[biz-engineer]

Cant see that this is a problem made by Pentax? I have tested a few versions, all tack sharp and fast.

Got my DFA70-200 from a local photo only retailer, the carton was intact, the DFA70-200 and K1 AF spot on, no adjustment, very happy with the lens. What's all the fuzz about that lens?

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Last edited by biz-engineer; 01-16-2017 at 12:03 AM.

[FantasticMrFox]

The 70-200 seems strange. The top left quarter is awful. Bottom left and top right are similar unacceptable. They start to get ok at f/8. But the bottom right is actually always sharp. I used the center as focus point.

That's not strange, that's just bog-standard decentering Send it in for repair/replacement, or send it back (if still within the adequate period) and buy a new one.

[Kunzite]

Got my DFA70-200 from a local photo only retailer, the carton was intact, the DFA70-200 and K1 AF spot on, no adjustment, very happy with the lens. What's all the fuzz about that lens?

It might have to do with the delivery method:

You Tube

You Tube

as well as returned items being resold as new.

[randee]

I haven't tried the DFA 70-200 but I had a similar problem with the DA 18-135 years ago. On my K20D it would "smear" the lower corners, on some shots more than others. Then I got a K3 and it worked fine.

What do you think the issue was? Do you think your K20D was out of alignment of some sort?

---------- Post added 01-16-2017 at 08:12 PM ----------

I would make sure to use "Spot" AF Area mode (center point), have ample light, and a sensible Aperture if I was testing the lens.

Good suggestions, I did do spot center AF and had ample light. I was shooting f2.8 since that is how it will need to perform.
I do realize that I will be shooting at a greater distance than 10 or 20 feet and the DoF will be much greater and forgiving at that distance.

---------- Post added 01-16-2017 at 08:24 PM ----------

Read Roger Cicala for sample variation. All companies, all lenses suffer from it ... his rental firm can gather stats.

Even Canon L series glass.

Instead of studiously checking each piece, clearly all the makers are happy enough to cut time/wages during manufacture and let a certain percentage return.

I believe it, probably figured out it was cheaper to take returns than to do QA testing. Even if all companies do it, I think it's a bad move.
My first dSLR was a Canon, after 2 of them broke I wanted to try something different and moved to Pentax.
The big guys don't have to worry, but Pentax only gets one chance to woo new customers and turn them into long term customers. If I was early it to my hobby and only had 1 or 2 lenses and just 1 body, I could easily see how a bad experience with a 70-200mm could make me try a canon or nikon. Heck even now I am thinking about it. I love Pentax, and I suppose we should be happy they are in business and still producing excellent products. It's in our nature to want more for less. I want better products, every one tested and perfect, and I want them cheaper than the other guys. Is that too much to ask?

---------- Post added 01-16-2017 at 08:28 PM ----------

Got my DFA70-200 from a local photo only retailer, the carton was intact, the DFA70-200 and K1 AF spot on, no adjustment, very happy with the lens. What's all the fuzz about that lens?

Myself and a few others have noticed some inconsistent copies and/or a problem with the DFA70-200MM and the K-3.
Could just be expected deviation in the production of the lens.

---------- Post added 01-16-2017 at 08:43 PM ----------

It might have to do with the delivery method:
Shocking FedEx Delivery Fails [Super Cut Compilation] - YouTube
as well as returned items being resold as new.

I think I saw my lens in there!

[Skewed]

What do you think the issue was? Do you think your K20D was out of alignment of some sort?

No, I suspect the 18-135 needed correction that the K20D didn't know about. I had gotten many good shots from the K20D with a DA 16-45, DA 55-300, and Sigma 24-70, with no noticeable anomalies. Once I bought the K3 and put the 18-135 on it, the lens worked well.

[randee]

Just an update, my 3rd lens came from Amazon.

I complained to them about not shipping in a outer cardboard box.

Despite given this friendly email:

To help you at the earliest, I've personally contacted our shipping department and instructed them to pack the item accordingly.

Please be rest assured, you'll receive the package as per your requirement and I promise Amazon defiantly take responsibility to deliver the package safely.

I think if I was Penax/Ricoh that I would be pissed.
I kept a lot of my boxes to my gear, they are all in pristine shape. If I keep this it'd be in the worst shape for sure.

If I get time, I will do some testing tonight.
Might ask for my friend to come over with his K-1 to test as well.

Thanks for everyone's input and help. IT's appreciated!

Anyone have a contact for Ricoh/Pentax USA? I tried there contact us on their site and got an error about my email not matching when it clearly did. I think they are updating it.

[lithedreamer]

[DimC]

Wow that's unbelievable ! I've never had amazon ship anything like this, especially valuable items. And I´ve bought from amazon worldwide.

[clackers]

Just an update, my 3rd lens came from Amazon.

I complained to them about not shipping in a outer cardboard box. .

Obviously amateur hour at Amazon!

Do your testing, and if it's okay, well, maybe the saga is over!

[Kunzite]

I don't get it, why are you still ordering from Amazon?

[nitehntr]

Just an update, my 3rd lens came from Amazon.

I complained to them about not shipping in a outer cardboard box.

Despite given this friendly email:






I think if I was Penax/Ricoh that I would be pissed.
I kept a lot of my boxes to my gear, they are all in pristine shape. If I keep this it'd be in the worst shape for sure.

If I get time, I will do some testing tonight.
Might ask for my friend to come over with his K-1 to test as well.

Thanks for everyone's input and help. IT's appreciated!

Anyone have a contact for Ricoh/Pentax USA? I tried there contact us on their site and got an error about my email not matching when it clearly did. I think they are updating it.

i am totally convinced now this is distressed merchandise. i don't know if this stuff was in some kind of accident or what happened but when a box is damaged like that it happens after it enters the supply chain, the factory quality control would not let boxes like this leave. i'd give you odds that these have been part of the same shipment that somehow got damaged along the way and scrambled the electronics. what else you should do is contact pentax and find out of this stuff is gray market merchandise. and is this amazon or a marketplace item?

[randee]

Ya, I wasn't happy about that!

---------- Post added 01-17-2017 at 09:48 PM ----------

Wow that's unbelievable ! I've never had amazon ship anything like this, especially valuable items. And I´ve bought from amazon worldwide.

Ya, Amazon got back to me and said they were blocking that SKU until they could get their distribution figured out.

---------- Post added 01-17-2017 at 09:50 PM ----------

I don't get it, why are you still ordering from Amazon?

Good question!
I just got one, and they said they would send a replacement immediately, so I tried it.
Then I said the 2nd one was bad and they sent me a tracking number of a 3rd so I figured I would try it.

---------- Post added 01-17-2017 at 10:11 PM ----------

i am totally convinced now this is distressed merchandise. i don't know if this stuff was in some kind of accident or what happened but when a box is damaged like that it happens after it enters the supply chain, the factory quality control would not let boxes like this leave. i'd give you odds that these have been part of the same shipment that somehow got damaged along the way and scrambled the electronics. what else you should do is contact pentax and find out of this stuff is gray market merchandise. and is this amazon or a marketplace item?

Thanks for your and everyone's input!

Think it's gray market stuff? You'd think Pentax/Ricoh would be able to verify that somehow. Maybe by serial number?
Another thing I would like to note, each one of these lenses came from a different Amazon warehouse.

Didn't have much time, but I did take it out of the box and take a few pics. I would say this is much sharper and much more consistent than the first 2 copies I tried.
Sorry for the large image below, crop but not resized jpg.



Hopefully I will have more time tonight and I will test it further. One thing I would like to ask you guys. This AF sounds louder than the first 2. Especially when it is focusing from close to far. I am not too concerned about it unless that means it will fail sooner. Manual focus is silent. I will take a video and show you guys... the experts.

I thought for sure this wouldn't perform given my experience with the first two, but it seems a lot better than the others!
Sharpness is there and AF is more consistant. When I pushed it into the dark areas it really acted squirrely like most lenses. However when I tried to focus on my lit scene it was pretty reliable and consistant. Only 1 or 2 times in the 20 or 30 shots I took was it unable to find focus. I would say that's on par with my Tamron.

Thanks again to everyone!

[Driline]

Sorry for the large image below, crop but not resized jpg.

Kinda looks how'd I feel too after having returned several thousands of dollars worth of lenses just to get a sharp copy

I'm sorry but its just ridiculous pushing quality control on the customers. Yea I know the shipping wasn't ideal but still.........

[Kunzite]

So you're downplaying the real issue just to push blame on Ricoh Imaging...

[randee]

So you're downplaying the real issue just to push blame on Ricoh Imaging...

Me? I still don't know what's going on. The first one I got came in a nice carboard box because I ordered something else as well and both items were in there with some packaging materials.
It didn't perform well in my opinion.

The 2nd came looking like it went through war.
It didn't perform well in my opinion.

The 3rd one came worse than the 2nd.
It seems to be performing better than the other 2. The Micro AF adjustments aren't as high. Only thing I am scared about is the AF noise. If it wasn't making a grinding noise during AF this would be a keeper in my book. Not sure if my bar is set too high or too low or what others would accept.

I am not blaming anyone, I just don't know what the heck is going on. I just wanted to share my honest feedback to get some input. Also to update the community to my issues in case there was some problem. If its shipping or K3 expectations or a drop in production values at Ricoh or grey market lenses at Amazon or my mental deficiencies.