[Waheed_Sadaf]

It's a lot cheaper to have a spare body than to have spares of every important lens you need on hand just in case of a failure.

Very true.
For me to spend so much on a lens of DA* I'd expect it to last some time and not fail on me. More importantly if they fail just outside of your warranty period, ouch!

[sebberry]

Uh I would say none! And even if it did, who cares. The lens is the important part and you would just go repair or replace the body if the internal motor failed.

That's my point. The little screwdrive motor is responsible for the focus on virtually all of the lenses you stick on the camera and does so faithfully.

The SDM motor has only ONE lens it needs to focus throughout it's life (the one it's built into), and they seem to struggle to accomplish that.

[Kornbread]

I've had a similar problem with my 50-135. It's been a real bummer. I've only had it a few months.

[nah]

I have not had it happen on my 50-135 (knock on wood) yet and I go through extended periods (3-4months at a time) without using it. I wonder if it's based on a batch that was bad. If anyone wants, I can post my serial later on.

edit: Forgot to mention that I've had since last December.

[dugrant153]

I have not had it happen on my 50-135 (knock on wood) yet and I go through extended periods (3-4months at a time) without using it. I wonder if it's based on a batch that was bad. If anyone wants, I can post my serial later on.

edit: Forgot to mention that I've had since last December.

Ditto here. Maybe you and I got the same good batch?

I manual focus mine all the time, but on the odd occasion switch on AutoFocus to get a shot. never had an issue (I even dropped mine by accident... I know! I know! My bad!!!)

[reeftool]

The analogy of a lens to a car doesn't work as a lens isn't exposed to the same enviroment as a car. If a car is to be parked for a couple of months, there is a big difference in the problems that can arise if the car is parked in a garage or outside. Even worse if it is on the lawn. A lens should not have to be used daily to keep it from failing. There are things that can be done to help prevent car problems in storage such as a good cleaning and fresh lubrication of certain parts. A lens kept in a dry clean place for a month or 2 should work the same as it did when put up.

[Eds]

I've solved the SDM problem, at least on my 16-50. Sent it to CRIS here is the US and after waiting for two weeks to hear from them, found out they can repair it for $200 (includes $12 shipping) and it will be another 5 weeks to get it back. I bought a really nice 18-50 Sigma 2.8 with regular screw drive. Not as quiet, (which I really don't need) but seems just as fast. It's more compact and is delivering good image quality. Since I too use this range for my work, I just can't be without this range for almost 2 months by the time all is said and done. I'm really uptight now about my 50-135, 200, and 300 SDM!

[philbaum]

I've solved the SDM problem, at least on my 16-50. Sent it to CRIS here is the US and after waiting for two weeks to hear from them, found out they can repair it for $200 (includes $12 shipping) and it will be another 5 weeks to get it back. I bought a really nice 18-50 Sigma 2.8 with regular screw drive. Not as quiet, (which I really don't need) but seems just as fast. It's more compact and is delivering good image quality. Since I too use this range for my work, I just can't be without this range for almost 2 months by the time all is said and done. I'm really uptight now about my 50-135, 200, and 300 SDM!

Eds, you didn't say whether you went ahead with the 16-50 repair or not. I'm assuming you did. Or you might have applied your 200.00 to the cost of the new lens instead.

This thread is making me feel way uneasy. My 50-135 and 300 are working just great. The reason i bought the 50-135 was to shoot the local playhouse productions for publicity shots. I'm not the only one doing it but they like my work and i like doing it. If the SDM fails, i could put it on the K10 screwdrive if i hack the firmware back to 1.02 or something, but then i won't have the higher ISO capability of the K20.

The only good news here is that its "only" $200 to get the SDM repaired in the US. But according to the OP, this doesn't appear to be a permanent repair. I guess one option would be to go with the Sigma 50-150 HSM. I've only read of one failure of the HSM on this lens, but is that due to not many being sold so far? There is no DA100 or DA135, this is a zoom that pentax needs to have and the optics are great in the 50-135.

If ever a company needed to put out a press release, Pentax sure as heck needs to do it now. A firmware change allowing the screw drive should be the minimum. Never thought i would agree with that :-(

[Ash]

This may be a good reason why Pentax would be quiet about SDM issues:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/80067-lets-start-fire.html

And an imperfect poll does show that users would like a firmware update, but from the problem above, it's unlikely to happen:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-dslr-discussion/60184-screw-drive-...dm-lenses.html

[sebberry]

Here is a lens that Pentax touts as being a superior product producing exceptional image quality and able to tolerate harsh conditions (rain, dust), yet if you don't lay it down on it's golden pillow at night just right, it ends up in an eternal hissy fit.

Semi pro (or fully pro?) grade lenses shouldn't cause problems.

[the swede]

So.....why is nothing happening with Pentax about this? No statements?

The least thing they could do is acctually make an statement in the fourms.

"Hey guys. bla bla bla bla bla bla and so on......

We are working on it"

That last sentence would be enough for me! Thats all.....just a couple of words to comfort us. They would NOT "loose face" or something other "typical eastern asian embaressment", not to us anyway. It may be a litle shame involved among themselves but not from US.

For us its the opposite way...the longer time it takes for them to do something, the angrier we get!

So this makes me wonder. There are people starting rumours about the next camera and FF and so on. But what about this SDM? The people in the rumours section that are so sure about what they "know", DONT realy know

Yes im mad about it. Because if they realy knew what the next camera would be, they would know if there was ANY other plans to! Thats IT. And if they dont, THEY ARE FAKE RUMOUR STARTERS.

And btw......while im fired up...... I to predict there will be a camera 2010! *DOH* and the BIGGEST *DOH* you can imagine..... Of course there will be a camera next year...

And hopefully an official statement about SDM!

[Ash]

You may do well to continue hassling Pentax with these real concerns.
If each of us who cared enough about Pentax's SDM development wrote to them expressing our disappointments and suggesting solutions, then perhaps this may actually happen, whether or not a press release comes out.

I have done so (sure, with no reply as yet) and hope others will follow suit.

[SOldBear]

The least thing they could do is acctually make an statement in the fourms.

"Hey guys. bla bla bla bla bla bla and so on......

We are working on it"

That last sentence would be enough for me! Thats all.....just a couple of words to comfort us.

The problem is that the "last sentence" is not enough. It is essentially a promise. A few weeks later, you or someone else would come back and ask Pentax, "You said you were working on it. What's the update?" And Pentax would be in no better position than it is today. It would actually be worse because of a(nother) broken promise.

I guess the people at Pentax are still doing business the "old style" (Japanese businesses in general are conservative). They may be working very hard to address the HSM problem, but publicly would not admit anything. In fact, Ned did write something to the effect of "we are working on it" in one of his posts on the other forum, but then he went quiet afterward. I guess he wants to do/say something but the issue is above his head, not his call any more.

I'm not saying Pentax is handling this case correctly. I'm all for openness with customers, particularly for companies with a small market share, you want to create a "we are all in it together" relationship with customers.

BTW, my HSM lenses, a DA* 50-135mm, a DA* 60-250mm, and a Sigma 150-500mm, are still OK, but I'm just as nervous as anyone else.

[the swede]

You may do well to continue hassling Pentax with these real concerns.
If each of us who cared enough about Pentax's SDM development wrote to them expressing our disappointments and suggesting solutions, then perhaps this may actually happen, whether or not a press release comes out.

I have done so (sure, with no reply as yet) and hope others will follow suit.

I wrote them

And they still have my 50-135 at the Germany Office.....been there for three months now and no word about it.....

[Eds]

philbaum- Yes I did go ahead with the repair. The Sigma of course does not have weather sealing, which I do sometimes need. Frankly though, this whole SDM thing to me is a real bummer as I personally really think the only genuine advantage over all of my non-SDM lenses is the quietness, which to me was never really an issue. My new Sigma focuses plenty fast, and accurately. I'll bet it will for a long time too. Seems better in low light than the Pentax 16-50 I might add.