for spyglass ( or others too ) about 50-135 lens

[davidhampshire]

if i remember correctly,   spyglass,  you said the sdm ( i think that's the right term) stopped working on this lens that you have,    this seems to be something i've heard happens quite a bit,    will you get it fixed?    and other than that,    is it a good lens,   ( right now i seem to be obsessed with lenses  :)  i like the primes but sometimes i would like to have a good zoom,   and can't really decide on what i want,    even though i've been researching zooms.
thanks for your time.

dave   

[spyglass]

Hi David,

My 50-135 so far has been fine. I really love the lens. If it did have a problem I would get it fixed.

In regards to my SDM problem, I probably should have followed the comment up...... My 16-50mm did stop working. I assumed it was an SDM issue. About a week later I popped in to London Drugs with my K20 and the 16-50mm lens to see if I could test each one out. They had a K5 on the shelf and a 16-50mm lens. The salesman was an avid Pentax user and took to the whole testing opportunity like a dog on a dead salmon.

First step, he placed my lens on his K5 - it worked.
Second step he placed his lens on my K20 - it did not work. So it appears that my poor old K20 body has an issue. The lenses I would repair. A camera body that is 3 models dated I will not. A few years back I sent my K20 body in to be repaired under warranty. I was extremely unhappy with the focus response (slow unable to capture fast moving activity). When I got it back it seemed a bit better but still not to where I thought it should be. I have the user setting configured to not allow the shutter release unless focus is achieved in auto focus applications. The fact that the camera will now allow pictures to be taken when out of focus leads me to believe that the issues are deeper than just a deflective SDM driver output.

I did not buy the K7 because compared to the K20 there were no significant improvements. I wanted to wait for Pentax to make some major improvements in regards to their of auto focus. Then the K5 came out and sensor staining was a concern. So I decided to wait to see what the next model would offer. Ricoh has always been innovative so it will be interesting to see what new ownership brings to the table. Hopefully Pentax will stick to their 3 year cycle and bring out a new body a year or so down the road. I can always grab a K5 if my K20 develops additional issues.

So in short, SDM good....... camera body not so good. 

Spyglass

[davidhampshire]

ok,   i guess that is good to know then,   thanks for that,    the k-5 is a great camera,   get one if you can.    i do notice sometimes autofocus glitches,   with some of the lenses that i've bought and tried,   and i get frustrated with that.      have not had an sdm lens though.    mostly the da and fa lenses,   but mostly use the old k lenses now.    something nice about them,   the manual focus rings,  and having an aperture ring,    it's like pure photography ( or what i think pure photography should feel like anyway)    i use an autofocus lens for a little while and always go back to the older ones.   so far at least.   but that 50-135 seems like a good focal length and when i see shots with it,    they are usually excellent,   as are the 60-250mm.    don't have that one either.      you should get the k-5 though.   ask ron.   
thanks.
dave

[tcom]

Hi Dave

I do have the DA*50-135 as well. It truly is a wonderful lens, great sharpness and a bokeh which is on the level of good prime lenses. I do have mine since September 2007 and it is working like a charm on most of my Pentax cameras, except on one K20D where the AF stucks from time to time, I do not know why, but this must be camera related as the lens works perfectly well on all other cameras.

Hope it help.

[blackcloudbrew]

I have to chime in on the DA*50-135. It is a wonderful lens and one I take in dark settings like music concerts. I haven't used it for much portraiture but I have no doubt it's great for that too. I got mine about a year ago and have had no problems with its SDM system.

[Ron Kruger]

Can you even find it?

[davidhampshire]

i take it the guy with the black hat has a lot of lenses ,  ron ?     i think he did say that in a post didn't he.       

[davidhampshire]

thanks for the input on the lens,    when i save up,  then this is one of my next lenses,    and the 60-250,  and then the.......     

[blackcloudbrew]

Can you even find it?

The simple non-snarky response is - yes.

But actually while my photo bag is always changing when I go on travel or shoots, these days my DA*16-50 and DA*50-135 are almost always in the pack first. THEN I put in 7 or 8 other lenses and three more cameras...

[spyglass]

Holly Crap Earl...... how many toys can you play with at one time. I use to pack for every possible situation but found that I was more productive with less.  

I found a shot of you out and about for a short walk with your camera and a couple of your lenses. (probably not a big outing, just a 1/2 affair).  






Spyglass  

[blackcloudbrew]

Actually, I use one more camel...to pick up the crap.

[Frogfish]

I did not buy the K7 because compared to the K20 there were no significant improvements. I wanted to wait for Pentax to make some major improvements in regards to their of auto focus. Then the K5 came out and sensor staining was a concern. So I decided to wait to see what the next model would offer. Ricoh has always been innovative so it will be interesting to see what new ownership brings to the table. Hopefully Pentax will stick to their 3 year cycle and bring out a new body a year or so down the road. I can always grab a K5 if my K20 develops additional issues.

I don't know if further on in this thread you address this concern with the K5 again but after reading this I have to comment.  Firstly IMHO life is too unpredictable to put off buying a camera (if $ is not an issue of course) just because of issues, that have mostly been resolved, but otherwise can be simply fixed by returning to Pentax under guarantee - the K5 is that good a camera that it is worth the risk but the loan companies have stated that the K5 has no better/worse a defect rate (around the industry standard of 5%) than Canon/Nikon or any other brand. The stain hasn't been an issue since the first batch of K5s and Pentax quickly addressed this and we have moved on. The tungsten issue is not an issue for many people and has, to some degree, been addressed and resolved for others. Anything else is really just the normal percentage breakdown in QC that we see with all complicated electrical/mechanical items.

Of course this is just a personal opinion but the mega-jump in performance of the K5 over the K7 (my previous body) is huge and the reason I have stayed, and will stay, with Pentax after the (relative) disappointment & frustration of the K7. It is my strong opinion that if you can afford a K5 then you should not hesitate to pull the trigger as the vast improvement in DR / AF / low noise / colour depth and *especially* usable ISO is dramatic. Hence, with the new low price, I bought my second K5 for just $920 last week.

EDIT. Actually I have no idea how I ended up in this thread (I thought I was still in the Namibia thread) ! Anyway now back to reading that excellent Namibia thread - thanks Tcom.

[spyglass]

I would agree that the K5 issues have been ironed out. There would be benefits from jumping from my K20 to the K5, but in just over a year the jump will most likely offer even more improvements. My biggest irritation is Pentax auto focus system. While the K5 has improved this aspect over previous models, it still falls shy of the mark. I can wait.



Spyglass

[Frogfish]

I would agree that the K5 issues have been ironed out. There would be benefits from jumping from my K20 to the K5, but in just over a year the jump will most likely offer even more improvements. My biggest irritation is Pentax auto focus system. While the K5 has improved this aspect over previous models, it still falls shy of the mark. I can wait.

Spyglass

I tend to find that reports of an inadequate AF on the K5 are grossly over-stated and perpetuated with those having little or no experience with the camera (I'm not of course accusing you of such) !  

At work I shoot the K5 with a 10-20 often in virtual darkness (homes with the power switched off), absolutely no issues at all in finding focus. I've used the K5 for pro sports / events shoots - absolutely not an issue (and of course the lenses you are using usually have as much to do with the AF as the camera itself) and when birding it is superb (the shot below was of a Hoopoe and taken at dusk - the bird was around 80 yds away when this was taken and the AF had zero problem tracking the fast disappearing bird.

However to each their own but I'd hate anyone considering the K5 to read this and think the K5's AF was anything less than it should be.

http://frogfish.smugmug.c...oe-80-yds-K5-DA300-XL.jpg

http://frogfish.smugmug.c...-Rugby-Sevens-2011-XL.jpg

[spyglass]

Like I said Frogfish...... while the K5 has made improvements in terms of auto focus, speed, consistency and repeatability, over previous models, I will wait to see what the next model offers. After spending a weekend of shooting with a K5 along side three other friends who are Pentax, Nikon and Canon users, I think it became clear to all of us that Pentax still has room for improvement in the auto focus department. We took turns using each others gear each trying to "sell the brand to the other" (2 Pentax, 1 Nikon, 1 Canon users). That fact that you have two K5 indicates that you are satisfied with the product and that it meets your needs and expectations. (I believe you should remain happy as long as you do not have friends with alternate brands)  
I have a soft spot for Pentax and have used their products for over 30 years. While I would love to beat the drum and sing from the highest roof tops that they are the best, it would only be brand fan. The truth of the matter is that all brands have their strengths and weaknesses. I feel dollar for dollar you can not get a better buy on a DSLR today than Pentax. I eagerly look forward to each and every new step the product line takes. I fortunately can wait and take 2 or 3 steps in a single buy.



Spyglass