Hi everyone.
I have been using my DA*300/4 for many years (seven to nine years now I think) and I have never encountered a problem with it ... ever.
This morning I was out doing some birds of prey birding and all of a sudden, this happened:
Pressing the AF (top front - I don't use the back AF button) - lens mounted on my K3 as usual - : I can "hear" the SDM AF kicking in but within a few seconds the obvious screw drive AF kicks in !! I sure could hear this buzzing typical of the screw drive AF.
This goes on back and forth between the SDM vs. screw drive a few times then it stops and goes back to SDM only.
Another thing that happened while the screw drive AF was active, is the "continous AF" while the camera is set to single AF only.
So I turned the camera off, started it again : same thing but only once.
Then: turned the camera OFF, removed the battery - reinserted the battery, turned camera on: all is fine for a few shots but it did happened once more.
Even when the SDM AF was "supposedly" working fine, about 50% of my shots were blurred. Even those shots of stationary subjects.
Note that the lens switch was on AF; I had verified this.
So ... big questions:
1. Is this a sure sign that my DA*300/4 is dying?
2. Why would the screw drive kick in?
3. Has the camera having anything to do with this?
Any help/advice/opinion would be tremendously welcomed.
Thanks !