Just my luck :( (Broken Camera)

[pirateslife4me]

About 2 months ago I got a great deal at a local brick and mortar store on a Pentax K110d Dslr and started to build up my lens kit. Picked up a 50mm and a 100-300mm along with the 15-55mm kit lens. Seamed like id have a great time at the parks. anywho, I leave for Florida on Tuesday and in preparation of getting my memory cards around I start to dump and format my cards to my computer. As I put card 3 in and connect the camera to my Pc the camera freezes up. I turn it off and and unhook it from my pc and turn it back on. It doesn't read the card, ok not a big deal probably just a corrupt card.... nope I tried every card I own and tried to reset the firmware, and still no luck. It keeps giving me Memory Error. On the upside im still under warranty. On the downside it take 15-20 days and ill have to take my P&S instead. I suppose this gives me an excuse to go again next year. Sorry this is long but I had to vent.

Cliff Notes: 2 month old DLSR Broke right before trip

 

[ukcatfan]

You might want to be skeptical of the store that sold you that camera only two months ago. There were not many of that model even made and it was not new for well over a year ago. I would not be surprised if it was a return that they sold to you as new.

 

[Groucho]

Like Kevin said, that seems pretty strange. I did a quick Google search on pentax dslr "memory error" and got... well, your message here and one message of someone getting this message on a K100D that had been modified for use in IR photography, so had been disassembled after purchase. Every other result was not applicable. So, your issue is certainly not a common one by any means.

But, if it is under proper warranty (and going back to Pentax, as I assume it is), then you'll probably be OK in the long run. It should get all checked out and hopefully serve you well for many years.

 

[pirateslife4me]

It was brand new as the shutter count was zero and i doubt they would have had a clue how to reset it, trust me i checked. It was just old stock that they were clearing out. I seen it sit on the shelf for months. I have seen that the model before this had problems like this. I hope they have a good servise dept!

 

[Groucho]

What model before that?

That error appears to be extremely rare for any Pentax DSLR. I spend a bit of time on Pentax-focused forums and have never heard of an issue remotely like that - by and large, the cameras are extremely reliable.

 

[ukcatfan]

It was brand new as the shutter count was zero and i doubt they would have had a clue how to reset it, trust me i checked. It was just old stock that they were clearing out. I seen it sit on the shelf for months. I have seen that the model before this had problems like this. I hope they have a good servise dept!

Was the shutter count what you looked at or the image count? As far as I know, you cannot reset the shutter count. It is like the odometer on a car. It is simple to reset the image count. I would have thought that every camera would have the shutter count above zero. I am pretty sure that every camera goes through some sort of QC to verify that it is working properly. That would get the shutter count above zero on all cameras.

 

[handicap18]

Does the camera still take pictures and do everthing else or is now just not reading the cards.

In all honesty you should not be hooking up the camera directly to the computer to download your files. Its an unnecessary waste of the battery. Buy yourself a card reader for $20. This you can keep attached to the computer and just pop the card in when ever you upload photos.

Good luck with the problem. Is there a local place that rents Pentax camera's? This place rents Pentax lenses and bodies (though only the K20D I believer). They have a 10.0 rating on resellerratings.com. Just trying to come up with a quick alternative to buying a new camera for your trip.

 

[Groucho]

Using a memory card reader is also much faster than using the camera, and cuts down on the number of cables you need to worry about.

I usually recommend this one - it's $7 shipped and reads SDHC cards fine. (There's also a black version, if you want.) Cheap and works great. I've got two of 'em.

 

[pirateslife4me]

Yea ive been meaning to buy a card reader as my printer has an all in one but doesn't support SDHC. Thats why ive been using the camera. I have a Canon A590 IS Ill be using for the trip.

Here are 2 threads ive found on the same issue but not the same camera.

http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8355

http://photo.net/pentax-camera-forum/00MCLw