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1 After self-repair, flash and autofocus aren't working properly
For the longest time, my Pentax K200D had been inexplicably stuck in autofocus. Since it has been out of warranty for about three years, it didn't seem worth paying the potentially insane repair costs for something so simple. I had no idea what needed fixing or how I could possibly fix it, so I just used it as is. Recently however, I did some research and discovered that it had to either be the autofocus coupler or the MF/AF switch itself. Since the coupler depressed into the lens mount when the lens release was pressed like it was supposed to, I figured it must be the switch and that I could probably fix it myself.
I constructed a capacitor discharge tool out of 12AWG 600 V wires, a 20k Ohm 10W resistor, shrink tubing, and solder like the one constructed in this guide, so I could safely work on the camera, and after opening the it, I discharged the capacitor. All seemed fine and nothing looked or smelled fried.
After a little looking around, I discovered that the issue actually dealt with a small metal clip on the inside of the MF/AF switch that is attached to the front cover of the camera. The clip, which usually sits between the raised ends of a plastic bracket and moves the switch mechanism on the camera body up and down, was bent too far forward and was missing the bracket entirely. I bent it back toward the bracket a bit and voila, the coupler depressed when set to manual and reemerged when set to autofocus!
I reassembled the camera, turned it on, tested out the manual focus and it worked like a charm. However, when I went to test the autofocus, I was once again disappointed. When pressing the shutter down halfway in autofocus now, the camera's focus ring twitches between ∞ and 3ft repeatedly, never actually focusing or taking a photo. On top of that the flash no longer works in either mode. Did I adjust the clip too much and potentially short out the flash circuitry, even though I was doing everything as I thought I should? Please help me, iFixit community!
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2 comentarios
did you ever figure this out? i'm about to buy a used k200d which has the same problem, hoping i can fix it.
- de nize2
@nize2, I did not, unfortunately. I still have the camera and haven't done anything with it in a long time. I plan to see what the repair quote from Pentax is and may end up selling mine if I get it repaired. My iPhone 7's camera is way too good for me to be carrying around an old DSLR anymore. I'd love to upgrade to a new one that can shoot video too, but they're so costly!
- de Rick Nelson