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01-04-2022, 01:07 PM   #46
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Aslyfox: Yes, phototronic.biz is where I have sent mine to be repaired. Unlike you, I never carried the lens hanging down and extended. I've never bounced it like you describe. I've hardly used it and have babied it. It is a ridiculous design flaw. Tiny screws with very small threads set in aluminum. Stupid! Nothing else to call it.

01-04-2022, 02:10 PM   #47
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QuoteOriginally posted by bulloughphotography Quote
Aslyfox: Yes, phototronic.biz is where I have sent mine to be repaired. Unlike you, I never carried the lens hanging down and extended. I've never bounced it like you describe. I've hardly used it and have babied it. It is a ridiculous design flaw. Tiny screws with very small threads set in aluminum. Stupid! Nothing else to call it.
yet very few reported failures as far as I know compared to number sold
01-04-2022, 02:41 PM   #48
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My 150-450 has been going since 2016. Never babied it, but then have not coddled it either.

I've tended to use the lock on the lens when not in use so it's not traveled much with the ability to extend on it's own.

It's a shame to hear some examples have failed like this as it's a good lens and for the money needs to be reliable.

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01-04-2022, 02:58 PM   #49
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Ideally, a lens designed for wildlife shooting should be built to withstand handling some might call "abusive"

According to Roger Cicala's Lens Rentals Blog, Canon got it right with the 100-400 L MkII. Lens Rentals | Blog

QuoteQuote:
For those two or three of you who don’t like a little lens strip-tease I’ll give you the quick summary: the build quality on this thing is amazing. I usually laugh when people describe a lens as “built like a tank” because what I know is the lens they are describing has a thick, heavy outer metal shell filled with tiny delicate pieces that break and wear out with great frequency. But this lens is built like a tank inside and out.


01-05-2022, 03:41 AM   #50
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Four years and well over 7000 images, mine is going strong. It has spent plenty of time on a Peak Design Slide over my shoulder in a variety of sometimes rough countryside.

Surprisingly, only 25 are registered in the PF database. I would have expected many more.
01-05-2022, 11:47 AM   #51
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For what it’s worth, I’ve had my copy since 2015. I try to baby it, but I’ve probably hiked a couple hundred miles with it, quite a bit of that hanging from a strap. The paint is worn through on the tripod lock knob. It has spent time in the rain. And, to my horror, I dropped it onto a hardwood floor from a height of about a meter at the beginning of last month. It wasn’t mounted on a camera, thank goodness, but it landed hard enough to knock the hood (which was mounted reversed) off, and twist the arca compatible lens plate that was attached to the foot, which I could not straighten by hand. It bounced, and slid across the floor. The bounce make a loud thud, not as loud as my scream “OH, NO!”.

I know I was lucky, but I have found absolutely no issues with the lens. No dent, no loose screws or other parts. The AF seems the same a before (which means accurate and quick), no image degradation that I can identify. Nothing. I can not see or observe any damage at all. I’m still amazed.

If there was an actual design flaw, I would expect I would have two pieces of 150-450mm lens. I only have one. I would rather suggest a manufacturing defect is to blame for the issues a few people have seen.

Sorry, I’m not disputing the issues that other users have experienced. I’m just claiming that the 150-450mm lens is a fundamentally sound product.

Last edited by mstahulak; 01-05-2022 at 11:32 PM. Reason: Typo
10-16-2022, 07:02 AM   #52
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QuoteOriginally posted by mstahulak Quote
...
If there was an actual design flaw, I would expect I would have two pieces of 150-450mm lens. I only have one. I would rather suggest a manufacturing defect is to blame for the issues a few people have seen.

Sorry, I’m not disputing the issues that other users have experienced. I’m just claiming that the 150-450mm lens is a fundamentally sound product.
After having experienced the phenomenon myself, I have concluded as you have that it is not a design flaw, but a manufacturing defect. In both the 650 and the 150-450, the screws probably would have held just fine if they hadn't been stripped by applying too much torque at assembly time (the 150-450 actually had a couple of screws missing entirely). I picture a row of Vietnamese ladies sitting at a long table in a barn-like structure with naked light bulbs over each station, using electric screw drivers to put lenses together with, they're all in a hurry to do as many pieces as possible, since that's how they're probably paid, and a few of their screwdrivers are not adjusted quite right. No basis for that opinion other than my imagination, but it it were like that, it would answer the question of why these lenses fall apart for some folks and hold up beautifully for others. What really bugged me, though, was the refusal to honor warranties by reciting the incantation, "probable impact damage". I got them both fixed and near perfect, now as near as I can tell, but it cost me a whole lot of time and money, more than wiping out any financial benefit to having bought Pentax products because they were relatively less expensive.

10-16-2022, 10:57 AM   #53
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QuoteOriginally posted by bertwert Quote
Yet another thread about long lens options... So I've been thinking of upgrading from my A 400/5.6 (or rather complementing it), as while it's an excellent lens there's a few modern amenities that would be nice to have...

I've thought through a couple ideas...

Getting the DA*300 and 1.4x but I'm a tad worried of AF reliability as well as speed/volume (if screw drive converted).
Getting an older Adaptall 300/2.8 and some TCs including the 1.7x for a bit of an AF experience - would be nice to have the wider aperture for close evening birds, but apart from that it shares several similar issues (or should I say qualities?) with the A 400.
A Sigma 300/2.8 and TCs - not very common to see for sale, expensive, reports of slow AF.
The raved about 55-300 PLM - need more speed and reach really.
Bigmas of various sorts - some better than others with regards to quality, and supposedly not sharp on the far end.

I don't think I'm missing any substantial option here?

Anyways, going through all those I think I'll be disappointed over time for some reason or other and wish I'd just gone for the 150-450... It fits the bill as to what I am currently missing, and as far as I can see it's only .
I did a comparison of my 300 to 500mm lenses, like a bigma 50-500, a m*300, a 55-300 f5.8, teleconvertors, a k400, a sigma 500 ex apo dg f4,5 and a (finally) a new acquired pentax150-450. Most older secondhand lenses acquired over time for prices (far) below 1/3 of the new price of the 150-450mm. In the end I decided to buy the 150-450mm and am happy about that.

Bottomline: the 150-450mm shines. In terms of sharpness the sigma 500 f4.5 is maybe a tad sharper but neglectable. It is a fantastic lens for birding and wildlife. It is a zoom with performance quite like a prime lens.
The only bad point is weight and size, it isn’t a lens to carry on a hike on a neckstrap. One can carry it by the tripod mount. (The sigma 500 is even worse as a tad longer).
Another good point : on aps-c the 150-450mm with pentax 1,4x remains impressive in sharpness and focussing.
The bigma has comparable use case as the 150-450mm but is slightly softer, still well performing, still much bang for the buck. It’s my backup to the 150-450 or 2nd long lens when using 2 bodies .

The next conclusion : I upgraded my pentax-m* 300mm to an A* 300mm to have a (much) smaller lens for hiking whilst avoid green button metering on the m*. For their size/performance both these lenses -even without autofocus- are unbeatable... (I never had the new pentax 300mm sdm but remains bigger and heavier).
And my old zoom 55-300mm f5.8 remains my 2nd travel lens for every light travel else than safari's.

Last edited by mlag; 10-16-2022 at 11:18 AM.
10-26-2022, 09:17 AM   #54
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I've been on the fence about this lens. It's the same price as what I paid for the K3-3 body so it's a very long fence

I've spent a fair bit of time poking around images on Flickr taken with this lens, the DA*300 and even my own 55-300PLM and I'm having a very hard time seeing images justifying the 150-450. Perhaps the images I'm seeing are heavily cropped or otherwise not taken well, but overall I see little reason to take the plunge. To be fair, there's crappy images taken with the other lenses too, but overall I think I'm seeing better images with the alternatives.

Any thoughts on what I've observed?
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