Thanks for the feedback Bill, yep still under warranty.

Hi I had a quick exchange of forum messages with some users yesterday in link and it made me think about some issues I've been having with my new (Dec 16) DA*300 F4 and my older K3. I'm struggling matching the consistency of AF I always got with my FA*300 F4.5 which I've had new since the mid 90's and used on many digital bodies, K100D, GX10, K-r, K30 and K3 without issues. I thought I'd drop my thoughts here and see if anyone has ideas or experience of the problem.
I tested the DA* on my K3 and K30 today and noticed that in AF-S, centre point AF, that every now and then the lens would not confirm focus on static shot, Without moving the af away from the area where it failed after release and re-press of the shutter release it would then confirm focus. Sometimes it would fail a few times in a row and then af fine for the next few. These were not difficult subjects to focus on just objects at random around the garden. Also it did not react like I expect when it can't confirm af by racking to close then infinity and then flashing the af confirmation light in the viewfinder. It just stayed at the last point it was focused on and just flashed the af confirmation light. It did this on both the K3 and the K30. So I then swapped to the FA*300 and this never happened, it locked focus every time. So I swapped back to the DA* and it had the same problem, I did this a few times with exact results.
Now I've never been happy with the AF on this DA* lens since I got it, it can be slow at times to confirm af even on the the subject it has already just focused on and it's AF-C is just poor in comparison to the FA*. I take mainly wildlife and I've been so concerned with it that I upgraded my Canon 50D to a 7D and took that on a recent trip to try and get some first in my life images of white-tailed Eagles and have been seriously thinking of moving away from pentax because of these issues. But the chat yesterday and the testing today is making me think I have a duff DA* (perhaps the dreaded SDM issues that stopped me buying this lens for so many years?).
Anyway ask away if you need clarification on some points because although it's all clear in my mind I may not have explained it as good as I could have.
Also, this is my first experience of SDM lenses, all my others are screw driven so I have no baseline to judge the sdm performance of this DA*.
Thanks

Hi David, I wrote a detailed response to you, but then thought maybe you didn't reply to me because of the wrong name so deleted it, then reread the post and I'm pretty sure you were replying to me! Gist of it was yep, small af point in K3 is better than larger af point of K30 for small birds in branches etc

Hi John, interesting findings. I know my FA*300 F4.5 feels like a real speed demon on the K3 because of the upgraded motor on the K3. I did some testing a few years ago with my K30 and FA* against my Canon 30D and Sigma 100-300 F4 HSM and ended up carrying them around reserves to do side by side test, so understand how heavy a rucksack can get in these circumstances....

Also used Eneloops, very surprised that we have such a different experience and in no way doubting yours. My K30 was serviced and repaired and now that you mention it I think I remember it coming back and being noticeably better at AF than before and they mentioned something about af calibration and replacing some board..... perhaps yours could do with a service as well? Something to think about for both of us? Anyway food for thought for me, perhaps rather than get SRS to sell the K3 I might see if I can try out one of their K3's if they have any around.

Wow, almost exactly the opposite of how I feel, my K3 has a noticeable delay on focus, not starting the af or speed of af but just at the point you think it's in focus it does a double take, I just don't notice this so much with the K30. Also the consistency in accuracy seems a bit more variable with the K3 than the K30. To be honest I'm getting a bit cheesed off with my Pentax since adding the DA*300 to my kit to replace the FA*300 4.5 because it's slow and that doesn't help with the af, so that may be influencing my opinions these days. BTW I use the Li-ion battery on the K30 because it is much faster to AF with this than the rechargeable AA NiMH. Also just to note most of my images are wildlife, so when I talk about af it's with that in mind.

I never used to carry more than one body under everyday circumstances, until my K30 failed on me on holiday. I felt like something was missing in my life for the rest of the holiday, so now I always take 2 bodies when reasonably far away from home. On normal day trips from home that don't matter too much photography wise I still just carry one body. Based on my experience I'd therefore say you need 2 bodies for certain times but it doesn't have to be an identical body.

I thought I mentioned why I was almost feeling daft at the end of the sentence above?
Also I still have the FA* but at the moment have no interest in the K-1, thanks for the opinion though
I was reading the Ricoh press release in America and it says "Heir to K-3 legacy", and the Pentax reps told the dpreview staff it was a replacement for the K-3. So on that basis I'd have to disagree with your statement above. Now does that preclude Ricoh releasing a model above this previously top tier of APS-C? Of course not, but it does give an idea of where Ricoh think this model fits in the range and an understanding of the price range of a top-top tier aps-c dslr if it is ever released.

Would I buy? Can't see it at this price. I'm a bit confused and disappointed by it, my reasoning is if it's a mid range camera it's priced too high if it's a top end camera then it's lacking in features compared to the previous, i.e. K3. I'm almost feeling daft for just recently buying the DA*300 to replace my FA*300 as I thought pentax was going in the right direction with the K5/K3's. Oh well time will tell and the K3/DA* will keep me going for a few years until Pentax change direction again!

A fantastic view into the micro world surrounding us. A wonderful set.