[Alex00]

Headshot?

Please take indoor headshots, We don't want to compare apples to oranges. My point and shoot camera take the similar pictures in broad day light. You can definitely do portraits with 70-200.

The baby picture i posted earlier http://prowebb.com/IMGP0873.jpg.
Download the photo and zoom in to her hand. You can clearly see the tiny little hair on her hand. That's what i call detail and quality.

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Last edited by Alex00; 02-08-2010 at 02:49 AM.

[asdf]

Makes me hestitate to buy them. However aside from SDM problems, what's even further preventing me from buying the 16-50 is the optical problems with de-centering. It is also not as sharp as I hoped it to be wide-open, considering it's heavy price-tag compared to the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 which is much sharper.

I was thinking of buying the Tamron 17-50 for my wife, but it turns out it has the ugliest bokeh known to man.

[little laker]

I voted NO, mostly so I could see the results without signing out.
Honestly, they don't affect my purchases, because Pentax isn't my digital brand. And they don't work properly on my Full Frame (film) Pentax.

If I still shot Pentax Digital there's No Chance that I'd buy their SDM lenses at this point. I just don't trust them, and I trust Pentax Canada even less when it comes to After the Sale Service

[asdf]

And they don't work properly on my Full Frame (film) Pentax.

DA* 200 f/2.8 is the same thing as FA* 200 f/2.8 except with weather sealing and an SDM motor--it also support the screw driven motor. The only change you'd have to make is replacing the lens hood.

[creampuff]

No it won't affect my decision to buy any future SDM lens.
To my knowledge most of the defective ones were from early production batches.
People I know who have got SDM lenses where I am recently don't seem to have any problems with their lenses.

Nikon has a similar issue with their 18-200mm VR lenses failing but to my knowledge it has not stopped people from buying them.

[little laker]

DA* 200 f/2.8 is the same thing as FA* 200 f/2.8 except with weather sealing and an SDM motor--it also support the screw driven motor. The only change you'd have to make is replacing the lens hood.

I already have a 200mm f2.8 Zeiss, so that again won't effect my purchases

[asdf]

I already have a 200mm f2.8 Zeiss, so that again won't effect my purchases

I was definitely not trying to make you buy anything: I'm just repeating some facts ad nauseam.

[paulelescoces]

I voted yes... even though I finally caved in and bought them anyway (50-135 & 16-50)

Even though I did finally make the purchase... I did with quite some hesitation, took a couple of months before I finally decided to take the risk, it was really the talk of SDM issues tied to the 1 year warranty which gave me many doubts.... if the warrenty would be 4yrs+ I would not have hesitated.

[Pentaxor]

I think you should post your images instead of asking other users to do it.

I'm asking and talking to NeverSatisfied, not you !

[Eruditass]

I only buy used so... yes.

[Pentaxor]

Please let your indoor headshots do the talk.
You can't possible compare tamron with Da*.
tamron = lower quality, heavier lens, noisy motor and lens distortion at both extremes. You wouldn't want to be in a wedding taking picture with a noisy lens. Defeats the purpose.
No to mention no weather sealing, you wouldn't want to be taking pictures on rainy, very humid or foggy day.

a non-working SDM AF lens much more defeats the purpose.

[Pentaxor]

You wouldn't want to be taking photos at a wedding with a lens that refuses to focus

Look, I would suspect that most people who paid $1,000 for a precision optical instrument are taking good care of them. If SDM failures were a result of abuse, there'd be a heck of a lot of broken DA lenses given the ratio of DA to DA* lenses on this forum.

People here have had their lenses replaced with someone else's refurbished units, had their repairs fail, had their replacement lenses fail, etc... there's an obvious QC issue and people have formed their opinions about the quality of the SDM system over several months (years?) of reading about other people's experiences with these lenses.

You're probably the only person that I know of here who would be happy sending back an expensive lens for an expensive repair a few months after the warranty expired, and then having to send it back again when the repair fails in another 6 months.

simple, he only had 1 month experience. not enough knowledge of what's going on around Pentax, except he takes the word of a customer service attendant who has a prepared script of fairy tales.

[Pentaxor]

I just hope Pentax would increase warranty in the future, but as it currently stand you have to live it as being 1 year. I personally wouldn't sacrifice quality for warranty.

is a non-working SDM lens a quality lens? why would you hope for an extended warranty if you believe that the DA* is already a quality lens? and please kindly reiterate what you mean by quality.

[Alex00]

is a non-working SDM lens a quality lens? why would you hope for an extended warranty if you believe that the DA* is already a quality lens? and please kindly reiterate what you mean by quality.

That's a silly question. Everyone can benefit from extended warranty. That has nothing to do with the lens performance or quality.

[asdf]

is a non-working SDM lens a quality lens? why would you hope for an extended warranty if you believe that the DA* is already a quality lens? and please kindly reiterate what you mean by quality.

I'd call a quality lens a lens with high quality glass and a very good optical formula. A* 400 f/2.8 went for $3,851 (USD) in a recent ebay auction. That lens does not support the screw driven autofocus motor.