[jpzk]

Hi folks,

I am looking for a Canadian repair centre, aside from Pentax Canada, which could take a look at my DA*300/4; I think it needs a bit of CLA !
I am not sure at all whether it is a good idea to send it to a third-party outfit or simply use Pentax itself. The lens is not under warranty anymore.

"Problem" is that the lens continues missing long range focusing: either it is slightly OOF or slightly "blurred". Not consistent is the word.
I have never encounter intermittent misses before: either I was bang on focus or not.
When it is "on focus" ... great!! Just as expected from the lens and its IQ.
By the way, I nearly always use AF-S and shoot RAW.
I tried the manual approach today (manual focus, "manual" on the lens and "manual" on the camera) and the inconsistency continues.
Almost looks like the "long range" (infinity?) focus is totally off at times.

I had previously adressed this in another thread:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5-forum/182612-k5-da-300-4-inter...lurriness.html
and I thought it was entirely a fault of mine, but now I doubt it is me all the time.
A good suggestion was to focus the lens at long range and then let the lens AF back to the closer target; this works most of the time but I am missing quite a few shots, especially BIF, even on crisp/clear days.

I tried the K5 with my Tamron 70-200/2.8 plus a Tamron 1.5X TC today ... all the shots are in focus, even the very distant targets.
I will likely go back again tomorrow and test the gear as I mentioned above: K7 + DA*300/4, then but I doubt that the camera is at fault.
I still have my K20D ... will give it a go too.

The only thing left to do is to test the lens on my K7 and see what happens ... what do you guys think?

Any suggestion for a dependable Canadian based repair facility would be welcome.

Cheers!

JP

[bobmaxja]

See this person, I have no comments on him
ATELIER JACQUES GUYON, Réparation d'appareils photo

[jpzk]

See this person, I have no comments on him
ATELIER JACQUES GUYON, Réparation d'appareils photo

Thank you Bob!!

I have just sent an email to him.

Hopefully this will work ... he's near Québec city .... so not that extremely far from here.

Cheers!

JP

[JohnBee]

Off the side, can the focus be compensated with micro-adjust?
Also have you confirmed that it is not your camera AF itself that is out of focus at 300mm?

PS. I'd never send a DA* Pentax lens for adjustments anywhere other than at an authorized Pentax repair facility. ie. clean room & equipment required to do the job right.

[jpzk]

Off the side, can the focus be compensated with micro-adjust?
Also have you confirmed that it is not your camera AF itself that is out of focus at 300mm?

PS. I'd never send a DA* Pentax lens for adjustments anywhere other than at an authorized Pentax repair facility. ie. clean room & equipment required to do the job right.

Hi John.

If you are talking about "quick-shift" while focusing ... I tried that. Did not make much difference.

How can I check if the camera, and not the lens, is OOF at 300mm ?
As I said, this is intermittent and when the focus is right on, it is great. When OOF ... no good!
Why would it (K5) be consistently OK with the Tamron (at 200mm + 1.5X TC) vs. at 300mm with the DA*300 ??

I will of course consider Pentax in Ontario once I get news from the other fellow in Québec City.

JP

[Lowell Goudge]

i have had great service from pentax canada, but i have had one advantage. For years they were within 5KM (3 miles for the metric impaired) of my house

now since they have relocated it is a little farther to go, but they did a great job on my K10D when they replaced the shutter and mirror.

[bdery]

If you're in Quebec city, like me, then try Service Camera Pro on Père-Lelièvre. They fixed my DA21 LTD perfectly and at a fair price. I can recommend them very easily.

[jpzk]

i have had great service from pentax canada, but i have had one advantage. For years they were within 5KM (3 miles for the metric impaired) of my house

now since they have relocated it is a little farther to go, but they did a great job on my K10D when they replaced the shutter and mirror.

Pentax Canada is usually OK to deal with ... I'm just a bit worried about the "up front" cost before even starting to look into a problem.
But, they have the right facilities.

JP

[jpzk]

If you're in Quebec city, like me, then try Service Camera Pro on Père-Lelièvre. They fixed my DA21 LTD perfectly and at a fair price. I can recommend them very easily.

That is a good sign since my lens is in "almost" the same category as yours, well mine has this SDM ... I will contact them.

Thanks!

JP

Edit: just sent an email to them and waiting for a reply.

[jpzk]

See this person, I have no comments on him
ATELIER JACQUES GUYON, Réparation d'appareils photo

Just got a message back : they suggest to send it directly to Pentax Canada because they have had problems getting parts (Pentax parts) for the past several months !??

So, I contacted another outfit : Service Camera Pro , also in Québec City.

JP

[eddie1960]

Just got a message back : they suggest to send it directly to Pentax Canada because they have had problems getting parts (Pentax parts) for the past several months !??

So, I contacted another outfit : Service Camera Pro , also in Québec City.

JP

Maybe Pentax is unofficially pulling the same crap as Nikon?

Nikon defends decision to stop supplying spares to independent repairers: Digital Photography Review

[jpzk]

Maybe Pentax is unofficially pulling the same crap as Nikon?

Nikon defends decision to stop supplying spares to independent repairers: Digital Photography Review

That wouldn't surprise me.

As a matter of fact, the fellow at this Québec City outfit also mentioned: " ... difficulty getting Pentax parts since the new ownership", i.e.: Ricoh.

JP

[eddie1960]

it may also just be a result of the transition process. I've never used Pentax Canada for repairs (knock on wood) but I have for parts and they have always been pretty quick and provided good service. I can see why as someone living in Quebec you may want to deal with a local guy though (particularly for out of warranty work) for any of my higher tech stuff I'd likely take it to Pentax Canada but they are pretty local to me, maybe a 20-25 minute drive to the suburbs as long as i avoid rush hour

[normhead]

Having been to the Pentax facility a number of times for camera repairs while I was teaching, they were on my drive home, so not much problem dropping in... I enjoy those guys and always have a laugh hanging out int he waiting room. Haven't been there for years, but when I recently had my 21 ltd repaired they seemed to be the same friendly, helpful people. I guess everyone thinks because they are Pentax they are a large faceless corporation. I doubt they have more than 6 technicians, if you stop in , they are anything but faceless. I guess maybe an independent guy might seem like more personal attention, but get on the phone and talk to Pentax, you might be surprised.

[jpzk]

@ eddie 1960
@ normhead

Thanks for the suggestion guys!

I've looked into the Pentax Canada website, repair/service section, and they do mention that:

"Note: Due to the special equipment necessary to service and repair PENTAX Digital SLR Camera Bodies, Digital SLR Lenses, Digital Interchangeable Lens System Cameras and Lenses, the 645D Medium Format Digital SLR Camera Body and 645D Digital SLR Lenses, PENTAX RICOH IMAGING CANADA INC. is the only service centre in Canada that can provide service and repair of these items. All PENTAX Digital SLR Camera Bodies, Digital SLR Lenses, Digital Interchangeable Lens System Cameras and Lenses, 645D Medium Format Digital SLR Camera Body and 645D Digital SLR Lenses that require warranty or non-warranty repair should be sent to the above address."

Seems like it would be the sensible thing to do?

So, I am now a bit leary of sending the lens AND camera (yes, they do want both pieces of equipment) to a thrid party, albeit dependable.
bdery gave me a name to call, and I did. They replied back asking to send both camera/lens too.
They didn't mention how good they were at fixing this sort of "problem".

Thanks for the help!

JP