I bought a secondhand Pentax KP about six months ago and from day one it has been generating an ASTRO bin file for every shot I take, even with the astro and GPS functions switched off. I’m not into astrophotography and am unfamiliar with the genre or the tech, so I posted this query on Pentax Forums and no one could help me resolve this issue, but one member suggested that my KP might have been modified for astrophotography and that I pose the question on AstroBin. How can I tell if my camera has been modified and how do I undo it?
unknowingly bought a Pentax KP modified for astro?
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I don’t know what’s going on with the file generation but if the colors are normal in daylight photography without filters then the camera has certainly not been astro-modded. Sounds like a firmware hack which could probably be reversed. I would see a camera tech about that.
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If daytime shots look rather reddish at their default settings then it may well be. Hard to know without shooting actual astro stuff, signally nebulae rich in Hydrogen alpha emissions. As for reversing the mod I am not sure it can be done, not without putting back one of the sensor filters inside the camera, typically the LP one. Again, without knowing more about the camera I can hardly say more. Probably it would be best to try to sell the camera to the amateur astronomer market.
Modification of a DSLR for astrophotography normally involves removing the internal optical filter that blocks Ha emission. It is VERY unlikely that that sort of modification has been done on your camera. I’m not familiar with that camera but after looking through the manual, it looks like it incorporates an auto-tracking function for imaging stars called “Astrotracer”. Did you follow the instructions on pg 121-122 of the manual to turn off that function? Perhaps there is someone else on this site with more familiarity with that camera who can help you. Otherwise, I’d go back to Pentax to see what they say about it. I don’t believe that that camera model is very widely used for astro-imaging.
- John
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David Wright:
I bought a secondhand Pentax KP about six months ago and from day one it has been generating an ASTRO bin file for every shot I take, even with the astro and GPS functions switched off. I’m not into astrophotography and am unfamiliar with the genre or the tech, so I posted this query on Pentax Forums and no one could help me resolve this issue, but one member suggested that my KP might have been modified for astrophotography and that I pose the question on AstroBin. How can I tell if my camera has been modified and how do I undo it?
Pentax forums might be useful. Help me with my Pentax k x
David Wright · Feb 13, 2026, 03:32 PM
I bought a secondhand Pentax KP about six months ago and from day one it has been generating an ASTRO bin file for every shot I take, even with the astro and GPS functions switched off. I’m not into astrophotography and am unfamiliar with the genre or the tech, so I posted this query on Pentax Forums and no one could help me resolve this issue, but one member suggested that my KP might have been modified for astrophotography and that I pose the question on AstroBin. How can I tell if my camera has been modified and how do I undo it?
My answer was obsolte and so I deleted it after searching what an Astro bin file is in Pentax cameras…
John Hayes · Feb 13, 2026, 04:25 PM
Modification of a DSLR for astrophotography normally involves removing the internal optical filter that blocks Ha emission. It is VERY unlikely that that sort of modification has been done on your camera. I’m not familiar with that camera but after looking through the manual, it looks like it incorporates an auto-tracking function for imaging stars called “Astrotracer”. Did you follow the instructions on pg 121-122 of the manual to turn off that function? Perhaps there is someone else on this site with more familiarity with that camera who can help you. Otherwise, I’d go back to Pentax to see what they say about it. I don’t believe that that camera model is very widely used for astro-imaging.
- John
Thanks, John. Yes, I followed the instructions in the manual to ensure that this function is turned off. I agree: I figured that if my camera had been modified, I would probably have seen the effects in my daytime images. I’m sure it’s just a software glitch. Thanks again.
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Thanks, everyone, for your prompt and helpful responses. I’m pretty sure my camera hasn’t been modified, and you’ve helped confirm my hunch. Cheers!
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Years ago, I used a Pentax K20D for astrophoto. The problem with that camera was that it took darks whenever the exposure time was more than a few seconds, so each exposure would take double the intended exposure time. I could bypass this behaviour by hacking the camera. Check if there are configuration files in the root directory of the SD card, especially MODSET.xxx or AUTORUN.xxx, where xxx is a 3 digit number. If the files are present on your camera card, remove them (copy them to your computer drive, don’t delete them), and restart the camera.
https://www.pentax-hack.info/index.html
Cs,
Wim
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