can't help on your decision on whether to spend the money
but here is a listing of who might be able to do the repair in the US
Quote: US
KEH.com (GA, Most current and vintage gear)
Eric Hendrickson (Vintage cameras, Current and vintage lenses)
Precision Camera (Authorized to perform warranty service, NC)
Advance Camera (Most current and vintage gear, Portland, OR)
General Camera Repair (LA, CA)
Garry's Camera Repair (IL, select film SLRs)
International Camera Repair (LA, CA)
Halcyon Cameras | Vintage Camera Restoration (Vintage film cameras, San Diego, CA)
Camera Repair Japan (Services Sigma lenses and more, Atlanta, GA)
Allied Camera (MN, manual film cameras)
Bill Rogers Camera (LV, NV, film-era cameras and lenses)
Phototronic (Topeka, KS, film and digital camera repair)
Lezot's Camera Center (VT, film SLRs / medium format)
Read more at:
Pentax Repair Facilities (Wordwide listing) - Page 9 - PentaxForums.com
[ follow the link for active links to the businesses ]
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I have used Phototronic -
https://phototronic.biz/
he repaired a broken 150-450 zoom I had
I recommend calling him.
(785) 233 0231
He can, by his own admission, be slow
he is open only in the PM