Pentax 18-135mm WR lens will no longer focus with K30

Hello all,

I have had a Pentax 18-135 mm lens with my K30 camera for the last ~8 years now. About a few weeks back, it wouldn't focus. The hexagon light in the viewfinder keeps flashing and no AF is achieved. I cleaned the lens contact and no improvement.

I then borrowed a Pentax 35 mm lens from a friend and that focuses just fine suggesting that the camera body is fine but my lens isn't? I removed the filter and set everything on the camera to default as well. Its a bright sunny day outside with enough contrast and texture in the scene (trees, cars etc.).

Any ideas what could be going wrong or what I can test further? Repairs would be closer to $200 (based on very crude web estimate) which I would rather not spend if I can avoid it.

Thanks a lot!

It sounds like an electric contact problem - have you cleaned the contacts on both the lens and the mount?

If so, then it could be the motor or some other electronic component in the lens, though the DC motor in this lens is reputed to be very reliable. The best way to check would be to try it on another camera body.

Can it be focused manually? If so, is the movement nice and smooth?

Hi!

I did clean the contacts but not sure what is the best mechanism to ensure they are clean. I don't have another camera body. The lens is internal-focusing. I had never tried focusing it manually before so not sure how smooth it is now but it isn't as nice as my K1000 and ME super were with manual focus lenses.

It does stay focused if I try manually and the viewfinder indicator locks and is happy. Thanks for your suggestions.

It won't feel the same as your older manual focus lenses did, whose action was so utterly smooth as to be sublime.