What's wrong with this Pentax K10D?

<p>Hi all!</p>

<p>A young friend of mine has troubles with her K10D. Unfortunately, I do know nothing about Pentax dSLRs and their common ailments.</p>

<p>The mirror seems to be locked up all the time and picture-taking is impossible. This occurs both with lens and without. The camera's start-up takes much longer than usual. Button/menu operation is also sluggish -- and the camera makes "clicking and crunching" noises.</p>

<p>If this were a Canon camera, I would guess that the shutter release button is dirty or faulty (a common EOS issue). But I have no idea if this is a common problem or if this could be just something minor that can easily be fixed without sending the camera to Pentax.</p>

<p>All help and suggestions appreciated!</p>

<p>Sounds like the whole motor/geartrain/switches that control the mirror are out of whack.<br>

Service manual <a href="http://www.pentax-hack.info/firmware/k10_gx10/k10d_sm.zip">here</a>.<br>

I would not consider this a user-serviceable camera.</p>

<p>Sounds like the body is stuck in sensor cleaning mode.</p>

 

<p>Does the mirror come down when the power is off?</p>

<p>If so, the all-purpose remedy is to take the battery out and leave the camera sitting overnight. Then re-install the battery, power up, and see if it works.</p>

<p>If it doesn't, it's off to Colorado...</p>

 

<p>That doesn't sound good. That "clicking crunching" scares me. Along withe the sluggish operation and slow startup sounds like an electrical problem. Best to just send it in for service.</p>

<p>Removing the battery overnight doesn't fix the problem. I agree that it sounds serious.</p>

<p>So I take it that this is not a common issue? Let's see what Pentax will say about this problem...</p>

<p>I recently had a K10D repaired - the shutter stopped working. For $320 including tax and shipping, they replaced the shutter, back cover, a bunch of other things, and sent me back a camera that is like new. The old one had about 60,000 shutter activations. (Canada here - repairs done in Mississauga, ON).</p>

<p>Bueh --<br>

Dumb question, but does she have another battery? Batteries can make all-the-difference.</p>

<p>No problem with a generic battery like NP 400 same as Sigma and Minolta cameras. Sounds in back and front focus for some samples. </p>