To repair or not to repair? DA* 16-50.

I'd forgotten about this thread! The quote was for around HUF 40,000 to 60,000, need to get back in touch with them to confirm but I have to put it back now as I have to have a trip back to the UK this month. That's in the order of £100-140 or so. Will have to confirm obviously, they were waiting for the equipment to arrive so they could start conducting repairs. I think they are a new service partner for Pentax so we will see.

I'd like it back working and if the new replacement motors are sound so much the better.

I hope the problem has been resolved. I've acquired a 16-50mm at which I though was a good price, 4 months old and originally sold by SRS. If necessary I'd rather it was repaired by a professional company than take the chance of buggering up the lens and camera.

Does the wife know of this new acquisition Stan

Seriously though, I wouldn't worry too much about all the doom and gloom stories, I've had my SDM lenses (both 16-50 and 50 -135) for many years and never had any issues, save dropping the 16-50 recently

As for motor upgrades, I also recall reading that Pentax had upgraded the motor or at least made some changes to the mechanics.

I just told her it's one of those plastic lookalike lens things for the desk to keep pens and pencils

I had both SDM lenses (16-50 and 50 -135) and both had motor failures, I had both repaired at JPS, which did take a long time but was successful.
However I didn't really like the 16-50 so sold it on and got a Sigma 17-50 which I like a lot, it feels so much better than the Pentax did, and goes nicely with my Sigma 10-20 too.
I still have the Pentax 50-135 which is superb, and since repair I have had no issues, (about 2 years)

Andy

old thread i know but ive been using a 16-50 that the sdm failed on for ages now as a screw drive. it doesnt bother me one bit that it makes a bit of noise (like the majority of the pentax line up). its one of my most used lenses along with the 50-135. dont get me wrong id prefer it to be silent but to me its not worth the cost just for that.

the conversion takes 2 mins when you know what your doing and you cant break anything if you read up first and take backups of the files before you modify them. only problem i found is you cant do the conversion using a k3.

for fun i did the conversion of the 50-135 and tested the focus throw speed. it was actually quicker in screw drive mode.

Just mooched on here for the first time in months and so far the repair is holding up nicely. It helps that I can always physically go to the people who repaired it as they have a bricks and mortar shop. Haven't had any spare time to use any cameras for the last few months but the few occasions it has been out it seems better than it was originally! If it does fail again I will look seriously at the screwdrive conversion as I am with a K5 for the forseeable future regardless.....!

Apart from my lack of HUngarian skills it all went smoothly and the repair time was two weeks, very professional and good service. You'd never know they had anything to do with Pentax though.......... Wall to wall Canon!

I had what I thought was a SDM failure on my 16-50 but it seems if you don't use it often it "goes to sleep".
I found that by twisting the focus ring back and forth and pointing it up while pressing the AF button then down and press the AF button many times it appears to have woke it up. Try it before you send off for expensive repairs.

I heard that these lenses have a capacitor which eventually drains if not used for a while. If put on a camera and left in the on position it eventually recharges.

Jeff

Thanks for the tip. I'll set up some still life images and fire of a few shots on a regular basis now.

I've not had any "going to sleep" problems with either of mine and over the last couple of years they've spent an awful lot of time sat in the bag, especially the 50-135.
Even after it's death defying fall to the floor last November my 16-50 still worked (apart from a few fuzzy images and stiff zoom ring)
That little incident got me a newer lens with the upgraded motor, so that just leaves the 50-135 to nurture

As for whether the SDM in these lenses has actually been upgraded I found this after a quick search:

http://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/photokina-2012/jens-petersen-on-pentax-sdm-...