[PentaxPoke]

Forgive me if I'm totally off-base, but wasn't the SDM problem confirmed to be rooted from specific, poorly designed gear-ring in the gear assembly? I specifically remember reading through a thread (or webpage?) where someone disassembled a DA* (50-135mm I believe it was) and replaced the suspect gear with one engineered by his friend, made with tougher composite. I remember it to be extremely informative and detailed, I just wished I saved the link.

Does anyone know the source to this?

I don't remember reading this anywhere.

[nulla]

I don't remember reading this anywhere.

Maybe this post... but it is the DA 16-45

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/68137-da-16-45-repair.html

[Wheatfield]

Well, my 60-250's SDM just died on me today.
Damn.

[jsherman999]

Well, my 60-250's SDM just died on me today.
Damn.

Wow. wtf!?

[daacon]

Safer than tap dancing in quick sand

Seems to me based on all the unsceintific research I have done from data on this forum at least , the SDM does appear to have a higher failure rate than one would expect .... (and yeah my DA* 16-50 died last week - before that it was my favorite lens) ...in another thread someone hit the nail on the head .... longer warrenty - heck Sigma and Tamron give 10 year in Canada ...at least Pentax Canada has a 2 year warrently (and lluckily I had about 3 months left ...)

[Wheatfield]

Well, my 60-250's SDM just died on me today.
Damn.

Wow. wtf!?

My language was somewhat stronger than that.

[Ash]

Well, my 60-250's SDM just died on me today.
Damn.

Flabbergasted.
First I've heard from that fine lens.
It's enough to make you go batty.
Just BS.
Sorry to hear it mate.

[PentaxPoke]

My language was somewhat stronger than that.

Sorry to hear that Wheat. When I first read it, I was prepared for some of that legendary Wheatfield sarcasm... but I see you are serious. Welcome to the club.

Maybe we should start a "SDM Lens Failure Club" in the lens forum.

That sucks Bill, sorry mate.

[Class A]

Well, my 60-250's SDM just died on me today.

What a shame.

Have you still got warranty on it?

In another thread Ash quotes a Pentax rep stating that SMD failures are not more frequent then any other repair. Might be true but starts hard to believe. Perhaps when arriving at this result they don't differentiate between repairs caused by accidents or other external circumstance compared to the lens kicking the bucket on its own.

Not too keen on getting an SDM lens right now, really. Unless Pentax makes an official statement regarding SDM reliability or extends the warranty period, that just seems like too risky a proposition. Not that my K100D could drive the SDM anyway.

[sebberry]

The 60-250 is an expensive lens to screw up like that.

Pentax says SDM failures are not more common than other problems. I think we need a poll to see if people with SDM equipped lenses experience more SDM or optical failures.

[Wheatfield]

Pentax says SDM failures are not more common than other problems.

Pentax is just plain bald faced lying if they say this.

How many failures have we read about?
How many screw drive failures have we read about?
How many lenses have we read about that just fall apart in the users hands?

My own experience: I own some 4 dozen Pentax lenses and have been a Pentax user for 25 years.
In all this time, I've had 4 lenses that have needed service:
-An A50/1.2 that lost it's A contact.
Pentax tried to sell me a 43/1.9 instead of replacing it.
-An A100/2.9 Macro whose aperture went sluggish.
Pentax repaired it at great expense.
-A 6x7 Takumar 200/4 that I bought used and abused.
Pentax CLA'd it for a reasonable amount.

All three lenses were well of warranty and had been well used.

-A 60-250 which is less than 8 months old and has spent almost all of it's life in a camera bag.

Pentax can say what they like about SDM reliability.

They are LIARS if they say there are no reliability problems.

[snofox]

This is serious and shameful. For the first time ever, I am researching options to escape from my Pentax dependency, such as looking at a high end Olympus with Novoflex adapter for my Pentax lenses, instead of buying a K8 or whatever body comes next.

This is the sort of thing that Pentax' reaction to the SDM issue causes -- it makes people question their commitment to quality in all of their product line, not to mention their business ethics.

[Ash]

Bill, write to one of our resident Pentax reps Dorian Black (dorianb) to express your concerns and there may be something done about it. Your above post is more than compelling enough to move her to action.

Such an issue raised by a more seasoned Pentaxian would have much more weight than a complaint filed by a disgruntled newbie. She promised me to pass on my SDM concerns up the ladder - I'm sure that would be the least she would do for you.

Bill, write to one of our resident Pentax reps Dorian Black (dorianb) to express your concerns and there may be something done about it. Your above post is more than compelling enough to move her to action.

Such an issue raised by a more seasoned Pentaxian would have much more weight than a complaint filed by a disgruntled newbie. She promised me to pass on my SDM concerns up the ladder - I'm sure that would be the least she would do for you.

Yes, Pentax hopefully should sit up and pay attention to someone as seasoned as Bill but on the other hand, if they do, that adds insult to those who don't feel listened to. One thing that no one knows is how much real damage this is doing to Pentax and how close this is all getting to becoming a fire that will be impossible to put out. For every one person on this forum that has had a failure we have no way of knowing how many non forum customers have had a failure. Those non forum customers are most likely to do harm, many of them might be those economically blessed people that Ash mentioned earlier in the other thread who will just silently switch systems because they can and you can bet that they will know plenty of other economically blessed potential customers who will no longer be potential customers. That leaves customers who cannot afford to switch systems who will turn to third party lenses and customers who are heavily invested in Pentax who either go third party or make do with what they have. Not only will this affect sales, there will also be a growing resentment towards Pentax, there is already a lack of trust.



As for a Pentax Reps denial of any issues - "There is no smoke without fire" and "shit sticks" are two appropriate phrases that spring to mind.