Can this be repaired?

I sold an smc Pentax FA 28-80mm f3.5-4.7. Seemed fine when I used it and when I sent it, but the buyer reports that it arrived broken and has sent me these pics:

[IMG]http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr298/lime501/DSC00559.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr298/lime501/DSC00560.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr298/lime501/DSC00558.jpg[/IMG]

I'm accepting a return for refund, but am curious to know what might have caused the damage, and if it is easily repairable. I might have a go at DIYing if so. It's not worth a professional repair.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

Is it the same lens? have you checked the serial number etc, you wont be the first to refund the money and when it arrives back it's totaly different, they get the lens and money back.

I didn't even think of recording the serial number! I'm too trusting! No, I think most likely it's the same lens, but I am puzzled as to what happened. Could the part have just shaken loose in transit?

I've not received it back yet. Those are the buyer's photos. Mine would have been in focus

Looks like the retaining ring on the rearmost element has become unscrewed - should be simple enough to screw it back on.

Rather than trying to disassemble the lens see if you can do it in situ: Use tweezers to reseat the ring over the threads and use something like a pencil eraser to screw it down.

If you can't get a good enough grip that way then take the back (mount) off for better access - be warned though, small parts may drop out as you prise the mount off (usually 1mm ball bearings that act as the "clicks" when you turn the aperture ring) so make sure you do it over a container (I use a cake tin made from a one-piece pressing so there are no seams and it's deep enough for me to work inside). If they get near your carpet I guarantee you will never see them again!

Is this the powerzoom version? It looks like it has additional contacts on the mount.
I seem to recall reading a while ago that this lens have a history with this problem.

If you take it apart , also watch out for the small springs, behind the mount contacts. You can buy replacement 1mm ball bearings, but I have never been able to source replacement springs.

Steve

Yes it's a Power Zoom lens (which interestingly works on some digital cameras as well as the certain film ones it was origially designed for).

Hopefully I can fix it with Hefty's tweezer 'n' rubber method instead taking it apart. Not much to loose since the lens is only worth twenty quid.

I'm not happy about the eBay and postage costs I've wasted though. The buyer is in Germany and I've offered to refund postage both ways as well as the item price.

Cheers.

I would have thought the power zoom version would sell for more than £20, I've not seen many advertised, especially now that the newer bodies will support them.

As for Tel's suspicions, I always wondered why some sellers bothered to list serial numbers with an item

If you are considering taking it apart , it might be worth removing the inner part of the lens mount (not sure of the correct name) initially. This is usually attached by 3 small screws and removing it may provide enough access to follow Hefty's method.
I have never taken a power zoom lens apart , so I am not sure what lies behind the power contacts.

Steve

I've seen quite a few on eBay, but most sellers's don't realise or mention the Power Zoom feature. It has manual zoom capability as well.

As I understand it, all FA 28-80mm f3.5-4.7 lenses have Power Zoom, rather than there being one version with and one without. Note the 4.7 rather than 4.5. www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/lenses/zooms/short/FA28-80f3.5-4.7.html

It's quite a heavy lens and not wonderfully good optically, so I don't blame people for not bidding more. I got it myself off eBay recently for round about the same price, and decided it wasn't worth keeping.

Power Zooming is fun, but provides little practical advantage over manual zooming, and consumes a lot of battery power.

Thanks for that Steve. But I might sell for "spares & repairs" rather than taking it apart myself. Although I'm used to rebuilding some bicycle and electrical things, I tend to be dreadful when springs are involved!

I had this exact same problem with an SMC-M 135/3.5 some time ago..

Thanks again Hefty1 for your tips.

I've now received the lens back and have relocated the part with fingers and a pencil rubber. I couldn't tighten it much though, so I fear it may come loose again.

Anyway I'm gonna stick it on eBay tonight at 99p start price. I'll also accept a direct offer of £13 including UK postage - via personal message - before there are any eBay bidders.

The glass is in excellent condition and the lens is in full working order at the moment, apart from a slight bit of stickiness in the manual zooming and focusing actions (that is unrelated to the part that was loose). No returns accepted this time.

Power Zooming works on any camera compatible with SDM lenses (including K10D and K20D). Manual zooming works on any camera.

To be honest they should never be overly tight anyway, as long as it fits up into place then there should be no more problems. Glad you found the pencil rubber trick useful!