Pentax K20D firmware 1.01
Pentax K20D firmware update 1.01 is ready to download. It fixes the previously reported “hot pixel” bug when taking picture with 2 seconds self-timer mode. To download and install this update follow the instructions here.
Samsung Techwin didn’t posted any firmware updates for GX-20 DSLR (Samsung analogue for Pentax K20D) yet as well as didn’t confirmed the same bug.
August 30th, 2008 at 12:50 am
The hot pixel problem was also verified by Digital Photography Review (DPR). However, unlike the Imaging Resource (IR), they did not exclusively use the 2-second timer in their testing, and Pentax, in their response to DPR’s results, did acknowledge the bug, but did not indicate that the problem was due to using the timer for shutter release (as they did when responding to IR). Instead, they said that the problem only occurred in high-contrast shots (how interesting how their explanations change to fit the situation). What is more important is that DPR further tested the K20D after loading the version 1.01 firmware and still found hot pixels (see http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxk20d/page22.asp). Pentax (and Samsung) need to go back to the drawing board–this hot pixel problem is more aggravated than with any other comparably-priced DSLR.