Originally posted by vonBaloney The calibration equipment for cameras and lenses comes from Pentax. For the last several years, CRIS has been the only shop in the nation that had the equipment. Now that equipment is moving to Precision and they'll be the only ones that can do repairs.
Precision has been an authorized Pentax repair facility for many years, just not the warranty center until recently. They had all that calibration gear there before, they've had it for years.
This is exactly why I chose to send my damaged 21mm Limited there a couple years ago. They're just a couple hundred miles from here, so I figured they'd have faster turnaround and cheaper shipping than C.R.I.S. in AZ. What I ended up with was a nightmare of unanswered phone calls, ignored emails, and no 21mm lens for weeks. 8 weeks and one expensive bill later, what I got back was a lens that had never even been touched. It was still broken. The bill didn't actually state what they did to it, it just had my original instructions printed on it ("I dropped this lens on concrete, focus ring doesn't turn smoothly anymore and the left side of the frame is always soft now, please fix it") and a stamped "Done" over it. For this privilege I was billed $370!!!
After more complaining and some messages back and forth on the BBB web site, I got all my money back.
I then sent the lens to C.R.I.S. with the same instructions. Within 2 days of them receiving my lens, I had an estimate of the required work and the cost to perform it, which I authorized. Less than 2 weeks later, the lens was back. Focus ring turned smooth as butter, and the resulting image quality was even better than when the lens was new. The bill clearly stated that some element groups had been replaced and others re-aligned to bring the lens' calibration inline with specifications. I didn't even realize it had always been slightly decentered since new, this was even better than getting a brand new lens. For this fantastic service, I was billed $180.
After that experience, I also sent C.R.I.S. my 15mm Limited, which I knew had always been decentered ever since I bought it (this was past the warranty period). Once again, I got it back within 2 weeks, with one element group replaced and all groups aligned to perfect specification. The result blew me away, I had no idea a Pentax lens could be this good. For this service I was charged $200, which I was more than happy to pay. That 15mm Limited blows away every other copy of that lens I've ever seen, and I've had many pass through my hands over the years.
Warranty work I don't much care about, but if C.R.I.S. isn't even an authorized Pentax repair center anymore, then this is a sad, sad day. This is bad enough that I might consider jumping ship to another camera system. I can't afford to have my gear stuck in the clutches of Precision Camera, I need my gear to get work done. Precision Camera is the absolute worst place for a pro to get his gear repaired.