[timw4mail]

I've bought and sold four or five of the AF 70-210 lenses and they've all been very nice, very few problems. The 35-70, unfortunately is not the world's most reliable lens - It may just be that I see a lot of them, it's the one I get most often of this range, but I've seen several with stop-down problems, usually very slow stop-down or complete lack of movement. I hope one or both are OK.

More positively, the thing I very rarely see with Minolta Maxxum/Dynax lenses is fungus, I don't know if they used a different coating material or something, or just seal them unusually well, but I think I've only ever seen one or two affected.

Eh, if the 35-70 lens fails, I'll just fall back to the 50/1.7 I've got.

Seems like the real thing to watch out for are old Sigma/Promaster lenses:

• The coating of the barrel might degrade into a sticky mess
• A strip of tape could be whats keeping the helical in place for an AF lens
• A ring of string in the zoom mechanism could degrade, putting sticky stuff all over the zoom barrel, and make it much more difficult to zoom the lens.

[Kevriano]

I think you'll like that lens. I have one mounted on a Canon 7D and have found it much more satisfactory than the Pentax 150-450, Focus locks on accurately in a half a blink.That behavior killed my regret that Tamron wouldn't release the lens in K-mount. IQ at equivalent focal lengths is just as good.

Thanks for that. I too hoped they would release it, or Pentax would possibly make it under licence, like the 18-270. Sadly not. Looking forward to the extra reach.

[SCguy]

Came across this Sigma 70mm f/2.8 macro for $160 and just couldn't resist. Super sharp lens and really fairly quick focusing with the limit switch on.

[kjphilippona]

For Cdn$528.84 yesterday I got the following for my 2002 Tundra:
- A new left license plate bulb
- A new indicator bulb to tell me Cruise is on
- A new indicator bulb to tell me the transmission is in Drive
- New fluids all round (Maintenance service)
- A new air filter element
- And the expensive bit, wiring repair in the steering column so that the Overdrive lockout control works again. The control wire broke and getting the truck into O/D on needed repetitive moves of the shift lever so that the end of the broken wire finally shorted out and switched the transmission ECM status.

Oh, the mileage? 285,040 Km on arrival at the dealership.

Oh, the upside? I knew it was at least 2 hours just to disassemble the steering column to get in there and that the repair would have been soldering in a new wire because the harness was discontinued years ago. I was expecting $800-1,000 for the trip.

Not bad, its a Toyota and probably be running strong years to come

[gaweidert]

Well a brand new Vortex Viper HD 20-60x80 Spotting Scope arrived at the house. It was $50 off at B&H and came with a free Vortex Pro GT tripod too. I was pretty happy when it arrived. But my wife immediately took them upstairs to wrap for Christmas. They are a gift for #2 son. I didn't even get a chance to play with them first.

I guess it will be my latest deaqusition too.

[timw4mail]

Courtesy of @monochrome, I just received (both in working condition!):

• Asahi Pentax ES
• Honywell Pentax ES II

[LeDave]

Yesterday I've acquired something awesome! My 9 years old DA* 16-50 just came back from Precision Camera. They replaced the broken weather sealing and the SDM motor. I didn't think they would do so in such low pricing. Got both fixed for $212. Also it took them roughly 2 1/2 weeks to get it in and repair, then send it back altogether.

[monochrome]

Courtesy of @monochrome, I just received (both in working condition!):

• Asahi Pentax ES
• Honywell Pentax ES II

Glad they’re in good hands.

[WPRESTO]

FYI: The AF on my 60-250 ceased to function. After Precision received it, they found that the parts were not available so the lens had to be shipped "overseas" (Ricoh-Pentax in Japan I assume).

[SSGGeezer]

O-ME53 Eyecup came with three more Altura lens bags, I blame Dave of Pepperberry!
Nah I just wanted a magnifier so it is easier to focus with the manual lenses I own. Especially the new Takumar.
Weather is nicer so I should be able to play with my new acquisitions soon.

[Nakedgun]

FYI: The AF on my 60-250 ceased to function. After Precision received it, they found that the parts were not available so the lens had to be shipped "overseas" (Ricoh-Pentax in Japan I assume).

Parts not available?! Mine is only three years old and it's already obsolete? Discouraging.

[tim60]

Parts not available?! Mine is only three years old and it's already obsolete? Discouraging.

More likely the cost of labour. They sent it to a cheap labour country where the business strategy is ship the parts and the work.


Long gone are the days when one talks to the technician on hand over to describe the problem, and demonstrate, and that become knowledge impacting the repair.

[WPRESTO]

I can only report what they said to me via EMAIL after they received the lens. Problem with parts, must ship your lens to Ricoh-Pentax overseas, may take weeks. Good grief! If anything else happens to the lens the total cost (= purchase + repairs) of owning it for maybe four years will double. Were I not so very heavily invested in Pentax equipment.......

[kjphilippona]

I can only report what they said to me via EMAIL after they received the lens. Problem with parts, must ship your lens to Ricoh-Pentax overseas, may take weeks. Good grief! If anything else happens to the lens the total cost (= purchase + repairs) of owning it for maybe four years will double. Were I not so very heavily invested in Pentax equipment.......

Sorry to hear that! That is one lens i always wanted but could not afford. Hope they get you fixed up!

[WPRESTO]

Sorry to hear that! That is one lens i always wanted but could not afford. Hope they get you fixed up!

FYI: Here is the exact note from Precision, and I certainly do not blame them. The onus is on Ricoh-Pentax.

"Your Pentax lens repair requires special parts and tooling, and the repair will need to be completed by the Ricoh-Pentax factory overseas. Average turn time is 3-5 weeks, however we are working with Ricoh-Pentax to expedite the repairs for the you as soon as possible."

BTW: I'm within an hour's drive of Precision, but as they do not take walk-in deliveries, I cannot take my equipment there then pick it up to avoid shipping costs and time.