Thanks for the info. I hadn't heard of the 50-135 problem. I don't
remember if mine was early, but it's been excellent. I did have focus
field problems with my first DA* 16-50, but I spotted the condition
immediately, and B&H replaced it. I will definitely test the 60-250
for autofocus and focus field uniformity as soon as I receive it.
BTW, I once thought my DA* 16-50 had focus problems. But it turned out
the manual/autofocus switch was in between settings. I know that
wasn't what happened with your lens, but I wonder how many were
returned due to the switch being off the mark.
Paul
On May 10, 2009, at 1:30 PM, Joseph Tainter wrote:
"My 50-135 has been great from the start. I hadn't heard of any
focus problems. But the DP folks whine about everything so I
wouldn't put much stock in it."
There was a rash of SDM failures with the DA* 50-135. My second
sample, which was optically superb, simply refused one day to focus
in any matter whatsoever. It had no more than about 150 shots on it.
This was last November, when I was in Rome. I used it one afternoon,
put it in my bag, took it out the next day and found that it would
not focus by either SDM or manually. I am careful with my equipment.
Others reported similar experiences at roughtly the same time last
fall. I suspect that one of the early batches got out with something
in the SDM prone to fail.
I sent it and my DA* 16-50 to Pentax at the same time. (I discovered
that the 16-50 had extreme right edge weakness at 50 mm.) Both were
out of warranty. I expected to have to buy another 16-50, and to
have to pay for the repair to the 50-135. To my pleasant surprise,
Pentax replaced both lenses at no charge. The new lenses look okay
so far, but I have not had much chance to use them over the winter.
That will soon change. Unless I come down with flu, I expect to
leave for China at the end of the month.
Joe
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