40mm XS... by Lensbaby? What happened?

narual · 02-28-2016, 10:06 PM

I don't use my 40mm xs very often. I carry it around with me a lot, but it rarely gets fitted to the camera. Most of the time I'm using it, it's to show off how tiny it is.

It was a beautiful day in Baltimore, and I parked (illegally as it turns out... $80 in tickets later) near Federal Hill to take some photos of the city.

I had my 50-135 on the camera, and the 15mm with the 40mm attached using a double lens cap.

After getting shots with the zoom and finding a park bench to plop down on (I didn't bring anything to put the 50-135 IN if I dismounted it, so the park bench served that purpose), I played with the 15mm for a bit, then decided that I hadn't used the 40 in a while and it deserved some use, too.

And nothing seemed to be in focus, at first.

Then I realized the center was in focus, but nothing else seemed to be.

At first I assumed something had gotten smeared on the lens - it reminded me of that effect. But I took it out, took the tiny BW filter off the front, everything was clean.

I panicked and put the 15 back on, and it was fine.

Put the 40 back on and switched to live view and tried manual focus... no luck.

It looks like I'm using a lensbaby. - See attached, full image, detail from center and near edge

It wasn't like this the last time I used it, in, ... uh... April 2015. (attached - last photo I'd taken with it on that outing)

What do you guys think happened? I'm assuming I banged it on something and messed it up, but I'd have expected it to be messed up across the board or unevenly, and this looks at least at first glance to be pretty even (center in reasonable focus, rest smearing off)

Attached Images

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vonBaloney · 02-28-2016, 10:24 PM

Yep, looks like it has become severely decentered. Something is loose...

Reed · 02-29-2016, 01:59 AM

Maybe try to clean the rear element first, on such small glass parts even 1mm grease film over the edge of lens can produce this effect.

manntax · 02-29-2016, 03:02 AM

decentered for sure - apparently they are prone to it. Seen one on ebay with a similar fault once, it went for $40... looks like pentax missed some design flaw on this one

good luck with yours

Aberrator · 02-29-2016, 08:33 AM

On the bright side, now you have "free" Lensbaby

Na Horuk · 02-29-2016, 09:50 AM

Originally posted by Reed

Maybe try to clean the rear element first, on such small glass parts even 1mm grease film over the edge of lens can produce this effect.

Originally posted by vonBaloney

Yep, looks like it has become severely decentered. Something is loose...

Yep. Check the back element, even if this is an unlikely fault in this case. Next, try a sharpness test near the minimum focus distance of something like a newspaper. Use good light, 2 sec timer, low ISO, make sure nothing moves. Try apertures f2.8, f4, and f8. Do any of these produce good images?
The lens is probably no longer in warranty, right? I don't know how much it would cost to get it fixed. Maybe it makes more sense to sell it to a tinkerer, or just keep it as a "lomo" lens. You said you don't use it much anyway.

Maybe the lens was banged, dropped or something like that. Too bad, its not a bad lens. Hope you find some resolution

narual · 02-29-2016, 01:58 PM

thanks, all. I'll give it a closer look if I have time this evening.

I bought it used, so it's undoubtedly out of warranty. Definitely not going to pay to have it fixed - i'm sure that would cost more than buying another. (And it gets rid of my excuse to not own the 43mm ltd)

At first I assumed I'd just damaged it somehow putting it on/taking it off the camera. It's so tiny that you can't really do it without turning the focus ring, and I'd usually forget to put it into manual focus first..

if it was a little sharper in the center, I'd like it better. But I haven't tried it on a person yet, so maybe I'll try that out. Might be an interesting soft focus type thing. Might look awful. We'll see.

Na Horuk · 02-29-2016, 04:35 PM

Originally posted by narual

At first I assumed I'd just damaged it somehow putting it on/taking it off the camera. It's so tiny that you can't really do it without turning the focus ring, and I'd usually forget to put it into manual focus first..

You can check to see if the mount or focusing ring or inner lens barrel (the one that moves in/out as you focus) appear to be bent. But you probably already took a close look

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02-28-2016, 10:24 PM	#2
vonBaloney Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 6,029	Yep, looks like it has become severely decentered. Something is loose...

02-29-2016, 01:59 AM	#3
Reed Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Warsaw Photos: Gallery Posts: 638	Maybe try to clean the rear element first, on such small glass parts even 1mm grease film over the edge of lens can produce this effect.

02-29-2016, 03:02 AM	#4
manntax Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Photos: Albums Posts: 1,972	decentered for sure - apparently they are prone to it. Seen one on ebay with a similar fault once, it went for $40... looks like pentax missed some design flaw on this one good luck with yours

02-29-2016, 08:33 AM	#5
Aberrator Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Kaunas Photos: Gallery Posts: 97	On the bright side, now you have "free" Lensbaby

02-29-2016, 09:50 AM	#6
Na Horuk Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Slovenia, probably Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,186	Originally posted by Reed Maybe try to clean the rear element first, on such small glass parts even 1mm grease film over the edge of lens can produce this effect. Originally posted by vonBaloney Yep, looks like it has become severely decentered. Something is loose... Yep. Check the back element, even if this is an unlikely fault in this case. Next, try a sharpness test near the minimum focus distance of something like a newspaper. Use good light, 2 sec timer, low ISO, make sure nothing moves. Try apertures f2.8, f4, and f8. Do any of these produce good images? The lens is probably no longer in warranty, right? I don't know how much it would cost to get it fixed. Maybe it makes more sense to sell it to a tinkerer, or just keep it as a "lomo" lens. You said you don't use it much anyway. Maybe the lens was banged, dropped or something like that. Too bad, its not a bad lens. Hope you find some resolution

02-29-2016, 01:58 PM	#7
narual Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: South Bend (Notre Dame), Indiana Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,988 Original Poster	thanks, all. I'll give it a closer look if I have time this evening. I bought it used, so it's undoubtedly out of warranty. Definitely not going to pay to have it fixed - i'm sure that would cost more than buying another. (And it gets rid of my excuse to not own the 43mm ltd) At first I assumed I'd just damaged it somehow putting it on/taking it off the camera. It's so tiny that you can't really do it without turning the focus ring, and I'd usually forget to put it into manual focus first.. if it was a little sharper in the center, I'd like it better. But I haven't tried it on a person yet, so maybe I'll try that out. Might be an interesting soft focus type thing. Might look awful. We'll see.

02-29-2016, 04:35 PM	#8
Na Horuk Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Slovenia, probably Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,186	Originally posted by narual At first I assumed I'd just damaged it somehow putting it on/taking it off the camera. It's so tiny that you can't really do it without turning the focus ring, and I'd usually forget to put it into manual focus first.. You can check to see if the mount or focusing ring or inner lens barrel (the one that moves in/out as you focus) appear to be bent. But you probably already took a close look