[jpzk]

I have a shoot tomorrow morning, and I have 10 minutes to get what I need from a high ranking member of the company.
One K3 on a slider, another on a Jib, and another in my hands for stills.
Failure, is NOT an option
So happy this is done now!!!!

Looking forward to see some of your shots with the SDM-less lens!
Cheers!

[JinDesu]

I'm also having trouble making the camera save the lens firmware onto the SD card. I got a k-30 and I have it open to the debug menu. Any thoughts, advice?

Nevermind, found the issue: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/6-pentax-dslr-discussion/250555-resurrect...ml#post2756940

Also, looking at the k-30 debug menu, the R/W feature only shows 00 when reading the addresses. I'm going to wildly assume that this means the k-30 just doesn't have the ability to make the 16-50 convert. And same with the k-3. Just checked on that too.

[LaurenOE]

I'm also having trouble making the camera save the lens firmware onto the SD card. I got a k-30 and I have it open to the debug menu. Any thoughts, advice?

Nevermind, found the issue: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/6-pentax-dslr-discussion/250555-resurrect...ml#post2756940

Also, looking at the k-30 debug menu, the R/W feature only shows 00 when reading the addresses. I'm going to wildly assume that this means the k-30 just doesn't have the ability to make the 16-50 convert. And same with the k-3. Just checked on that too.

I'm not sure what didn't work for the K3, so I grabbed one of my K5 cameras and it went without a hitch.

I have two DA* 16-50 lenses and their # are 9045389 and 9045481. They are only 92 apart from one another, so they probably came from the same batch.

In the LENSEEP.LNS, 00 through 05 columns are identical, 0E through 0F are too.
06 through OD change, so the LENSEEP.LNS is specific to each lens.

[CRPhoto]

Many Thanks!! Last night I converted my 16-50mm to screwdrive! I used a K-5 and the instructions by PJM1 on page 19 to disable SDM on my 16-50mm. One thing I did differently, is that I only used the SD Card trick to enter the full DEBUG mode on the K-5. No need to connect to PKTether. Then just followed the rest of the instructions.
Lens seems just a little slower than SDM, but it works. Great post guys! many thanks.

[LaurenOE]

Many Thanks!! Last night I converted my 16-50mm to screwdrive! I used a K-5 and the instructions by PJM1 on page 19 to disable SDM on my 16-50mm. One thing I did differently, is that I only used the SD Card trick to enter the full DEBUG mode on the K-5. No need to connect to PKTether. Then just followed the rest of the instructions.
Lens seems just a little slower than SDM, but it works. Great post guys! many thanks.

LOL screw drive may be slow, but it's faster than manual focus!

[CRPhoto]

LOL screw drive may be slow, but it's faster than manual focus!

lol True true!!!! It's so great to be able to have that nice lens back on the work line!! I was so frustrated.

[Andi Lo]

A bit late and might've been discussed above but, why isnt this thread stickied? It's one of the most important piece of info in the forum imo.

[Sandy Hancock]

A bit late and might've been discussed above but, why isnt this thread stickied? It's one of the most important piece of info in the forum imo.

Hear, hear.

[templarkk]

My 16-50 SDM seems going to die soon. As I still own my *55 1.4 lens which doesnt have screw drive capability.
If I follow the instruction to deactivate SDM for my 16-50. Am I able to use autofocus from *55 ?

Thanks

[Sandy Hancock]

My 16-50 SDM seems going to die soon. As I still own my *55 1.4 lens which doesnt have screw drive capability.
If I follow the instruction to deactivate SDM for my 16-50. Am I able to use autofocus from *55 ?

You can certainly convert your DA*16-50, but the DA*55 is either SDM or it's dead.

[Rondec]

My 16-50 SDM seems going to die soon. As I still own my *55 1.4 lens which doesnt have screw drive capability.
If I follow the instruction to deactivate SDM for my 16-50. Am I able to use autofocus from *55 ?

Thanks

Converting the 16-50 will not effect your 55's ability to focus. It just somehow makes the camera think that the 16-50 should be a screw driven lens.

[gokhans]

Converting the 16-50 will not effect your 55's ability to focus. It just somehow makes the camera think that the 16-50 should be a screw driven lens.

Its nothing with the body , just changing the lens codes, just the lens attached on body when you entered corrected codes.

[bennyxyz]

Do you own a K100D?

In this case you can access the debug menu simply with button presses:

1. Power off.
2. While pressing [AE-L] + [INFO], turn the camera on.
3. Firmware version is displayed.
4. Press [MENU] -> [MENU] -> [INFO] within 5 seconds.

You'll then see the debug menu.

You'll have to press [MENU] one more time to get to the screen that allows you to read/write the lens EEPROM.

EDIT: The K100D even has the lens EEPROM editor built in.

Found great resources here, thanks.

[bennyxyz]

OK as I've got useful info in this post, I'm sharing the tips and steps here.

First of all, the following steps are for K-100D to disable/enable SDM focusing for DA* 50-135. The process is reversible, I've tested it and 100% sure - As long as the SDM focusing is still in working condition.

MAKE SURE YOUR AA BATTERIES ARE FULLY CHARGED BEFORE PROCEEDING!
Make sure you backup the original SDM focusing EEPROM! As from other forums it is unique to the lens! YOU CAN'T USE EEPROM FROM OTHER LENS TO RESCUE YOUR BRICKED LENS!

1: Power off K-100D.
1: Attached the SDM Lens onto K-100D.
3: While pressing [AE-L] + [INFO], turn the camera on.
4: Firmware version is displayed.
5: Press [MENU] -> [MENU] -> [INFO] within 5 seconds.
6: Press [MENU] one more time to get to the screen that allows you to read/write the lens EEPROM.
Below are the options of the 2nd screen of debug mode:
EEPROM LOAD
EEPROM STORE
CPU ROM STORE
EEPROM READ/WRITE
DSP ROM STORE
AF PINT DISP
LENS EEPROM R/W
EXIT
7: Choose ‘LENS EEPROM R/W’, the options are:
LENS EEPROM LOAD
LENS EEPROM STORE
LENS EEPROM READ/WRITE
8: Proceed with ‘LENS EEPROM STORE’ to store lens EEPROM (LENSEEP.LNS) to the SD card (Less than 1 min)
9: Exit the debug mode, power off the camera, take the SD card out
10: Backup the EEPROM file (LENSEEP.LNS) to local drive
11: Use NOTEPAD++ to open the EEPROM file. (LENSEEP.LNS)
12: Locate column 03
13: Replace the original value ‘C0’ to new value ‘80’ under column 03 (ALL applicable rows)
13: Save and exit
14: Put the card back to the camera
15: Power on the camera into debug mode
16: Proceed with ‘LENS EEPROM LOAD’ to write the updated EEPROM file to the camera/lens (Longer than EEPROM Store but still less than 1 min)
17: SDM should be disabled already. Try it with newer body to confirm.

If you are going to enable the SDM focus just do it reverse.

[ManWithCamera]

I use a K-3 now, with my K-5 as a backup. The SDM on my 16-50mm was no longer functional and I was about ready to chuck it in the bin, but I still liked the idea of having a fast, wide zoom with weather-sealing. When I first started having trouble with my 16-50mm, I went out an purchased a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 for less than the cost of repairing the 16-50mm. I think the 28-75mm range is much more useful for photographing people on an APS-C sized sensor anyway. But, on rare occasion, I want the weather-sealing and/or the ability to go wider.

This solution was easy. I pulled out my old K-7 and followed the directions. The process was easy and only took a few minutes. (Actually, I spent a lot more time searching for an appropriate USB cable than I spent doing the actual firmware modification!)

Thank you! Now, my lens is functional again! I wish they'd just put the option to switch between SDM and screw-drive in the camera's menu. Seriously!!! This problem affects so many lenses, that they should have just put an option into the recent cameras -- or provided an official firmware update for the lenses! Really. How hard would it be to release an official firmware update for the 16-50mm and the 50-135mm lenses which would disable the SDM?

It seems to me that the lenses should have been built with an SDM switch right next to the AF switch! I also can't imagine ever buying an SDM-only lens from Pentax after having this experience and seeing how they handle (or don't handle) the problem.

I have three functioning Pentax DSLRs (my K10D is just a paperweight now -- it didn't make it to 100k actuations) and ten k-mount lenses. I can't afford to switch brands at this point, but boy do I wish I'd chosen Sony back when I first started...