How low can it go?

Amazon.com: Pentax 21977 DA 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 ED AL (IF) DC WR Lens for Pentax Digital SLR cameras: Camera & Photo

[RonakG]

How low can it go?

Amazon.com: Pentax 21977 DA 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 ED AL (IF) DC WR Lens for Pentax Digital SLR cameras: Camera & Photo

There are questions on this item if it's legit or a grey market one. May be they take out the lens from K-30 kit and sell it separately. Check out the latest review on it -

Bought this lens - and thought I was getting the one pictured - I did not receive it. Instead, I received the lens, no hood, no paperwork (like a Pentax warranty), and no Pentax box. Why is this stuff important?.. well, the lens hood is self-explanatory. The paperwork and box may not be.. What you are getting in this deal is a Pentax lens - period. And if you have issues with it in less than a year - where do you send it to get it worked on?.. Pentax?... they will tell you, you bought a "grey market" lens and they will not work on it - where is your warranty?.. the box?.. only means someone took it out of the box - which further means you are at least on the edge of the "grey market" because the lens did not come in it's original box. As far as the lens goes - I put it on the camera and immediately noticed much distortion at 18mm indoors. I repackaged the lens, phoned Amazon, told them the lens arrived incomplete, got a return and sent it back to them immediately - had it for less than one day. And Amazon gave my credit card a refund before they even had the product back at their place. As photographers, we have to make choices about equipment, and what we want out of each photo we take. Make your own decision - but go to a place that might cost a bit more, but will provide you with a lens that will have a hood, (which is over $65.00), proper paperwork, and the original box the lens was packaged in from the factory. BTW when you add $425 + $65 for a lens hood, you can begin to see that this is not that great a deal. I ended up buying the Tamron 28-300MM lens from B&H directly - Oh, and guess what?.. It came with a lens hood, all paperwork, and the original factory box... and the lens works great. Guess this only goes to prove the old adage --Let the Buyer Beware!" And this is why I rated the lens (product) at one star.... the lens might be a super one - and work great - just be careful what you wish for..

[Docrwm]

I agree about being careful and have pointed out that Electronics Basket has a bad rep, but Pentax gear does NOT come with a warranty card in the box, nor are boxes sealed in any way.

[Kozlok]

I emailed Pentax, and they said if I buy it from Amazon, it comes with a warranty.

[Docrwm]

I emailed Pentax, and they said if I buy it from Amazon, it comes with a warranty.

But with the affiliates you are NOT buying from Amazon. Fulfilled by and Sold by are two different things. That said, we have plenty of reports of Pentax USA supporting gear purchased from non-ADs here in the US.

[MD Optofonik]

But with the affiliates you are NOT buying from Amazon. Fulfilled by and Sold by are two different things. That said, we have plenty of reports of Pentax USA supporting gear purchased from non-ADs here in the US.

My K30 body was sold to me by Emmy Photo and arrived without a warranty card. I called Pentax because I was concerned and CS told me not to worry. Emmy Photo, however, is "Fulfilled by Amazon" but it appears that Sunset Photo is not. A call to Pentax CS seems the way to find out if there are potential problems. Also, since the picture does show a lens hood I believe the seller is legally obligated to provide one. Anyway, I thought someone might find the link useful.

[Docrwm]

My K30 body was sold to me by Emmy Photo and arrived without a warranty card. I called Pentax because I was concerned and CS told me not to worry. Emmy Photo, however, is "Fulfilled by Amazon" but it appears that Sunset Photo is not. A call to Pentax CS seems the way to find out if there are potential problems. Also, since the picture does show a lens hood I believe the seller is legally obligated to provide one. Anyway, I thought someone might find the link useful.

There is NO warranty card in ANY Pentax gear these days in the US. There is a SERIAL NUMBER card in the box but that's it. If you want to, you can register your Pentax gear at the Pentax website via online form with serial number and date of purchase.

Register a Product - PENTAX Imaging USA

[glanglois]

The Pentax USA rule has been, for years, that a product purchased from a US dealer, even if not an authorized dealer, will get warranty support.

Compared to other makers, that's a very generous deal. We should keep that in mind when bashing Pentax USA.

[tclausen]

There is NO warranty card in ANY Pentax gear these days in the US. There is a SERIAL NUMBER card in the box but that's it. If you want to, you can register your Pentax gear at the Pentax website via online form with serial number and date of purchase.

Register a Product - PENTAX Imaging USA

That's rather interesting. As far as I know (*), in Japan and Europe, Pentax lenses come with a warranty card. Wonder why Pentax find it smart to do differently for different markets.

(*) I do not buy Pentax lenses daily, so this goes back to when I last acquired lenses...that was in 2013, still, but things may have changed since...

[Docrwm]

That's rather interesting. As far as I know (*), in Japan and Europe, Pentax lenses come with a warranty card. Wonder why Pentax find it smart to do differently for different markets.

(*) I do not buy Pentax lenses daily, so this goes back to when I last acquired lenses...that was in 2013, still, but things may have changed since...

Perhaps it is because Pentax USA will provide the 1 year of support to any Pentax gear purchased in the US and is supposed to honor the international warranty for 1 year as well. It would seem that between those two that Pentax USA has to service any genuine Pentax gear that the owner can document was purchased <1 year prior to presenting it for service. If so, what use is a warranty card?

I do respect that Pentax provides warranty support to all Pentax gear purchased <1 year ago, even if not from an AD.

[normhead]

I guess all those folks who claimed this lens was overpriced are now out of excuses. If anything, I'd say it's underpriced, and if this is a clear out to make way for a bunch of FF lenses this could be K-01 time for this lens. I did buy a K-5 from a grey market vendor, and got a 18-135 lens hood in my box, so, if you didn't get one, maybe I got yours, unfortunately I've since lost it or I'd send it to somebody.

[fsdogwood]

The Pentax USA rule has been, for years, that a product purchased from a US dealer, even if not an authorized dealer, will get warranty support.

Compared to other makers, that's a very generous deal. We should keep that in mind when bashing Pentax USA.

Besides, it's not much use with the 1-year warranty for these fancy (SDM) lenses, should better buy some extra warranty to be safe

[stormtech]

Besides, it's not much use with the 1-year warranty for these fancy (SDM) lenses, should better buy some extra warranty to be safe

The DA 18-135 is not an SDM lens.

[fsdogwood]

The DA 18-135 is not an SDM lens.

Thanks, what I want to say is that this lens has a motor inside, that may require some service down the road.

[Rondec]

There is no warranty card inside Pentax lens boxes, because the international (gray market) and local warranty are exactly the same length. If I buy a lens from Singapore or Canada, I exactly no different length of warranty than if I buy locally. In many places, this is not the case.