I bumped my DA* 60-250 when I took a spill last August. It was in a soft lens case and there was no apparent damage, but the next time I used it the images were soft in places. Did a brick wall test and discovered that the focus field was no longer flat. Evidently, the elements had been knocked out of alignment. Sent it to CRIS. They told me it would have to go to Japan since they didn’t have the right tools to work on that lens. They said it would take about eight weeks. I told them that worked for me since I could get by without it until the auto show in January, at which point I would like to have it. It came back to me in December. I repeated the brick wall test, and while it was better, it was still a bit soft on the left side of the frame. Sent my test pics to CRIS. They said sent the lens back to us. I did; they tested as well and agreed with my finding. They then contacted Japan. Japan said it was within spec. I disagreed vehemently. With some help from Ricoh marketing, and pushing from CRIS, Japan agreed to replace the lens. And Ricoh marketing loaned by a 17-70 and 16-45 to tide me over. It took another eight weeks for Pentax to send the replacement. Today, it faintly arrived, almost exactly six months from the day I first sent the old lens in for repair. But I’m very appreciative of the help from Ricoh and CRIS, and I can’t really fault Pentax. They replaced a lens that had been damaged with a new one. Although I would think they should have been able to repair the old one satisfactorily. Seems the 16-50 is not only hard to assemble at the factory, it’s tough to repair as well. Tested the new one and set the fine focus adjustment. I'm now good to go. So I shot a clock. Like many other clocks it’s inscribed “Tempus Fugit.” Fugettaboutit.
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