150-450 mount snapped off!

Was on safari a few weeks ago in Kenya. Driving over bumpy ground off road and the camera fell off my lap onto the floor. I think it was about a 40cm fall onto a soft rubber floor mat. Landed camera down on the K3m3 grip which was fine, but with the impact the lens mount on the 150-450 snapped off completely. The lens did not hit anything as it fell and the camera/grip which did bear the impact was totally undamaged. First time I have ever dropped a lens in over 35 years of photography!

I did get a quote for repair but this is £1300 so just not worth doing.

I had read several reports in the past of the 150-450 mount snapping off and despite the great images from it, I just don't think it is that well constructed. It is a heavy lens and he screws holding the mount on are absolutely tiny and locate into a plastic component. Clearly not designed for strength.

Don't think I will get another. Lens has been replaced with a DA*300F4 and a DA 1.4x converter, which although doesn't have the flexibility of a zoom and is slower to AF, is much much lighter to hold.




If anyone needs a lens hood or removable handle/tripod mount for this lens (both of which are undamaged) then please let me know. I have them going spare. The handle also fits the DFA*28-70/2.8

AAAgghh! What a nasty thing to happen, and at a time when you really needed the lens . I'm sure you'll enjoy the 30mm + 1.4TC, though. I've never regretted going down that route rather than the 150-450mm. There's a lot to be said for smaller and lighter (particularly as the years roll by...), and the quality is still there .

The quote for repair is staggering. It sounds like a complete strip down, reassembly and test rather than simply replace the mount and whatever it is (was) attached to. I wouldn't be too harsh on the designers, though. With a lens that big and heavy which is supposed to be supported by hand or via collar, the mount is for carrying the weight of the camera, not the lens. And it's possible that the mount attachment is a deliberate weak point so it breaks under a hard knock to prevent even worse damage to both lens and camera. Perhaps if the mount hadn't broken off you'd be looking at getting a new camera too...

Steve

Bad luck..... and an unfortunate set of circumstances, but (dont you just hate that word )....

You were on a safari (I am jealous) on rough roads? I go off road a lot with gear that is valuable and I always, and I mean always make sure its secure. That is because of two incidents I had. One errant jolt and it'll be catastrophically expensive... as you unfortunately found out.

Once I put my K20D on a table, with my Sigma 150-500 and monopod on it. A kid ran past, caught the monopod, gear stoofed in to the floor. Camera mount ripped off.... lens fine!!

Incident two exactky the same lens and another K20D over my shoulder..... walking along on some grass, tripped over a bloody rabbit hole!! Down I went, camera mount ripped off again!! Lens... is once again, fine!!!

Moral of my story.... look where I am bloody going and not leave gear in stoooopid places!

Maybe the Sigma is more robust than Pentax??? Apart from a HSM replacement, the lens if still fine to this day!

Just out of interest.... did you not insure your kit?? Both my K20D were replaced by insurance....

Yes we were in the back of a land cruiser being driven off road. This was on about day 10 of the safari but i did not appreciate the ground was much rougher than anything we had driven on previously. Luckily had the 55-300, 70-200 and sigma 50-500 with us so the loss of the 150-450 was manageable with back up lenses. We had been on safari previously and had a camera failure on that trip so came with lots of back ups. Safaris are pretty hard on camera gear. Lots of vibrations, lots of bumps, lots of dust.

No not insured but did get some small amount back on the general travel insurance policy. £300. I have never thought camera insurance is worth the money. Paying the premiums Over the years It would have been far more expensive than the cost of just replacing the one lens that broke.

And yes. It could have been worse. Could have had a broken camera too.

Sorry to read of the breakage, I would be interested in the tripod mount if poss poss please, pm what you'd be looking for it inc postage

Commiserations on the breakage, when you see camera and lens in two pieces it does not bode well.

I have just had a 'gentle fall' while out walking with my K3iii and the DA*300mm F4 - similar result in that I ended up with two bits of kit rather than one. In my case the K mount was ripped out of the K3iii body and was left securely attached to the lens. Once home I removed the mount from the lens (which was completely unscathed) and checked that it was still flat and not buckled. Like your lens the camera mount also screws into plastic fittings. With some trepidation I refitted the mount which surprisingly seemed quite solid (all the screws tightened - I was expecting a few to just spin uselessly ) and checked the functions with a lightweight lens attached. Every thing worked fine - which was a bit of a surprise. The camera has gone off the Ist Aid Repairs to have the mount checked before I start attaching longer lenses again just as a precaution

I’m almost certain I read about something very similar in New Zealand just recently. Was sitting on a car seat and slid off when braking from memory.

Sorry to hear about that.

Out of interest, how is the 300 and teleconverter working and compared to the 55-300 PLM? I have the PLM and am considering the combo instead. Sadly the 450 is well out of my price range but also is probably larger than I really want also.

Yeah here we go

I have for a long while put the seat belt through the wrist strap on the camera with a twist or 2 around the lens to prevent this from occurring.

I am certainly not alone in having issues with the 150-450:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/189-repairs-warranty-service/441632-pentax-1...

Camera was on my lap with my hand loosely on top of it. Car hit a big bump and the loose hold was not enough to keep the camera from falling. Not a mistake I intend to repeat anytime soon!