[Wheatridger]

Today I stopped by a local pawn shop, like so many others around Denver where I've obtained a large share of my lens collection. But wait - "That lens sitting under the shelf, upside down where I can't see it, with the green band- What is that, please?"

It turned out to be a DA* 16-50, looking pretty and well-kept. Maybe it had its typical SDM failure, like the one I picked up for $150 last year and just had hacked for screwdrive? That would be great. Oh, the price for this one- $200. That's very nice! But when I mounted the lens on my K5IIs, the error code F-- told me it was toast. (Once I was fooled by a DA* 60-250 that did this, before I learned to check if it was set to A, but this 16-50 wasn't capable of that kind of user error.)

Giving up my hopes of a lucky bargain, I settled for a white Tivoli Audio Model One they were offering for $40. Not that I needed another radio, but I've always admired their design. This one will probably push another rival radio off the shelf. Anyway... I asked to take one more look at the DA*. Maybe I'd spot some easily removable gunk on one of the electrical contacts, and it would work?

Imagine my surprise when I found that all the six tiny spring-tensioned contact points that allow our lenses to chat with our cameras were GONE! Missing entirely, with the little white plastic sleeves that support each one sitting vacant. Now that's an F-- error, all right!

I explained my findings to the store clerk, but neither of us could imagine any reason for someone to open up the lens, remove these trivial but essential parts, then screw it back together and go out to cheat some pawn shop out of a hundred bucks or so. Can you?

[bertwert]

Weird...

Once I was fooled by a DA* 60-250 that did this, before I learned to check if it was set to A

???

It doesn't have an aperture ring to set to A...

[Wheatridger]

Memory fails me, I guess. Edited.

[normhead]

That whole assembly couldn't be worth more than a couple hundred bucks. Call Sun Camera and get a quote. I be they could fix it and send it back to you for $250.

[Wheatridger]

It could be fixed, IF that was all that's wrong with it. But I suspect some other problem led someone to disassemble it. Perfectly working copies of this lens have been selling under $400, so I don't see a deal here unless they give me the lens almost for free.

But can anybody guess why this lens wound up there, with the contact pins removed? I'm stumped.

[mee]

Ahh this reminds me of the time I bought a DA* 50-135mm on ebay with the reported issue being 'not communicating with camera' .. that was when I learned images can be devised to not tell the whole story.. https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/297906-pent...ings-lens.html

I ended up buying a dirt cheap (I think it was around 20 dollars) DAL 18-55mm on KEH and harvesting the contact pins and springs from it. Now the lens functions nicely!

But that leaves me still wanting a set of contact pins and springs for the kit lens... haha

---------- Post added 03-24-16 at 11:17 PM ----------

It could be fixed, IF that was all that's wrong with it. But I suspect some other problem led someone to disassemble it. Perfectly working copies of this lens have been selling under $400, so I don't see a deal here unless they give me the lens almost for free.

But can anybody guess why this lens wound up there, with the contact pins removed? I'm stumped.

My GUESS is the SDM seized and a previous owner attempted to 'fix' it by opening it up and performing the 'SDM trick' of gently turning a screwdriver through the slot in the top of the SDM assembly. But those springs are both small and.. springy. So they probably botched it, realized they botched it, then pawned it to dump it and get it off their hands.

If that is all it is, buy a cheap (even broken) 18-55 or the like and harvest the pins and springs like I did. At least then you should get communication with the lens and an perform the screwdrive conversion if you wish (or need to if the SDM really has failed).

[rrstuff]

I explained my findings to the store clerk, but neither of us could imagine any reason for someone to open up the lens, remove these trivial but essential parts, then screw it back together and go out to cheat some pawn shop out of a hundred bucks or so. Can you?

Are those just pins missing, or perhaps all of the electronic internals? Or perhaps also AF motor? Did you already take off the mount?

If it is just pins you might be able to identify a component. For example, you could cut these to size. They have all the diameters with 0.001 inch increments.
McMaster-Carr
Maybe something like this could work:
McMaster-Carr

Or just buy an old lens and take the pins from it, like someone suggested. Just don't put the donor lens into pawn shop :P.

[UncleVanya]

Any a series cheapo teleconverter or lens is a possible donor as well.

[Wheatridger]

Thanks for the advice. Though the lens might be fixable, is it worth the trouble? I'm assuming an SDM failure started this strange story. I already have a converted 16-50, so I'm not seeing much upside here, But if anyone else love to tinker with tiny parts, I could help put you together with this lens.

[UncleVanya]

Thanks for the advice. Though the lens might be fixable, is it worth the trouble? I'm assuming an SDM failure started this strange story. I already have a converted 16-50, so I'm not seeing much upside here, But if anyone else love to tinker with tiny parts, I could help put you together with this lens.

The truth is investing $200 in this seems nuts. I would pick it up if it were half that perhaps.