[zazism_rx]

Precision Camera - 80 Reviews - Photography Stores & Services - 7 Anngina Dr, Enfield, CT - Phone Number - Yelp

I'm thinking I might send it to Sun Camera in Ontario instead...

[Adam]

Lol. They've actually gotten a lot better, but things can still be problematic with those older or more complex repairs. For something like the upgrade service, I'd expect it to be pretty painless, but let's wait to see what the turnaround time is.

[jatrax]

I am definitely not going to be the FIRST person to send my K-1 to them. Hopefully they have improved since my last experience and I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Especially since we have no choice. But I'll let others be the guinea pigs.

[geomez]

I've had my share of headaches with Precision over the last few years. I would only send them my gear if I absolutely had to. If I were to upgrade my K-1, that would fall into the "had to" category.

[clickclick]

I've had a 16-85 repaired under warranty by them with no issue.They sent it back to Pentax in Japan.

I sent a 14 to them that was given to me, and badly decentered. It was sent back to Pentax in Japan, and no problem with it.

I bought a used clobbered 60-250 (never do that again, ever - done with used if new is an option, even with sample photos - stuff was still badly messed up that was not revealed in the samples). So, this lens was really screwed up, and It has yo-yo'd between me and Precision 3 times now. It is back with them, and finally got sent to Japan for Pentax to take care of directly. This lens was so screwed up I don't know if it's fair to blame them or not. It had a broken tripod foot, and the lands for the hood to engage in were ripped off. Figure it took a fall off a tripod. Bottom line is it was optically screwed on top of the obvious damage - badly decentered. Each trip to Precision it got better and better, and finally seemed "right", but a load of dirt appeared in it with virtually no use, like it was in the lens housing and got moved around - really odd. So I called them about that, and they gave no problem on sending it back. When it came back from that cleaning, it would not focus at infinity when zoomed out more than about 70mm, so something went wrong in that process. When sent back on that issue is when they decided to send it back to Japan, and what was odd was in the cleaning process they made another repair to the aperture that I and them had not picked up on the first two trips. So, this lens is a quandary, and I won't hold it against them.

I generically don't like Yelp. I know some good local business with slamming reviews. There's always pissed off customers everywhere, and the happy ones usually don't make the effort to go post something, but the mad ones sure do. With no idea if they fix 100 cameras a month or 10,000, there's no way to tell from these reviews what percentage of people are really having problems and what the real problems are. Just look at the derision in these forums over rumored announcements. You'd think half the people out there just had their dog shot by Ricoh/Pentax. People are really quick to go negative. I think I'd take a deep breath and send my K-1 in for an upgrade, and if it gets wonky, it'll get sent to Japan.

[hyyz]

When they didn't know how to properly repair an FA43 Ltd and yet managed to damaged it big way, I no longer trust them at all. I wouldn't bother to send them my K-1. Choosing Precision Camera is Pentax's biggest mistake IMO. Since my bad experience, I have been very cautious buying new Pentax gears and avoid dealing with Precision by all means.

[6BQ5]

I imagine they will perform this service in an assembly line fashion with a few people performing narrowly defined steps. If not then they'll have people who only do just that service from beginning to end. Seeing that the service is repetitive (i.e. many people sending in the same body for the same service) they ought to be able to work the kinks out. Granted, the first few jobs could be a little rough but they should have the process down by instance #500.

I'd be OK sending it to them once I figure out what this accelerator does.

[Scorpio71GR]

I sent my K3 in for service last fall under warranty. My camera was back in a week just like new. Keep in mind most people who actually take the time to write a review are generally very passionate about it. Most of those are complainers who simply can not be happy. Yes I am sure Precision has made their fair share of mistakes. That, however can probably be said of any service company.

[hyyz]

Sorry, I have to say the damage Precision made to my lens is beyond imagination. I wouldn't describe it as mistake. To be honest, I strongly think the person touched my lens had no knowledge on repairing lenses. If Precision has technicians like this, no matter how small percentage they consist of, I have every reason to be concerned. Of course, this is just my experience and observation.

Now, back to the upgrade thing: What if I take a $550 loss on my K-1 to sell it and buy K1-II instead? Assuming my purchasing price of K-1II is same as that of my K-1, then it is a level ground. I will end up getting everything new. Not bad.

[clickclick]

Sorry, I have to say the damage Precision made to my lens is beyond imagination.

So, what did they do to it? And I'm not asking in any way to be argumentative, but more info helps us all. If my one and only experience with them was my 60-250, I might not be feeling in the OK zone. And the 60-250 is an enigma. What happened that it wouldn't focus to infinity after they cleaned it? I'm assuming something got put back in flipped/out of alignment etc. So perhaps I should be more wary, but then again, I've got to think for something like a factory upgrade, they will have specific training and no questions on what to be done or how. I also look at all the "big boys" who use them as their authorized repair center and have to think they must have some level of success.

[surfar]

Now, back to the upgrade thing: What if I take a $550 loss on my K-1 to sell it and buy K1-II instead? Assuming my purchasing price of K-1II is same as that of my K-1, then it is a level ground. I will end up getting everything new. No bad.

Yes, and your warranty will start afresh...RI wont be issuing warranty to start again with the update(perhaps with low shutter counts but i doubt it)

[DeadJohn]

I dealt with them for 2 repairs. Both repairs were frustrating processes but eventually done correctly.

In my experience, Precision's repair quality was okay. Communication was horrible. They failed to answer the phone during business hours. They did not reliably reply to email. Their online system that promised to keep me updated on repair status didn't work; the repair just showed up back at home with no warning that I should look for the package.

[hyyz]

@clickclick
I sent in my FA43 because of inaccurate exposure. The aperture lever was misaligned so that aperture didn't have correct opening for a given F number (I later found myself this is a very simple repair). But after charging me $230, Precision returned my lens w/o doing anything but claimed on paperwork that they did the repair. I sent it back and this time they did manage to do repair but damaged it. The damages were:
1. They overdid the aperture lever adjustment so that exposure was not only wrong but it was opposite to what it was, i.e. it used to be overexposed but now underexposed.
2. They damaged the aperture ring mechanism and lost the little ball under it. Aperture clearly couldn't move out of "A" but in paperwork, again, they claimed it has returned to factory specs.
3. After the repair the lens won't focus on anything beyond 3 feet. Again, I later found out there's adjustment to make infinity focus correct. Apparently they removed lens elements but when installed them back, they didn't know how to adjust infinity focus.
4. Physical damage to the lens. They also stripped a small screw on lens back flange. That tiny screw is not supposed to be removed for a repair.

I had to contact them many times for a period of several months. Eventually, I had to contact Ricoh for help by calling their US headquarter. After Ricoh intervened, I was sent a new FA43 lens and returned the damaged FA43.

[clickclick]

@hyyz
Thanks! Mind bending to so thoroughly mess it up. Honestly makes me wonder about the last go-round with my 60-250. It would seem experiences are all over the place.

If I go the upgrade route, I'll send it in still. The only reason not to do the upgrade for me is the bundle with the battery grip and 28-105 at B&H is a pretty amazing deal. I don't want to sell the camera in my hands because I'm funny that way, and a Precision upgrade doesn't turn me off that option. But if I run the numbers, depending on what a mint K-1 is worth, it might not make economic sense.

[dakight]

They repaired my K-50 when the aperture block problem cropped up. Had it back to me in a week and it hasn't missed a beat since. About a year ago I gave it to my grandson and he's still using it.