Pentax Camera Class Action Alleges Aperture Defect

A camera owner has filed a class action lawsuit against Ricoh USA Inc. over claims that the company’s line of Pentax camera products are defective in a way that causes them to produce useless, almost completely dark photographs.

The Pentax camera class action lawsuit was filed by New York resident Janet Kyszenia who says she purchased a Pentax camera for her own personal use.

Allegedly, after she purchased the camera, she discovered that it possessed a defect that made it unusable, because it took extremely dark, almost black photographs.

However, the Pentax repair class action lawsuit asserts that the problem with her camera did not occur until after her camera was out of warranty.

She states that this is a problem that plagues not only her camera, but a large portion of Pentax cameras produced. Allegedly, the problem is the result of a manufacturing flaw or design defect, affecting Pentax K-30, K-50, and K-70 models.

The Pentax camera class action lawsuit argues that the defect which causes the cameras to produce black pictures is a problem with the aperture, the opening in a camera lens through which light passes to enter the camera.

Allegedly, many other customers experienced similar problems. To support this point, Kyszenia cites numerous customer complaints about the cameras that she says are similar to her own. She stresses that thousands of customers complained to Ricoh about the aperture problem “to no avail.”

She seeks to represent a Class of all United States customers who purchased a Pentax K-30, K-50, or K-70 model camera for personal use since Dec. 7, 2014. Additionally, she also seeks to establish subclasses of customers who purchased cameras in New York and Virginia in the same time period.

On behalf of herself and these similarly affected customers, Kyszenia seeks damages to compensate for financial injury. She says that she and other customers would not have purchased the camera or would have paid as much as they did for it if they had known that the cameras were defective.

Allegedly, the cameras themselves cost around $450 each and the additional attachments and accessories cost around $450.

This means that the average Pentax customer spends around $900 on a new Pentax camera, says Kyszenia.

Around 12,000 Pentax cameras were sold, says the Pentax camera aperture problem class action lawsuit, which brought Ricoh Inc. more than $5,000,000 in sales.

The plaintiff says that, despite collecting millions in profits, the company failed its customers in a range of ways. First by putting a defective camera on the market that allegedly the company knew was defective.

The company reportedly had the means and methods necessary to test the camera before it was released into the market, to ensure that the cameras were in good working order.

The camera functionality problem class action lawsuit argues that Ricoh USA, the makers of Pentax cameras, had significant experience from its prominent role in the camera industry. Allegedly, this experience should have been enough to ensure the proper design and manufacturing of the Pentax camera products.

The Pentax camera class action lawsuit then goes on to argue that the company further financially injured its customers, challenging the company’s approach to Pentax repair in light of the defect. Though the cameras do come with a warranty, the warranties are allegedly not sufficient to cover Pentax repair for the aperture defect, because the defect often materializes after the warranty ends.

The company further injured customers by not offering Pentax repair after customers complained about their cameras’ defects. Additionally, the company has refused to provide an adequate Pentax repair plan to compensate consumers.

Instead, customers allegedly had to cover the cost of Pentax repair out-of-pocket. The Pentax class action lawsuit asserts that the company should have covered the cost of repairing the cameras, but instead pushed this cost on to its consumers.

In addition to monetary compensation, Kyszenia seeks injunctive relief for herself and the other customers, saying that if she could be assured that Pentax cameras did not possess any more defects, she would purchase a Pentax camera again.

Have you ever used a Pentax camera? Did you have any problems with it? Share your experience in the comments below.

Kyszenia is represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC and by Christopher Colt North of The Consumer & Employee Rights Law Firm PC.

The Pentax Aperture Black Picture Problem Class Action Lawsuit is Janet Kyszenia v. Ricoh USA Inc., Case No. 1:20-cv-02215, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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