Do SDM problems affect your purchasing

axl · 02-07-2010, 02:49 PM

Couldn't resist this question.
Fairly simple:
Do the reported SDM problems affect your purchasing?
i.e.: did you cancel/postpone your lens purchase based on these?

TIA
Peter

Diffusion · 02-07-2010, 04:26 PM

Originally posted by axl

Couldn't resist this question.
Fairly simple:
Do the reported SDM problems affect your purchasing?
i.e.: did you cancel/postpone your lens purchase based on these?

TIA
Peter

Hmm, there was a similar poll just recently, but I guess this is the topic of interest at the moment.

No, they do not. What we see mostly right now is a lot of early SDM lenses failing. Any lens purchased today comes at least with 1yr warranty, often 2yrs warranty. The problem is most likely known and fixed internally, but will not be communicated. Occasional SDM failures will still occur and increase insecurity, but there are a lot fewer problems reported on newer lenses compared to older ones.

Alex00 · 02-07-2010, 04:41 PM

I called pentax before purchasing the Da* 55-135mm and they assured there is no problem with the SDM in Da* lenses although they claim they had few returns in the past that were quickly fixed taken care off.

Amazon recently got a new shipment of the DA* lens. That's when i purchased mine. This was about 3 weeks ago. Lens is great and works great. Quality is top notch. No issues as some claim. Remember you have 1 year warranty and you can always return it back to amazon within 30 days.

Alex00 · 02-07-2010, 04:51 PM

I agree that longer warranty will definitely be a huge plus and Pentax should look into this, but you can't compare quality between the lenses you mentioned and Da*. You have to sacrifice warranty compared to other lenses if you want quality. What would i do with a 10 year warranty if lens doesn't provide me with the quality i'm looking for.

The reason I mentioned the 1 year warranty because if there is a problem with the lens you should know within a year. I did not come across any posts that shows lens SDM failure after 1 year of usage. Of course it can happen since it's electronics and not 100% fault proof, but the percentage is extremely low.

Last edited by Alex00; 02-07-2010 at 04:57 PM.

wallyb · 02-07-2010, 04:54 PM

If the Pentax standard warranty was at least 3 years, I would not care at all about the problems I hear with SDM.

As it stands now, with only a 1 year warranty, I have purchased the Tamron 70-200/2.8 over the Pentax 50-135/2.8. I wanted a smaller, lighter lens, but did not want to deal with out of warranty repairs.

Alex00 · 02-07-2010, 04:59 PM

Originally posted by Damn Brit

I think there have been a few that have failed outside warranty. And people do make comparisons, in the case of these failures, that is considered to affect the quality.
There is obviously a difference of opinion between you and me on this, you chose to take the risk, I chose not to. So far the voting is 8-3 against Pentax, I know it's early but if the percentages remain similar, it's shows that sales could be seriously affected.

That's why i said very low percentage. Can be counted on the fingesr. Small percentage of Failures are normal with any make and model.

Alex00 · 02-07-2010, 05:14 PM

I must have gone thru tons of pages about DA* lenses. Almost 50% of the users think they have a lens problem because they don't not know how to operate the equipment properly. lack of experience. I know that Putting down $1000 for a lens is not easy and you want to make sure your not getting a defective lens or a lens that will fail on you within a short time down the road. To me 1 year to detect failure is sufficient. What happens after 1 year, i wouldn't worry myself too much about it. You may get hit by a truck tomorrow.

kenyee · 02-07-2010, 05:20 PM

yes, bought sigma 70-200/2.8 before 60-250...

Alex00 · 02-07-2010, 05:25 PM

It's normal. If i didn't buy the DA* lens i would vote otherwise. i never expected NO to be majority.

GerryL · 02-07-2010, 05:30 PM

Failures or not, it just affects my purchasing 'coz I can't get myself to purchase such expensive lenses..specially if you take into account something that would/can fail.

Alex00 · 02-07-2010, 05:31 PM

The majority voting for YES is normal. 13 to 3 now. I never expected the voting to be otherwise. This is normal reaction from users who never owned DA* before.

This is in response to your post
13-3 against as of this moment, you appear to be in the minority so far

Alex00 · 02-07-2010, 05:33 PM

Originally posted by GerryL

Failures or not, it just affects my purchasing 'coz I can't get myself to purchase such expensive lenses..specially if you take into account something that would/can fail.

If that's the way you think, something would/can happen to anything you have not just lenses.

Alex00 · 02-07-2010, 05:36 PM

I'm talking based on my experience with the DA* lens. nothing more.

wallyb · 02-07-2010, 05:36 PM

Originally posted by Alex00

The majority voting for YES is normal. 13 to 3 now. I never expected the voting to be otherwise. This is normal reaction from users who never owned DA* before.

This is in response to your post
13-3 against as of this moment, you appear to be in the minority so far

I owned a 16-50 that worked perfectly, and am still worried about SDM problems.

Alex00 · 02-07-2010, 05:38 PM

Originally posted by wallyb

I owned a 16-50 that worked perfectly, and am still worried about SDM problems.

It's like using a computer and worrying about the hard drive failing. It can fail at anytime.

View Poll Results: Do the reported SDM failure problems affect your purchasing?
Yes	96	76.80%
No	29	23.20%
Voters: 125. You may not vote on this poll

02-07-2010, 02:49 PM	#1
axl Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Nove Zamky, Slovakia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 7,183	Do SDM problems affect your purchasing Couldn't resist this question. Fairly simple: Do the reported SDM problems affect your purchasing? i.e.: did you cancel/postpone your lens purchase based on these? TIA Peter

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02-07-2010, 04:26 PM	#2
Diffusion Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 74	Originally posted by axl Couldn't resist this question. Fairly simple: Do the reported SDM problems affect your purchasing? i.e.: did you cancel/postpone your lens purchase based on these? TIA Peter Hmm, there was a similar poll just recently, but I guess this is the topic of interest at the moment. No, they do not. What we see mostly right now is a lot of early SDM lenses failing. Any lens purchased today comes at least with 1yr warranty, often 2yrs warranty. The problem is most likely known and fixed internally, but will not be communicated. Occasional SDM failures will still occur and increase insecurity, but there are a lot fewer problems reported on newer lenses compared to older ones.

02-07-2010, 04:41 PM	#3
Alex00 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: California Photos: Gallery Posts: 294	I called pentax before purchasing the Da* 55-135mm and they assured there is no problem with the SDM in Da* lenses although they claim they had few returns in the past that were quickly fixed taken care off. Amazon recently got a new shipment of the DA* lens. That's when i purchased mine. This was about 3 weeks ago. Lens is great and works great. Quality is top notch. No issues as some claim. Remember you have 1 year warranty and you can always return it back to amazon within 30 days.

02-07-2010, 04:51 PM	#4
Alex00 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: California Photos: Gallery Posts: 294	I agree that longer warranty will definitely be a huge plus and Pentax should look into this, but you can't compare quality between the lenses you mentioned and Da. You have to sacrifice warranty compared to other lenses if you want quality. What would i do with a 10 year warranty if lens doesn't provide me with the quality i'm looking for. The reason I mentioned the 1 year warranty because if there is a problem with the lens you should know within a year. I did not come across any posts that shows lens SDM failure after 1 year of usage. Of course it can happen since it's electronics and not 100% fault proof, but the percentage is extremely low. Last edited by Alex00; 02-07-2010 at 04:57 PM.*

02-07-2010, 04:54 PM	#5
wallyb Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: The Untied States Photos: Albums Posts: 1,881	If the Pentax standard warranty was at least 3 years, I would not care at all about the problems I hear with SDM. As it stands now, with only a 1 year warranty, I have purchased the Tamron 70-200/2.8 over the Pentax 50-135/2.8. I wanted a smaller, lighter lens, but did not want to deal with out of warranty repairs.

02-07-2010, 04:59 PM	#6
Alex00 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: California Photos: Gallery Posts: 294	Originally posted by Damn Brit I think there have been a few that have failed outside warranty. And people do make comparisons, in the case of these failures, that is considered to affect the quality. There is obviously a difference of opinion between you and me on this, you chose to take the risk, I chose not to. So far the voting is 8-3 against Pentax, I know it's early but if the percentages remain similar, it's shows that sales could be seriously affected. That's why i said very low percentage. Can be counted on the fingesr. Small percentage of Failures are normal with any make and model.

02-07-2010, 05:14 PM	#7
Alex00 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: California Photos: Gallery Posts: 294	I must have gone thru tons of pages about DA* lenses. Almost 50% of the users think they have a lens problem because they don't not know how to operate the equipment properly. lack of experience. I know that Putting down $1000 for a lens is not easy and you want to make sure your not getting a defective lens or a lens that will fail on you within a short time down the road. To me 1 year to detect failure is sufficient. What happens after 1 year, i wouldn't worry myself too much about it. You may get hit by a truck tomorrow.

02-07-2010, 05:20 PM	#8
kenyee Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Boston, PRofMA Photos: Albums Posts: 3,026	yes, bought sigma 70-200/2.8 before 60-250...

02-07-2010, 05:25 PM	#9
Alex00 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: California Photos: Gallery Posts: 294	It's normal. If i didn't buy the DA* lens i would vote otherwise. i never expected NO to be majority.

02-07-2010, 05:30 PM	#10
GerryL Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: CA Posts: 2,731	Failures or not, it just affects my purchasing 'coz I can't get myself to purchase such expensive lenses..specially if you take into account something that would/can fail.

02-07-2010, 05:31 PM	#11
Alex00 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: California Photos: Gallery Posts: 294	The majority voting for YES is normal. 13 to 3 now. I never expected the voting to be otherwise. This is normal reaction from users who never owned DA* before. This is in response to your post 13-3 against as of this moment, you appear to be in the minority so far

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02-07-2010, 05:33 PM	#12
Alex00 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: California Photos: Gallery Posts: 294	Originally posted by GerryL Failures or not, it just affects my purchasing 'coz I can't get myself to purchase such expensive lenses..specially if you take into account something that would/can fail. If that's the way you think, something would/can happen to anything you have not just lenses.

02-07-2010, 05:36 PM	#13
Alex00 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: California Photos: Gallery Posts: 294	I'm talking based on my experience with the DA* lens. nothing more.

02-07-2010, 05:36 PM	#14
wallyb Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: The Untied States Photos: Albums Posts: 1,881	Originally posted by Alex00 The majority voting for YES is normal. 13 to 3 now. I never expected the voting to be otherwise. This is normal reaction from users who never owned DA* before. This is in response to your post 13-3 against as of this moment, you appear to be in the minority so far I owned a 16-50 that worked perfectly, and am still worried about SDM problems.

02-07-2010, 05:38 PM	#15
Alex00 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: California Photos: Gallery Posts: 294	Originally posted by wallyb I owned a 16-50 that worked perfectly, and am still worried about SDM problems. It's like using a computer and worrying about the hard drive failing. It can fail at anytime.