m42geo Thanks for the lovely images. They look a little sharper than mine but I do not know what your pp was as I haven’t got a clue how to look at somebody elses exif data. My images were downloaded into lightroom with only the preset pp. Did you look at the full size images. The old woman sitting in the chair in my opinion should be rendered better at f4. Compared to your images mine seem ever so slightly out of focus. Maybe I need glasses

ChrisA - I do not understand the term embedded etc but I hope I did the right thing. Would you care to comment about the sharpness of my images. It would be very welcome

m42geo You can now see 7 images taken after repair here link

karma mechanic Interesting theory, Exposure ?? I noticed a scratch on a blade when cleaning the front element

Thanks again

Thanks for your time everyone. Sorry for the slow reply but because of the time difference I am asleep when you are awake.

Mike P. Point taken and the problem is I do not have like for like images to compare. Your avatar is great. Is that your cat. It looks like a British Blue which is my favourite kind.

m42geo - I will try to upload something.

Sterretje - I have a K20d so I have adjusted the focus. The example shots are the results of my adjustments. It is as close as I can get it I think.

Looking at images before and after the repair I can see a slight difference and the lens seems to be slightly softer at every aperture.

So if it is not a front or back focus problem what else can cause a lens to be just off focus besides me of course? Does anyone know? Surely changing the front assembly doesn’t involve changing glass?

Thanks for the reply. I understand that you would think that but before I could see more surface detail in pics of the chart. Socks? I will see if I can find something else. Perhaps some keks!

Thanks again

I recently had my FA77 Ltd lens repaired. A pin in an aperture blade had come loose. The repair involved replacing the front assembly. Before the repair I was very happy with the lens but now it seems to be slightly less sharp than before. I tried adjusting for front or back focus but even after adjustment the lens still less sharp than before at all apertures. Looking at the test shots of the chart the in focus areas do not seem sharp to me. I am not sure if I can believe my eyes.

You can see example shots of the focus chart and some quick shots of socks here –

http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/500753351/photos[/link]

Please look and tell me if you agree that they are slightly soft. Am I being too fussy??

If anybody could explain what replacing the front assembly involves and what fault could be it would be much appreciated.

link

The top 4 images at the above link my be of interest.

The first 3 are 100 percent centre crops of well I was pretty much photographing anything in the distance to check the lens. I think they show some softness.

The 4th image taken at f4.5 should show that the lens is softer on the right hand side but for some reason it is not that obvious in this jpeg. I can assure in lightroom at 100 percent it is obvious.

Yes you are correct. I’d forgotten about that. I can’t remember if it does behave differently. It is just that the images are soft below f4.

Can I attach images on this forum or do I have to provide a link?

In the past 2 months it has been to pentax once because it was soft at all apertures which they fixed under gaurantee and then 2 weeks after it’s return I noticed a scratch on an aperture blade so they replaced that blade and now this.

Are you suggesting that the elements could be misaligned?

Thanks again

Thanks for the reply. The lens is the 77 Ltd that I can see from your signature you have also. I also checked my da 70 and that has more play around the infinity mark. The reason I notice this is because the images seemed a little soft below f4 but shooting distant objects at f4 or below is not something I would normally do.

Is this lens known for being soft when shooting distant objects? I know some portrait lenses are.

I have a lens that seems to be struggling to achieve focus on distant objects. Above f4 it is ok but between f4 and f1.8 I can hear the motor trying to focus the lens even after the lens has stopped moving. When I focus the lens manually it achieves focus exactly when the lens hits the stop. WhenI turn the barrel to focus to infinity the infinity symbol aligns exactly with the red line on the barrel but will turn no further. Is this normal?

I am worried that the screw drive or the motor in the camera could get damaged

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks