[GaryH]

What kind of pattern are you seeing in our serial number data base? I'm curious because I'm really confused about the whole random use of serial numbers. Sounds pretty odd to me. I still really like my new lens and have my fingers crossed that it will be a good one. We need an "insider" at Pentax in Japan.

OK, Serials starting with 901 go back to mostly 2007-2008, 902 mostly 2008-2009, 903 mostly 2009-2010, 904 mostly 2010-2012 and 905 is 2013

that is when they were acquired by the forum members that posted their serials.

These are pretty darned good lenses. The problem is playing roulette with the SDM and the older the lens, the more likely it fails. That failure costs $240 to repair. My first lens was a 901 serial and it failed this last spring.

[pearsaab]

OK, Serials starting with 901 go back to mostly 2007-2008, 902 mostly 2008-2009, 903 mostly 2009-2010, 904 mostly 2010-2012 and 905 is 2013

that is when they were acquired by the forum members that posted their serials.

These are pretty darned good lenses. The problem is playing roulette with the SDM and the older the lens, the more likely it fails. That failure costs $240 to repair. My first lens was a 901 serial and it failed this last spring.

and I just got a 903 from black Friday

[krebsy75]

No response from B&H... Weird. What did you guys end up doing?

[GaryH]

No response from B&H... Weird. What did you guys end up doing?

I kept mine. I am convinced that Ricoh has not overseen any production of that lens. It is a fair price and if they come up with a replacement, it will be $1500.

[rdj92807]

My recommendations to everyone fretting about their Pentax 16-50:

I bought a brand new perfect, box never opened 16-50 with serial number 904xxxx, around 2011.
Basically never used it. SDM always kind of slow at first. Completely failed in 2013, and lens was switched to screw drive only using my K20D.

This is a really super lens. I love it. Optically and cosmetically really nice, with great range 16-50. Weak only at 16/2.8.

SO......just buy the lens, and plan on switching to screw drive WHEN the SDM fails. No problem, as long as you have or get access to an older Pentax DSLR. Your surprise will be that you WILL NOT MISS THE SDM. Screw drive on this lens is remarkably quiet and just as fast, or faster, than the stupid SDM. I would pay MORE for a screw drive version of this lens.
Once in screw drive, you can enjoy this great lens for a very, very long time. No need to ship it in for an expensive repair, which might mess up your lens and will probably not permanently fix it anyway.

[NitroDC]

My lens has a small bit of dust on the inside of the front element now. Only had it since black friday. Is this something to worry about? As another note my zoom ring gets a little stiff in the 28mm region -- could my WR seals be faulty (and the cause for the dust on the inside and the stiffness)?

I'm certain the dust speck was not there when I got the lens.

[GaryH]

My lens has a small bit of dust on the inside of the front element now. Only had it since black friday. Is this something to worry about? As another note my zoom ring gets a little stiff in the 28mm region -- could my WR seals be faulty (and the cause for the dust on the inside and the stiffness)?

I'm certain the dust speck was not there when I got the lens.

Both my new and old 16-50 had that stiffness at 28-30mm. The 60-250 has the same thing.
Should not be a problem. I would consider having it switched for another lens if it has dust though.

[NitroDC]

Both my new and old 16-50 had that stiffness at 28-30mm. The 60-250 has the same thing.
Should not be a problem. I would consider having it switched for another lens if it has dust though.

I just shined a flashlight into it...

There is some tiny dust present further in.

I'm thinking it's just dust that has gotten in while the lens had the rear cap off or dust that was in the camera and got sucked in while zooming. I mean these aren't weather sealed even on the insides. They are only sealed from the outside elements. I am reluctant to replace this one anyways since it's a sharp copy.

[GaryH]

If it is a sharp copy keeping it is more important than a little dust for sure.

[krebsy75]

The stiffness people talk about is most likely the ratio changing in that zoom region. Normal operation.

[Rudy]

i ordered from B&H and i as expected i got a Hoya version of the da*16-50

if i am not mistaking the price in B&H was lower than other online sellers
so at time of ordering i knew that there was going to be a higher chance to get a Hoya version from b&h as opposed to Amazon for example where it was not in stock before and the price when it became available was higher before tax..

i will keep mine, but Ricoh has an opportunity to continue to increase market share if they would issue an extended warranty for sdm products and give people confidence to continue to buy Pentax Ricoh products. Ricoh Pentax lenses warranty 1 year and 6 weeks repair time?;,,,,,, compare to Tamron 6 years warranty and 3 days to repair; Sigma 4 years; Nikon 5 years 10 days to repair, therefore it is just a question if Ricoh wants to increase market share or not.

[woodywesty]

i ordered from B&H and i as expected i got a Hoya version of the da*16-50

if i am not mistaking the price in B&H was lower than other online sellers
so at time of ordering i knew that there was going to be a higher chance to get a Hoya version from b&h as opposed to Amazon for example where it was not in stock before and the price when it became available was higher before tax..

i will keep mine, but Ricoh has an opportunity to continue to increase market share if they would issue an extended warranty for sdm products and give people confidence to continue to buy Pentax Ricoh products. Ricoh Pentax lenses warranty 1 year and 6 weeks repair time?;,,,,,, compare to Tamron 6 years warranty and 3 days to repair; Sigma 4 years; Nikon 5 years 10 days to repair, therefore it is just a question if Ricoh wants to increase market share or not.

I think you're "spot on". I also bought the 16-50 in late October and am going to take a wait and see position. I like the lens but would like for Ricoh to at least say something to us. If it doesn't work out there are a number of very nice lenses from Sigma for me to build my lens collection.

[DeadJohn]

I finally got a response to my Ask B&H post. They can't confirm manufacture date. They *think* recent lens shipments were received after the rumored 2012 SDM change. B&H probably doesn't want to take on Pentax' mistakes.

I have been using my 16-50. It's soft at the edges wide open, as I expected from reading reviews. CA at high contrast edges is easily correctable in Lightroom. Center sharpness at f2.8 is better than I expected - much better - so I want to keep my copy unless I find a showstopper. Some samples posted to https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/12-post-your-photos/245558-people-too-many-santas-faces-santacon.html

The only surprise is a little bit of barrel wobble. At 50mm I can wiggle both portions of the extended barrel. It is very slight and doesn't seem to impact IQ or WR.

[Prakticant]

As I own[ed] two of the 16-50mm DA*s (one sold yesterday), there was a paperwork from 2010 included with No 902xxxx and paperwork of 2013 included with 905yyyy serial number.
There were black & red Pentax boxes, with 'All-Weather' marking only on one of the boxes; I believe 'All-Weather' marking was on the older of two boxes, but I might easily wrongly swap the boxes.
Older lens bought secondhand (Europe) had slightly stiff focus ring somewhere in 2/5 of the range, while there is NO focus-ring stiffness with newer lens (905yyyy).
After more than a year of cupboard/photobag storage of the older lens (as I was using newer one), the AF was slow to wake-up (seemed to not work at first).
Newer lens bough from France said to be new (as much as you can guess with internet purchase), but both lenses had exactly the same NOT stunning image quality.
Now I'm to buy secondhand No 906zzzz in silver Ricoh box, might be my third attempt to this standard-range zoom and the last one if this Tokina design keeps to be so mediocre.
Main use: family photos.


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OK, Serials starting with 901 go back to mostly 2007-2008, 902 mostly 2008-2009, 903 mostly 2009-2010, 904 mostly 2010-2012 and 905 is 2013