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The Pentax 16-50 DA*

jonoslack

jonoslack

Active member
HI There

Well, after having a couple of decentred versions of this lens in the autumn and sent them back, I thought . . . . third time (or fourth, not certain) lucky, and bought another one. This morning before work I finally got down to the task of properly checking all focal lengths at all apertures.

Bingo! It's good - sharp, not bad even at the corners wide open - hooray! So when I took the dog out for a walk this afternoon after work, I took it, and resolved to relax and enjoy it.

After half an hour it stopped focusing . . . . Now it just makes a little noise and you know it's all over, sometimes if you reattach it then it'll focus again for a moment or two . . . sometimes it won't.

Oh well, back to warehousexpress when I get home at the weekend.

damn already!

all the best
 
Amin

Amin

Active member
That was a roller coaster of a post. I was so happy for you, and then... :(

At least you now have proof that it is possible to have a good copy.
 
Amin

Amin

Active member
If you manage to get one and later decide to sell your Pentax kit, please let me know :D.
 
jonoslack

jonoslack

Active member
ecsh said:
That exercise with the 16-50 sounds worse than playing the Sigma lottery.
Joe
Click to expand...
HI Joe
Do you know, I've never had to send a Sigma lens back, I've mostly had wide angles, but they've always been fine. I've had problems with Nikon before, and Leica lenses which needed adjusting, and I'm not sure I've ever had a good Tamron lens, but never a problem with Sigma - go figure!
 
Godfrey

Godfrey

Well-known member
jonoslack said:
HI Joe
Do you know, I've never had to send a Sigma lens back, I've mostly had wide angles, but they've always been fine. I've had problems with Nikon before, and Leica lenses which needed adjusting, and I'm not sure I've ever had a good Tamron lens, but never a problem with Sigma - go figure!
Click to expand...
You live in a contrarian universe, Jono. Are you sure you're not made of anti-matter? ;-)

Sorry to hear of yet another 16-50 failure. I personally never liked that lens much, when I had it, and preferred to use the 21/3.2 and 43/1.9 Limiteds instead. For wide, I used the DA14.
 
E

emr

Member
The notorious SDM motor that Pentax uses is one Achilles' heel of theirs. Even if one realizes that the web content greatly boosts the problems, it's still not acceptable. For that reason I've refused to buy one single SDM lens until they publicly address the problem or give a longer warranty.
 
Armanius

Armanius

New member
As great of a camera the K-5, what's up with all these QC related problems with Pentax stuff? The "star" line is supposed to be the high end stuff right?
 
ecsh

ecsh

New member
I only know of two people now, who never had a problem with the Sigma len's:ROTFL:
I have no love for the Tamron as well, as i never had any luck.
With the Sony stuff, no problems. All has been fine although there is user reported problems, such as with Nikon and Canon as well.
I am of the mindset that you pays your money, and takes your chances. Good thing for return polices.:bugeyes:

Joe
 
Armanius

Armanius

New member
Ironically, prior to the K-5, I never ever pixel peeped in order to determine if my camera (or lens) was front focusing, back focusing, or whatever off focusing. The much publicized K-5 issues has made me more paranoid about it.
 
jonoslack

jonoslack

Active member
Armanius said:
Ironically, prior to the K-5, I never ever pixel peeped in order to determine if my camera (or lens) was front focusing, back focusing, or whatever off focusing. The much publicized K-5 issues has made me more paranoid about it.
Click to expand...
Hi Armanius
Don't take any notice of me. I always check things, and they're usually wrong. It might be some kind of disease, but as Godfrey pointed out I seem to have a sigma blind spot.
However. I'm not paranoid about it. Once I've checked it and decided it's okay, then I stop and enjoy. To be honest, the sensor stain on my first K5 was only sent back in case I wanted to sell it later. But a lens which doesn't focus is tricky to put up with!
 
jonoslack

jonoslack

Active member
Armanius said:
Now that I've decided to keep the K-5, I'll probably relax about any "problems."
Click to expand...
I think that's the right approach. I really like all my other lenses, the bodies seem to work properly too. It just seems that the 18-135 might be a better bet than the 16-50!
 
jonoslack

jonoslack

Active member
Godfrey said:
You live in a contrarian universe, Jono. Are you sure you're not made of anti-matter? ;-)
Click to expand...
I really try hard to be made of anti matter, the truth is that a combination of the fifties and giving up smoking seems to have sent my body a real matter message. Maybe enough dough lenses will allow me to stay slim?
:)
 
markwon

markwon

Member
sorry to hear that Jono. I just picked up a used copy of the 16-50, from a fairly trustworthy seller, who went through several copies before his current one. The only thing is the SDM. I'm wondering if I should try the DIY SDM fix floating around online should it fail. It's frustrating since the other options aren't much better for a fast zoom. Tried the Sigma 17-50, and it was front focusing heavily and quite soft at 50.

The question is, will you be trying another copy?
 
Armanius

Armanius

New member
Aargh, all these stories of front focusing, back focusing, decentering, stain, blah blah blah ... no matter what brand irritates me. I understand that "things" are not perfect. But we are all paying so much for these gadgets. One would hope that they ought to work w/o having to return, exchange, and repair stuff even when they are brand new.

Sorry ... ranting.
 
R

raist3d

Well-known member
Amin said:
That was a roller coaster of a post. I was so happy for you, and then... :(

At least you now have proof that it is possible to have a good copy.
Click to expand...
You just described how I felt reading that :) Yeah, this makes no sense and it's honestly unacceptable if it happens that frequent.

- Raist

PS: On the other hand Jono I think that all your luck mana was spent on having the Sigma being trouble free and it just jinxed your Pentax acquisitions :)
 
jonoslack

jonoslack

Active member
raist3d said:
You just described how I felt reading that :) Yeah, this makes no sense and it's honestly unacceptable if it happens that frequent.

- Raist

PS: On the other hand Jono I think that all your luck mana was spent on having the Sigma being trouble free and it just jinxed your Pentax acquisitions :)
Click to expand...
Hi Ricardo
It's probably just me - I bought an Audi A5 Cab a year ago (5000 miles, ex dem, 6 months old) , and so many things went wrong with it they gave me a 'no brainer' deal on a new one this month (after 30,000 in the old one) - it's done 900 miles so far, the telephone isn't working right and there's something wrong with the gear box :ROTFL: (you gotta :ROTFL: otherwise you'd :cry: or even :deadhorse:)

I could go on, bu
 
Godfrey

Godfrey

Well-known member
I'd just buy something else, Jono. Why waste all the time and energy spending money on stuff that doesn't work right?
 
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