Irix 15mm frustration

alpheios · 01-19-2017, 12:07 PM

Hey folks, some of you may have already read in the Irix lens club thread that I (among two other users) had a decentering issue with my 15mm Irix lens. For all who didn't read what I wrote there, here is a quote of my posts:

Originally posted by alpheios

@jmpince and laci
My 15mm Blackstone arrived a few days ago and I seem to have the same decentering problem. Right side is perfectly sharp through all apertures but the left side is not sharp just like yours. It gets a little better stopping down but the problem is still there.
Have you received answer or even already have a new copy from IRIX? If so did they replace it or repair it? How was the response time and quality of service?

Originally posted by alpheios

Quick update on my decentered 15mm Blackstone.

I contacted Irix support via email. They asked me to send some sample photos and shortly after sending them they asked me to send the lens to their service center in Poland. I had to pay for the return shipping in advance but they promised to refund.

Five days after the lens arrived at their service center I wrote another email and asked about a status update. Twenty minutes later I got answer that they are currently testing the faulty lens and another twenty minutes later I got another message that a new copy will be on its way to me soon.

So overall I'm pretty happy with their support even though I had to pay for the shipping in advance and had to ask for the status of my complaint. I got very friendly and quick response to my emails. Since they are a pretty new company and having bought their very first lens in mass production I can forgive them their quality control problems and not perfect support.
I'm really looking forward to having this wonderful lens back on my K-1 and start taking awesome pictures with it.

Well that was before I received my new copy today that has the exact same problem. It's not as bad as the first but it's still visible. Also they didn't give me shipping information for the new lens and didn't refund the shipping costs. So It seems they have a serious CQ issue in their factory and some service quality problems in their service center in Poland.

I would really like to own this lens if it was in perfect condition. I love the design, feel, gimmicks and overall build quality. I just hope they can resolve their QC and service issues, because they have a lot of potential. But for me personally I'm done with Irix.

So I will have to look further for a lens that will fit my needs for landscape, astro and light painting. Pentax 15-30 would be my dream lens but financially out of reach. Samyang make some nice lenses but I don't want to go through this whole process of returning decentered lenses again. I guess I will have to wait what Pentax will show us at CP+. Maybe it will be a Pentax then. At least they have enough years of experience in building amazing lenses so that I don't have to worry too much about bad lens copies.

Last edited by alpheios; 01-21-2017 at 07:29 AM.

lennyl · 01-19-2017, 12:42 PM

I got IRIX 15/2,4 Fireflay from today (430euro).

Try to rotate the focusing ring to the end and then snap at infinity only.

all photos at snap at infinity - upper right corner is sometimes weak

manual focusing to absolute corner - perfect sharp

difference between rotating the focusing ring to the end and then snap at infinity only - absolute right corner

alpheios · 01-19-2017, 12:57 PM

Thanks for your suggestions but I tested both lenses at different focus distances, different apertures and focusing on center and corners in liveview with 16x magnification. I can even see the lack of sharpness in liveview. The complete left half of my pictures is not sharp. It starts right from the middle and gets worse the closer you get to the left edge. The other two on this forum with faulty lenses had the exact same problem. So it is obviously a manufacturing problem.

**clackers** · 01-19-2017, 02:00 PM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by alpheios

. At least they have enough years of experience in building amazing lenses so that I don't have to worry too much about bad lens copies.

Sorry to hear abiut your saga, but all the manufacturers produce faulty lenses and cameras - even Canon L Series glass - check out the essays by the owner of Lens Rentals.

It is easier for them to do 5 percent of returns than meticulous QA on 100% of what they make.

We might find this tedious, but that's the modern consumer game ... send 'em back until you get what you paid for.

lennyl · 01-19-2017, 10:59 PM

alpheios :

can you post some photos, how bad is your copy of IRIX ?

**lithedreamer** · 01-20-2017, 01:08 AM

Originally posted by clackers

Sorry to hear abiut your saga, but all the manufacturers produce faulty lenses and cameras - even Canon L Series glass - check out the essays by the owner of Lens Rentals.

It is easier for them to do 5 percent of returns than meticulous QA on 100% of what they make.

We might find this tedious, but that's the modern consumer game ... send 'em back until you get what you paid for.

That's fine but when a customer does complain, it'd be nice if a company (especially a new company, without a track record and reputation) took the effort to make sure a customer's 2nd copy wasn't decentered, or that they at least got their shipping money back.

alpheios · 01-20-2017, 02:06 AM

Originally posted by lennyl

can you post some photos, how bad is your copy of IRIX ?

I will do that when I get back home from work.

Originally posted by lithedreamer

That's fine but when a customer does complain, it'd be nice if a company (especially a new company, without a track record and reputation) took the effort to make sure a customer's 2nd copy wasn't decentered, or that they at least got their shipping money back.

That is exactly my point. As I said in my post in the lens club I would forgive them for what happened with my first lens since they are a new company. But what happened then is just a no go for me.

Last edited by alpheios; 01-20-2017 at 05:20 AM.

**clackers** · 01-20-2017, 04:38 AM

Originally posted by lithedreamer

That's fine but when a customer does complain, it'd be nice if a company (especially a new company, without a track record and reputation) took the effort to make sure a customer's 2nd copy wasn't decentered, or that they at least got their shipping money back.

Yes, it would be, LD.

As you point out, a startup doesn't need bad publicity and should go above and beyond when dealing with its first customers.

Sadly, Irix are just following industry practice here, and their pricing (Sigma/Tamron rather than Zeiss/Leica) reflects that.

alpheios · 01-21-2017, 07:12 AM

Here are some left/right 100% crop comparisons. The first two images are from the first lens. The third is from the second. The first image was shot at f/4 the second and third were shot wide open at f/2.4.

As I wrote before my first copy of the lens was a nightmare, the second isn't as bad but a slight decentering is still visible.
Since my plan was to use it wide open for astrophotography perfect sharpness across the frame is crucial for me.

**lithedreamer** · 01-21-2017, 11:09 AM

Wow, that first copy was unusably bad wide-open. I'm lucky I've never had a lens that bad.

istvan_sp · 01-30-2017, 01:46 PM

Hi,

My IRIX 15mm firefly copy is also misaligned. I posted some real life examples about the effect.
It was shot on a k-x (12MP aps-c) but the blurry area is still visible in the corner.
(right bottom corner on the railway station sample and on top of the tree sample)

I saw this when aperture was between 2.4 and 3.2, probably it can be eliminated by stopping down to 4.5

alpheios · 01-31-2017, 02:13 AM

Update: I sent the second lens back to Poland. It arrived last Tuesday. I wrote them another mail on Thursday asking for a status update. They replied that they received the lens but the proof of purchase was missing. I put every possible document in the package I could. They probably opened the package from the wrong side and thus didn't find the documents. I sent them another proof of purchase via email. I'm still wondering why I have to send them a proof of purchase at all since I bought the lens directly from them.

Today it's Tuesday again and I still haven't heard from them or gotten my money back. It's been seven weeks now since I placed my order for this lens and it gets more annoying every day.

If you seriously consider buying this lens I highly recommend buying it on amazon. DO NOT buy from Irix. Their service is a pain in the a**.

---------- Post added 01-31-17 at 02:22 AM ----------

Originally posted by istvan_sp

Hi,

My IRIX 15mm firefly copy is also misaligned. I posted some real life examples about the effect.
It was shot on a k-x (12MP aps-c) but the blurry area is still visible in the corner.
(right bottom corner on the railway station sample and on top of the tree sample)

I saw this when aperture was between 2.4 and 3.2, probably it can be eliminated by stopping down to 4.5

I'm sorry to hear that. A new f/2.4 lens that only becomes usable stopped down by a few stops is just not what you paid for and should be replaced. I hope you bought it on amazon.

alpheios · 01-31-2017, 06:00 AM - **1 Like**

Another quick update: I finally got my money back including the 28.- € for shipping the two faulty lenses back to Poland.

**Digitalis** · 01-31-2017, 06:58 AM - **1 Like**

well these lenses have a big fat NOPE on them for a potential lens review from me.

istvan_sp · 01-31-2017, 11:00 AM

Hi,

Last time i didn't notice that my attachments got resized, so here are the new samples.

I love this lens, but this blurriness is very disappointing.
I've bought it at a local camera store so I have warrantee. I'm going to return it, and hopefully they will replace it.
I liked IRIX much better than the SAMYANG 14mm, so i hope to get a working copy of this lens.

01-19-2017, 12:07 PM	#1
alpheios Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Bremen Posts: 410	Irix 15mm frustration Hey folks, some of you may have already read in the Irix lens club thread that I (among two other users) had a decentering issue with my 15mm Irix lens. For all who didn't read what I wrote there, here is a quote of my posts: Originally posted by alpheios @jmpince and laci My 15mm Blackstone arrived a few days ago and I seem to have the same decentering problem. Right side is perfectly sharp through all apertures but the left side is not sharp just like yours. It gets a little better stopping down but the problem is still there. Have you received answer or even already have a new copy from IRIX? If so did they replace it or repair it? How was the response time and quality of service? Originally posted by alpheios Quick update on my decentered 15mm Blackstone. I contacted Irix support via email. They asked me to send some sample photos and shortly after sending them they asked me to send the lens to their service center in Poland. I had to pay for the return shipping in advance but they promised to refund. Five days after the lens arrived at their service center I wrote another email and asked about a status update. Twenty minutes later I got answer that they are currently testing the faulty lens and another twenty minutes later I got another message that a new copy will be on its way to me soon. So overall I'm pretty happy with their support even though I had to pay for the shipping in advance and had to ask for the status of my complaint. I got very friendly and quick response to my emails. Since they are a pretty new company and having bought their very first lens in mass production I can forgive them their quality control problems and not perfect support. I'm really looking forward to having this wonderful lens back on my K-1 and start taking awesome pictures with it. Well that was before I received my new copy today that has the exact same problem. It's not as bad as the first but it's still visible. Also they didn't give me shipping information for the new lens and didn't refund the shipping costs. So It seems they have a serious CQ issue in their factory and some service quality problems in their service center in Poland. I would really like to own this lens if it was in perfect condition. I love the design, feel, gimmicks and overall build quality. I just hope they can resolve their QC and service issues, because they have a lot of potential. But for me personally I'm done with Irix. So I will have to look further for a lens that will fit my needs for landscape, astro and light painting. Pentax 15-30 would be my dream lens but financially out of reach. Samyang make some nice lenses but I don't want to go through this whole process of returning decentered lenses again. I guess I will have to wait what Pentax will show us at CP+. Maybe it will be a Pentax then. At least they have enough years of experience in building amazing lenses so that I don't have to worry too much about bad lens copies. Last edited by alpheios; 01-21-2017 at 07:29 AM.

01-21-2017, 07:12 AM	#9
alpheios Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Bremen Posts: 410 Original Poster	Here are some left/right 100% crop comparisons. The first two images are from the first lens. The third is from the second. The first image was shot at f/4 the second and third were shot wide open at f/2.4. As I wrote before my first copy of the lens was a nightmare, the second isn't as bad but a slight decentering is still visible. Since my plan was to use it wide open for astrophotography perfect sharpness across the frame is crucial for me. Attached Images Last edited by alpheios; 01-21-2017 at 07:44 AM.

01-31-2017, 02:13 AM	#12
alpheios Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Bremen Posts: 410 Original Poster	Update: I sent the second lens back to Poland. It arrived last Tuesday. I wrote them another mail on Thursday asking for a status update. They replied that they received the lens but the proof of purchase was missing. I put every possible document in the package I could. They probably opened the package from the wrong side and thus didn't find the documents. I sent them another proof of purchase via email. I'm still wondering why I have to send them a proof of purchase at all since I bought the lens directly from them. Today it's Tuesday again and I still haven't heard from them or gotten my money back. It's been seven weeks now since I placed my order for this lens and it gets more annoying every day. If you seriously consider buying this lens I highly recommend buying it on amazon. DO NOT buy from Irix. Their service is a pain in the a*. ---------- Post added 01-31-17 at 02:22 AM ---------- Originally posted by istvan_sp Hi, My IRIX 15mm firefly copy is also misaligned. I posted some real life examples about the effect. It was shot on a k-x (12MP aps-c) but the blurry area is still visible in the corner. (right bottom corner on the railway station sample and on top of the tree sample) I saw this when aperture was between 2.4 and 3.2, probably it can be eliminated by stopping down to 4.5 I'm sorry to hear that. A new f/2.4 lens that only becomes usable stopped down by a few stops is just not what you paid for and should be replaced. I hope you bought it on amazon. Last edited by alpheios; 01-31-2017 at 02:34 AM.*

01-31-2017, 06:58 AM - 1 Like	#14
Digitalis Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Melbourne, Victoria Photos: Gallery Posts: 11,694	well these lenses have a big fat *NOPE* on them for a potential lens review from me. Last edited by Digitalis; 02-02-2017 at 05:26 AM.

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01-19-2017, 12:42 PM	#2
lennyl Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Slovakia Posts: 63	I got IRIX 15/2,4 Fireflay from today (430euro). Try to rotate the focusing ring to the end and then snap at infinity only. all photos at snap at infinity - upper right corner is sometimes weak manual focusing to absolute corner - perfect sharp difference between rotating the focusing ring to the end and then snap at infinity only - absolute right corner

01-19-2017, 12:57 PM	#3
alpheios Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Bremen Posts: 410 Original Poster	Thanks for your suggestions but I tested both lenses at different focus distances, different apertures and focusing on center and corners in liveview with 16x magnification. I can even see the lack of sharpness in liveview. The complete left half of my pictures is not sharp. It starts right from the middle and gets worse the closer you get to the left edge. The other two on this forum with faulty lenses had the exact same problem. So it is obviously a manufacturing problem.

01-19-2017, 02:00 PM - 2 Likes	#4
clackers Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Melbourne Photos: Albums Posts: 16,397	Originally posted by alpheios . At least they have enough years of experience in building amazing lenses so that I don't have to worry too much about bad lens copies. Sorry to hear abiut your saga, but all the manufacturers produce faulty lenses and cameras - even Canon L Series glass - check out the essays by the owner of Lens Rentals. It is easier for them to do 5 percent of returns than meticulous QA on 100% of what they make. We might find this tedious, but that's the modern consumer game ... send 'em back until you get what you paid for.

01-19-2017, 10:59 PM	#5
lennyl Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Slovakia Posts: 63	alpheios : can you post some photos, how bad is your copy of IRIX ?

01-20-2017, 01:08 AM	#6
lithedreamer Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2013 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,799	Originally posted by clackers Sorry to hear abiut your saga, but all the manufacturers produce faulty lenses and cameras - even Canon L Series glass - check out the essays by the owner of Lens Rentals. It is easier for them to do 5 percent of returns than meticulous QA on 100% of what they make. We might find this tedious, but that's the modern consumer game ... send 'em back until you get what you paid for. That's fine but when a customer does complain, it'd be nice if a company (especially a new company, without a track record and reputation) took the effort to make sure a customer's 2nd copy wasn't decentered, or that they at least got their shipping money back.

01-20-2017, 02:06 AM	#7
alpheios Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Bremen Posts: 410 Original Poster	Originally posted by lennyl can you post some photos, how bad is your copy of IRIX ? I will do that when I get back home from work. Originally posted by lithedreamer That's fine but when a customer does complain, it'd be nice if a company (especially a new company, without a track record and reputation) took the effort to make sure a customer's 2nd copy wasn't decentered, or that they at least got their shipping money back. That is exactly my point. As I said in my post in the lens club I would forgive them for what happened with my first lens since they are a new company. But what happened then is just a no go for me. Last edited by alpheios; 01-20-2017 at 05:20 AM.

01-20-2017, 04:38 AM	#8
clackers Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Melbourne Photos: Albums Posts: 16,397	Originally posted by lithedreamer That's fine but when a customer does complain, it'd be nice if a company (especially a new company, without a track record and reputation) took the effort to make sure a customer's 2nd copy wasn't decentered, or that they at least got their shipping money back. Yes, it would be, LD. As you point out, a startup doesn't need bad publicity and should go above and beyond when dealing with its first customers. Sadly, Irix are just following industry practice here, and their pricing (Sigma/Tamron rather than Zeiss/Leica) reflects that.

01-21-2017, 11:09 AM	#10
lithedreamer Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2013 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,799	Wow, that first copy was unusably bad wide-open. I'm lucky I've never had a lens that bad.

01-31-2017, 06:00 AM - 1 Like	#13
alpheios Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Bremen Posts: 410 Original Poster	Another quick update: I finally got my money back including the 28.- € for shipping the two faulty lenses back to Poland.

01-31-2017, 11:00 AM	#15
istvan_sp New Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Posts: 4	Hi, Last time i didn't notice that my attachments got resized, so here are the new samples. I love this lens, but this blurriness is very disappointing. I've bought it at a local camera store so I have warrantee. I'm going to return it, and hopefully they will replace it. I liked IRIX much better than the SAMYANG 14mm, so i hope to get a working copy of this lens.