So after no less than 3 trips to Precision my "lucky" third K-3 has returned today and I have yet to find anything wrong with it. Hopefully the sealing is still good. I fully intend on finding out in the next thunderstorm we get.
I decided to send them my 12-24 finally at the same time after letting it collect dust for a couple of years. I had heard incorrectly that they couldn't be serviced, but I figured I would at least find out. Turns out they can service them, but not in America. The round trip to Japan was a month and a half and it came back looking like a brand new lens along with my K-3. I took some test shots and after a little focus adjustment it looks like the old 12-24 I once knew and loved. They left me with the gouged up hood from where it hit the pavement though lol. Think pentax wants me to buy a new lens hood? :) This experience has tempted me to send anything outside of warranty directly to Japan for service. It was $250 to rebuild the lens. Strangely I don't think they replaced the rear part of the lens so I guess my self repair on the stripped screw threads is holding pretty well. The K-3 from precision was another story. I sent them a K-3, a 20-40 and a 55-300, both of which were decentered. The 55-300 came back decentered even worse. I had no hopes that they would fix my 20-40 properly. I complained. Pentax sent me brand new lenses that were much better. The K-3 came back and the AF points in the viewfineder were completely in the wrong place. I sent it back. When it came back the camera was overexposing in daylight by about two stops. Something was miscalibrated. Back it went that day. It seems fine, but I haven't had any broad daylight to test it with. I would hope that they wouldn't let the same problem happen twice. Total repair time: 2 months. Not great at all. Not after all this time they have had to get their act together at precision. I did get two decent replacements for my lenses so I really have to thank Pentax for doing that for me. I have been told by some people that things are changing in that regard and that the service situation will be greatly improved. I really hope so. This is the kind of stuff that makes people ditch systems, especially working pros. Not having a 2nd body for a long time really cramped my style and forced me to swap lenses constantly which in the thick of things is the last thing you want to be pissing around with and missing shots. My k-7 is passable as a 2nd body in good light but that's about it. I wouldn't try to shoot an indoors event with it unless I had some pretty fast glass attached. Hoping for some sun this weekend. :) -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
