[fuent104]

Maybe they should just make a public statement - "We don't REALLY care about competing with any of the major manufacturers, or any minor manufacturers who will be coming up with more innovative ideas than we will over the next few years. Also, we don't have any interest in our name being synonymous with quality products."

[bwDraco]

I'm running to B&H this coming Tuesday and tell them that the SDM is acting erratically in Live View and appears likely to fail soon.

--DragonLord

[bwDraco]

The final replacement unit is optically decentered and is now at C.R.I.S. for repair. However, there are zero SDM issues with this lens.

--DragonLord

[wizofoz]

I'm sorry to hear of your plight DL. I have the wonderful 60-250 and mine has always worked flawlessly (touch wood). This really is a magnificent lens and optically as good as anything out there. I hope C.R.I.S does a full overhaul for you and even replaces the older SDM motor for the newer variety (I think this holds true for the 60 - 250 as well as the other SDM lenses. Yes?)

Best of luck

[fuent104]

I think they ought to give you your money back, and beg you not to sell all of your Pentax gear.

[bwDraco]

I am definitely not going to get a refund. I need this lens to shoot sports events at the local college.

--DragonLord

[bossa]

Wow! I am so sorry to hear of you problems DL. I had one of these lenses for about 8 months before selling most of my Pentax kit to buy a Nikon outfit and even to this day I regret selling that lens.. @ f/7.1 is was probably the sharpest lens I ever had.

PS: The SDM does tend to make a louder noise with that lens but I'm not sure it is a fault.

[normhead]

To bad about your lens Dragonlord, I also have a Hoya built lens and my SDM has always functioned flawlessly. And coupled with the 18-135 it's an awesome combination. A two lens stack of primes (if you don't use the 18-135 over 50mm) that cover 18-250, that's water resistant.

I have been putting my SDM DA*60-250 through it's paces for over 2 years now, with not a sniff of trouble....and given the kind of use it gets, that's pretty close to amazing. There have been a couple incidents where I thought it should have been broken but it still functions perfectly. It's a tough lens.

Given that I've seen a Canon lens fail after being rolled off a log maybe 8 inches high (where it had been placed during a lens change) I'm even more impressed with it's toughness.

Once you have a good copy, I'm sure you'll be impressed. Before I bought it I returned a defective Sigma 120-400, then returned the second one because the IQ wasn't up to scratch. SO it took me three trips to the store to get mine. So, if you return it you will be up to the same number of visits it took me. Only in my case it wasn't Pentax that let me down. I would have saved myself a pile of grief by ordering the 60-250 right from the start. At least when you're done you'll have a great lens.

I do agree with you about the weight though. Since I got my A-400, I often won't carry them both... I make a choice. The 18-135 always goes, but if I'm looking for birds the 60-250 stays home. I do sometimes take them both but, I'd say its really wise to plan your camera bag so you have only one heavy lens.

[Allison]

So sorry to hear about all of this. I have had my 60-250 for two years now and I did not have any issues. I bought it used, but it was like brand new when I got it. It is honestly one of the best lenses I own. I hope when you get it back that that is the end of all of the issues.

[bwDraco]

The lens remains at the repair center, waiting on back-ordered parts.

--DragonLord

[bwDraco]

An entire month later, the lens is still waiting on a back-ordered part.

A call to C.R.I.S. revealed that the front lens group is the part in question. The representative stated that the delays are caused in part by the Pentax-Ricoh acquisition: as Pentax transitions to Ricoh's supply chain, some delays are to be expected. Once this transition is complete, it should be able to deliver parts much faster than before.

--DragonLord

[normhead]

The contacts are clean on both the body and lens. The SDM does run smoothly when shooting through the viewfinder. This behavior only occurs in Live View.

--DragonLord

The battery drains so quickly in Live View, I'm guessing there's a voltage drop and insufficient power to drive the lens. Using Live View I've had the camera tell me the battery was drained, and then finished a trip (3 more days) without running out of battery , and with the battery level going up form empty and red to 2 bars. The only camera I use with Live View is my K-01... I'm guessing, that if this is a regular practice of yours maybe this isn't the lens for you. I'm not going to try this on my 60-250 for obvious reasons... but mine has worked flawlessly for 3 years... you might want to pass this on to Pentax and see what they have to say. But, that's my guess. I'm guessing that this is a somewhat unusual situation. I've tried the K-01 and my A-400 and I find it impossible to track birds etc. so it's concievable that you might be the only person to have tried Live View and the 60-250 and the rest of us haven't burned out our lenses, because we don't use Live View for telephoto. At this point anything is possible.

[JinDesu]

An entire month later, the lens is still waiting on a back-ordered part.

A call to C.R.I.S. revealed that the front lens group is the part in question. The representative stated that the delays are caused in part by the Pentax-Ricoh acquisition: as Pentax transitions to Ricoh's supply chain, some delays are to be expected. Once this transition is complete, it should be able to deliver parts much faster than before.

--DragonLord

Well, at least that's a somewhat reasonable answer and sort of good news.

...unless it's a stalling tactic...

...but i'm an optimist

[kenafein]

An entire month later, the lens is still waiting on a back-ordered part.

A call to C.R.I.S. revealed that the front lens group is the part in question. The representative stated that the delays are caused in part by the Pentax-Ricoh acquisition: as Pentax transitions to Ricoh's supply chain, some delays are to be expected. Once this transition is complete, it should be able to deliver parts much faster than before.

--DragonLord

CRIS broke the plastic, covering the distance gauge, on my FA50/1.4. I'd sent it along for calibration with my K-r. I had to send it back to them and wait a few months for the part to come in, ridiculous. At least they didn't try to fight me on the repair. It came back as good as new. My guess is Pentax/Hoya(now Ricoh)'s supply train truly is the villain here.

[Ms.Information]

any way to determine the construction dates on these lenses? maybe they don't store well. or one of the boxes they were shipped in was mishandled?

i have two M50s here that work flawlessly. i have succesfully convincend myself that lenses will last forever, unless dropped. and now you people want to convince me that my brand new 18-135 will someday not work? no, no.
statistically, this sample is too small to draw any conclusions from. i will use all my lenses, until i replace them with the 5-500, 1.7 pancake.