[41ants]

As long as they don't open up a plant in Ohio (like toyota did), I think you are fine with quality and value.

[Schraubstock]

Having visited the country and having interacted with its residents while touring as an indivdual (i.e. not insulated from as in a tour group), I came away with the impression that the Vietnamese are a hardworking, meticulous people, much as the Japanese are. Furthermore, multinational companies such as Pentax pay significantly more wages than local companies, as such they attract the best workers. Pentax would continue to assemble in Japan if they could, but the reality is that the cost of manufacturing in Japan is significantly higher due higher labour costs, hence the move to a country that has the same high work culture but sgnificantly lower labour costs.

I totally agree. I too have traveled Vietnam for over three weeks as an individual with a hired private tour guide by my side. This enabled me to to see Vietnam from a totally different perspective. (Even though I still saw myself as a tourist). The guide, as we got to know each other after a while, showed me things and opened my eyes in a way a group tourist would never experience.

I am in awe of the Vietnamese people, they never give up or complain, they always have a smile for you, they make something out of nothing and it will look beautiful and it will work. Their work ethic is breathtaking, they never seem to complain, they seem to grasp things quickly and get on with it.

I actually (by chance) drove past the PENTAX factory, it is brand new shining big building and I am sure what comes out of there is good quality. In fact I would prefer goods made in Vietnam over those made in China.

Best regards

[Colorado CJ]

From my experience trying to buy a DA 40 Limited, the quality control is terrible. I bought one lens and the aperture blades were bad, and had alot of dust/debris between the lens elements.

I returned it for another. The new one had bad aperture blades, one was even bent! The aperture would not open or close smoothly or evenly.

After two bad lenses in a row, I gave up. Too bad too, since I REALLY wanted to have a line of limited lenses

Here's the first one



Here's the second one. See the bent blade (bare metal showing on the edge of the blade)

[pz1fan]

From my experience trying to buy a DA 40 Limited, the quality control is terrible. I bought one lens and the aperture blades were bad, and had alot of dust/debris between the lens elements.

I returned it for another. The new one had bad aperture blades, one was even bent! The aperture would not open or close smoothly or evenly.

After two bad lenses in a row, I gave up. Too bad too, since I REALLY wanted to have a line of limited lenses

When did you get one? I've had no problems with a DA 40mm bought last year. The DA 40mm is sharp and compact.

[Colorado CJ]

I bought it in November of last year and the replacement came in mid December.

I'd really like to think that I got the only two bad examples of the Limiteds, but I just don't know. What is the chances that two 40mm Limiteds in a row are bad? Especially when the 40mm Limited is thought of as a technically "perfect" lens.

I just don't trust the quality control from Pentax when it comes to their lenses.

Sure wish that wasn't the case

[RioRico]

as long as they don't open up a plant in ohio (like toyota did), i think you are fine with quality and value.

[Laurentiu Cristofor]

After two bad lenses in a row, I gave up. Too bad too, since I REALLY wanted to have a line of limited lenses

Where did you buy those from?

[Colorado CJ]

Where did you buy those from?

I ordered the lens from Adorama. I'm pretty sure it isn't their fault. I just can't figure out how these lenses could have passed inspection, ESPECIALLY the second one. The aperture blade was BENT!

[Laurentiu Cristofor]

I ordered the lens from Adorama. I'm pretty sure it isn't their fault. I just can't figure out how these lenses could have passed inspection, ESPECIALLY the second one. The aperture blade was BENT!

Strange indeed. But such things unfortunately happen. You could ask adorama to check a third sample before sending it to you.

[hoanpham]

They won't check it for you, but asking you to return it again. Rather mention the problem and ask them to bring it up with pentax, possible that they got a batch with collected defects? Sigma does sell 2. quality as grey items for cheap, don't know if Pentax does the same.

[MaK5]

I ordered a FA31 Limited lens 2 weeks ago, it has almost exact same bad blades as CJ's first sample... RMA'd the lens and still waiting for replacement.. BH told me I could be waiting for a LONG time because it's out of stock...

I also ordered a FA77 Limited about the same time, and it has questionable blade assembly as well. It's not as bad, but nowhere near perfect. I'm still debating if I should sent it back because I'm afraid of getting a worse replacement.

The FA43 (MIJ) I have is great. My DFA100WR (AIV) is also good. I hope it's just my bad luck rather than some Pentax QC issue...

[Wheatfield]

FWIW, I just took delivery of a AIV 43/1.9 which appears perfect.
Having said this, it is apparent that Pentax's QC is slipping. I suspect it is cheaper for them to replace defectives than it is to do a full QC inspection.

[Pentaxor]

FWIW, I just took delivery of a AIV 43/1.9 which appears perfect.
Having said this, it is apparent that Pentax's QC is slipping. I suspect it is cheaper for them to replace defectives than it is to do a full QC inspection.

probably cost-cutting by allowing the circulation of rejects for distribution. in other words, as long as it works and does not affect the performance, it doesn't matter if the blades are not perfectly aligned or simply saying cosmetic imperfections are okay.

this is one of the problems of mass production, since QC inspection would mean more time, effort, personnel and money on individual items and not done in random succession. therefore certain tolerance and quality standards are adjusted to what seems acceptable but not necessarily high standards. welcome to the 21st century.

[arm_jstp]

May be Pentax should follow Nikon, Sony and Ricoh to build its lenses in Thailand. Anyway, labor cost will be much higher than in Vietnam since they are skilled labors.