to me a few days ago. I just received a new (used) 645N and it showed 1000 F--. Whichever shutter speed I pick on the camera, whichever aperture value I pick on the lens, it didn't change. And no AF, either.

 

Then, I tried everything,, like changing all 6 batteries, removing the lens, cleaning the lens contact on both lens and body, and etc. None of them worked, but then, I left the camera for a day or so, and guess what?? It works fine. No 1000 F-- problem and AF works okay. I didn't put a film in, though.

 

Anyway,,, then again, it started to show 1000 F-- problem, and AF died, so I decided to send the camera back to the store.

 

My conclusion? Well, I am not sure, but it seems to be a communication problem between the body and the lens,,, but not too sure...

thanks for all of your help.

 

what i have gotten from this is that i should try a roll of film in the back (something i havnt tried yet, everything else suggested i have except for the internal battery replacement).

 

i think i am still going to send it to KEH at the end of the week though because i am inside of the trial period and i want bugs worked out BEFORE that time runs out. hopefully a roll fixes the problem for today so i can shoot a little before sending it out.

 

thanks again.

If the 645N is like the original 645, the display will not work without film or the Pentax back made to use to check the camera function. Load it and try it out. It makes no sense to return the camera if it's functioning properly. You probably should get an owners manual for the camera. You can get one from Pentax USA here: http://www.pentaximaging.com/customer_care/manuals_literature

The message is in the viewfinder when you load a fresh roll of film. As the directions say, you must press the shutter button to get to frame one. That is when the message disappears and is replaced by the frame number.