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02-07-2016, 03:10 AM - 4 Likes   #1
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Hitler's Pentax SDM Horrors

I was just going through some of the Amazon reviews on Pentax 55mm F1.4, saw a user compalining about SDM faliure in just a week (2011 review).

I had read about many SDM lenses failing and many people getting pretty annoyed about this. I dont own a Pentax so this was a new thing for me. I searched a bit more & found out that it was often (not sure if it's every time) caused due to discharge of a capacitor, when the Lens is kept away for long times and one needs to charge it by attaching it to the camera when switched on for it to start working.

Just while I was going through some Serious videos I found this Hilarious one. again from 2011.


Hitler's Pentax SDM fails

I guess Pentax was very notorious those days thanks to the SDM failures.

I wanted to know whether they have improved now and how often do we get SDM failures in 2014-15-16 (now that the FF K-1 is coming (Thanks Pentax), the bars will be raised), because their Screw Drive lenses are pretty notorious too, for noise.

Also was this caused due to faulty design, because as said by some, when the Capacitor was charged after a few minutes, it started working fine. So were these mostly normal working lenses which just needed some Capacitor charge & needn't be returned??

I may go for the K-S2/ K-3 in coming months (dont have any hope of K-1 anywhere near my budget ), so was curious.

02-07-2016, 03:28 AM - 1 Like   #2
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hadn't seen that - hilarious!
02-07-2016, 03:41 AM   #3
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That clip has been used in many other ways. Most often here in relation to the performance of football teams. Still raises a laugh
02-07-2016, 03:42 AM   #4
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Classic - a 'Downfall' Parody of Pentax SDM.

I have seen plenty of 'Downfall' parodies over the years, usually on politics - so that was a pretty good one on Pentax.

Brought a smile to my face. Thanks

02-07-2016, 03:52 AM   #5
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I never had problems with my SDM Lenses, I love them ... and I'm german ;-)
02-07-2016, 05:08 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by pid Quote
I never had problems with my SDM Lenses, I love them ... and I'm german ;-)
I'm a fan of WW2 movies, that era and the history. It just fascinates me. Saw a lot of Hollywood movies about the war, and also a few from Germany and France.

Saw another youtuber commenting on the same video, but dubbed with a different topic, and the guy was a german. he said he had a hard time enjoying it since he knew what Ganz Bruno - (Hitler) was firing.

& here I am, just started to learn German. guess I wont be enjoying these videos after I learn it.

I am learning foreign languages coz I'm listening and reading to a lot of reviews and videos and other info in foreign languages like French, German, Russian, Japanese.

Also watching movies, one could hardly fully enjoy those when dubbed, knowing the language helps

---------- Post added 02-07-16 at 05:10 AM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by NZ_Ross Quote
Classic - a 'Downfall' Parody of Pentax SDM.

I have seen plenty of 'Downfall' parodies over the years, usually on politics - so that was a pretty good one on Pentax.

Brought a smile to my face. Thanks
Yes, they are just hilarious.
02-07-2016, 05:17 AM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by pid Quote
I never had problems with my SDM Lenses, I love them ... and I'm german ;-)
I've had more problems with sigmas HSM on every system I've owned than I've had with SDM

02-07-2016, 06:07 AM   #8
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Understanding German does make it a bit harder to follow the captioning, but it's still funny.

Now I have to find which post on the forums was used for this
02-07-2016, 08:01 AM   #9
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I believe there is a higher failure rate with the sonic lens based focus system across the board and not just with Pentax,i think this is part of the reason Pentax has somewhat resisted using the SDM in more of the lenses.If one were to troll Canon forums or Nikon forums i'm sure you would have no trouble finding plenty of focusing motor failures.
02-07-2016, 08:20 AM   #10
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I've seen this clip with different captions about Canon failing with sensors and whatnot...

This one is very funny!
02-07-2016, 08:21 AM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by bschriver11 Quote
I believe there is a higher failure rate with the sonic lens based focus system across the board and not just with Pentax,i think this is part of the reason Pentax has somewhat resisted using the SDM in more of the lenses.If one were to troll Canon forums or Nikon forums i'm sure you would have no trouble finding plenty of focusing motor failures.
you could find lens failures of Canon & Nikon & I have read about it too. But this issue about SDM lenses I've come across a bit too often, often enough to separate it from the Canon & Nikon issues, those are like normal odd unfortunate piece.

have a look here, a video by photouniverse:

He says that there is a capacitor which gets discharged over time if lens is kept unused for long duration, and if you put it on camera and switch it on it works fine.

Pentax Reliabilty?

ironically he found the answer from pentaxforums !!
02-07-2016, 08:47 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by bertwert Quote
I've seen this clip with different captions about Canon failing with sensors and whatnot...

This one is very funny!
The one released after the NDP won in Alberta was hilarious...
02-07-2016, 11:06 AM   #13
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Who own SDM???
02-07-2016, 02:33 PM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by anu l Quote
I wanted to know whether they have improved now and how often do we get SDM failures in 2014-15-16 (now that the FF K-1 is coming (Thanks Pentax), the bars will be raised), because their Screw Drive lenses are pretty notorious too, for noise.
The last polls I saw on PF seemed to indicate that SDM failures tapered off around 2011 (coincidentally, Ricoh bought Pentax from Hoya in 2011). Pentax switched to a different internal motor technology ("DC") for most new lenses. The latest lens with the SDM label is the "D FA 24-70 ED SDM WR". It's a Tamron design, so it is unlikely that it is using the same motor technology as the earlier SDM lenses. I'm not sure why Pentax revived the "SDM" designation, when it has such a bad reputation. These days, the biggest complaints about motorized Pentax lenses seems to be focus speed, but RIcoh appears to be working on that area as well.

Unfortunately, the Internet is forever, so those reviews from 2011 will always be around, warning you off Pentax and SDM lenses. An SDM lens may still fail - there are going to be lemons in every batch of lenses, but at this point, it does not appear to be more likely than other types or other brands.
02-07-2016, 02:45 PM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by KDD Quote
Who own SDM???
I used to have a DA*16-50/2.8 with SDM. I never had any SDM issues. I sold it to help pay for a HD DA 20-40/2.8-4.

The change was not about SDM rather size and weight.
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