SDMs DO Require Preventive Maintenance!

Owing to the prolonged infamous failure of the SDMs in various Pentax AF lens models, I only bought my first SDM lens, the DA*55 F1.4, back to 2015, which is a SDM-only lens in KAF3 mount (on screw-drive). After that, I bought also another SDM only lens the DA17-70 and then later a DA*60-250 F4 hybrid-SDM/screw-driven lens (which supports also in 2022.

Here is my proven experiences with those SDM lenses and my tip to prevent them from malfunction before it would be too late, as follows:

I observe that all those lenses did require regular use of the motors. If they were left un-use for a period of time, the AF motors would first become difficult to move. In that case, first of all they were moving rather slowly and with some clicks of odd sound coming out when moving, rather not smoothly. So, more exercise with the lenses could improve thing. After they had (been) moved smoothly, then it would work flawlessly for a couple of months again. This first happened with my DA*55 of which the first SDM  problem appeared after about one year of purchase of the lens. (I bought that lens from the Biccamera in Japan brand new.)

Same thing happened with my DA*60-250 but the symptom exhibited, which was even worse. This lens was bought from the Amazon.jp brand new and was manufactured in 2021 as shown in the document in box, which was supposed to be of the rumoured "newly designed" SDM, but which IMHO has actually been non-existent. Eventually, I needed to bring out my old screw-driven AF Pentax DSLR to turn and smooth out the operation of the SDM, which is rather hilarious indeed. After that, the SDM turnsed flawlessly, i.e. quick and smooth, but only after my prevent maintenance work carried out for about ten minute, and turnings of both the SDM and the screw-drive mechanics were required.

Another observation of mine is that the SDMs would slow down in cold weather when the temperature was cold. Hence, despite the "cold-proof" specification and feature of those AW SDM lenses, those lenses equipped with SDMs are in fact vulnerable to cold weather and to work properly under low temperatures unless they do enough "exercises" from day to day.

So, if you have those evil Pentax SDM lenses, do remember to mark your calendar and carry out periodical PMs before they are to die, which will be too late to save by then. My humble advice and true experience shared.

Why Pentax Has Failed at Mirrorless?

See what PetaPixel says about the failure of Pentax in the mirrorless market, despite the efforts paid in the past two decades.

By the way, for what PP has listed out for the 37 interchangeable lens digital cameras wich Pentax has ever produced, I have bought more than one-third of all the models as follows:

From 2003 to 2021: My Pentax APS-C bodies acquired: *ist D/DS/DL2, K-100D, K-m, K-x, K-r, K-5, KP and K-3III, total 10 out of the 29 models produced.

From 2011 to 2014: I bought the original Q and the Q7, hence 2 out of 4.

From 2016 to 2021: I got the K-1, but I don't think Pentax has really produced 2 full-frame bodies as the K-1 II actually is just a mild variant of the original K-1.

From 2010 to 2014: I purchased the 645D, 1 out of 2 for the medium format bodies.

So, I acquired a total of 14 Pentax models out of the 37 that they have produced.

Besides what PP has mentioned about the causes the failure, which I generally agree with, I think from the user's perspective and practical point of view, the K-01 and the Q series failed in two major ways, which are the lack of EVF and fast Wi-Fi support. I consider that these are basic essential features nowadays, especially for mirrorless cameras and for easy social media sharing on-the-go. All in all, the external LCD monitor is really rather difficult to view under bright light environment outdoor. Without an EVF, it is indifferent to shoot blindly and composition and shooting have become rather difficult with such handicapped mirrorless cameras.

The K-3 III Image Corner Blur Issue Strikes Again

Camera-gear YouTuber Kobie M-C tested the K-3 and K-3 III side by side and here is his report:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH2eQD6fpA0

And, his quick textual comment follows, quoted:

"Some interesting things occurred during the shooting for this test. It seems the K-3 Mark III sensor out resolves some lenses including the DA 50 1.8 which surprised me. It's a good lens, nice and sharp, but just not on the K-3 Mark III. I tried live view, electronic shutter, Focus fine adjustments from -10 to +10 and it was still soft. F/1.8, 2.8, 4 (when the lens is sharpest) and still the same result. This might be what some professional reviewers are experiencing when they mention soft images."

The below quick snapshot refers for easy reference:

(Click to Enlarge)

In fact, Kobie's finding is exactly the same as what I found last time with my new K-3 III when it was tested against my KP side by side.

As the increase in the total number of pixels of the K-3 III against the K-3 and KP is really marginal, I think there exists another factor to cause the decrease in resolution in image corners for images produced by the K-3 III, even for the same old lenses, which used to be optically good. 

I suspect the (different) design of the micro-lenses and (different) assumed incident angle of light should come into play. Indeed, the new 26MP Sony sensor was first used in the Fujifilm X-T4 which has a much short back focal distance. Later on, Ricoh got this sensor and put it into the K-3 III. However, the new sensor is not that highly compatible with many of the old glass in optical sense, especially at the image corners and edges, and that wide angle lenses suffer more than standard and tele ones.

I have verified this with the latest glass marketed by Pentax, in particular, like the D-FA* 16-50 PLM, which shows a much lesser problem for the aforesaid issue and phenomenon. 

Related Article:

When the Sensor Outresolves the Lens

The LA-KE1 Monster Adapter is now Put On Sale

The Chinese Taobao website has already had the Chinese made LA-KE1 adapter put on sale (click here for one of the product links).

B&H also accepts pre-orders for this product and I think it will be available in the US very soon.

However, it can be seen in the comment section of the above Taobao product link from the users who have already purchased the adapter about the various issues such as its power hungriness and overheating, not supporting quite some Pentax AF lenses including the film FA50/1.4 and the digital DA17-70 and DA*200, as well as some noticeable delay in AF with the FA Limited lenses (and the AF is not quite smooth, too) and etc.

I hope this adapter will be improved later for better performance and compatibility, by means of firmware update and/or hardware revision. Not until that I shall consider to buy one for playing and use of my existing Pentax glass with my Sony FF mirrorless body.

K-3 III Firmware V1.20

Latest new version of the firmware is available for download at the following official web page:

http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/support/digital/k-3-3.html

New version of the Image Transmitter 2 is supported, which could be downloaded here.

And, the bug for being unable to focus adjust when using the HD-DA tele-converter 1.4X is rectified.

Image Corner Blur Issue with K-3 III (Head-to-head Comparison with KP)

Have had my K-3 III for over one month now and tested it with my various DA/FA/DFA lenses (mostly primes) but there is a strange issue discovered.

It is all about the unexplainable corner (or simple off-centre) softness in the images taken with the K-3 III. To illustrate the problem, here we go with the sample set below, with a pair of images taken using my K-3 III and KP with the same lens (which is a HD-DA 40mm Limited), at almost the same time and with the same exposure parameters.

Let's see the 100% centre crops of the pair of images, which are perfect in focus. I captured also the EXIF data on screen for our easy reference (Click pictures to Enlarge):

Then, here are the left side of the images in 100% crops:

And then, here are the right side of the images in 100% crops:

This problem really drives me nuts. I really didn't expect the new flagship camera would produce much lower resolution at off-centre in images than its predecessor model of 2017. It's really much frustrating after all.

It seems that the new sensor of the K-3 III has some kinds of incompatibility with the existing Pentax lens lineup optically, which is a hardware issue but not a software one, I believe. Note that I had already turned off all the lens correction functions as well as the AA filter simulator to rule out the possibility of the issue is being caused by software or other factors.

Checking the DPR Claimed K-3 III "Shutter Shock" Issue

With DPR claiming that the "shutter shock" of their K-3 III under test was unavoidable by whatever means at low ISO speeds of 100 and 200 with a lower shutter speed, I have tried to resemble their test using the same ISO, time value, lens model and focal to verify the case. Here we go:

 

So, any shake and "shutter shock" that you can see? I don't, do you? :-D And, I took my shots handheld through the finder, without any tripod but with SR turned on.

K-3 III Has Eye AF, Firmware is Finalised

Two Chinese Pentax users posted at the Xitek Pentax Forum that they received an early production K-3 III which is confirmed to have the Eye AF function and the firmware has already been updated to V1.0 production version since 1st of March. One tester even posted the below viewfinder snapshot to illustrate the Eye AF does work, even with a flat displayed picture like this: 

It seems that the design is ready for the new body but yet Ricoh have faced difficulties for mass production so that they could not sell the new product, since they have not yet announced the revised launch date of the K-3 III.

Besides, two screen captures of the K-3III's Info screen and its AF options are also posted:

KP Discontinued

 http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/products/#digital-slr

Whilst the K-3 III hasn't arrived yet and there is no expected delivery date of any, the KP is now discontinued. What's Ricoh doing in the meantime? They really do not want to sell other APS-C DSLR bodies but only the dated and low-end plastic-built K-70, which also had the infamous aperture-blocked problem for long?  :-(

EISA Awards 2020-21 for Photo Gear

EISA has announced their awards this year for photographic equipment:

https://eisa.eu/awards/photography/

Without any surprise, there is no Pentax gear on the list. Just because there was only one new product of Pentax last year. And even worse, without any innovation, what achievement is expected? :-(

Pentax Aperture Block Problem Class Action Lawsuit

https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/electronics/pentax-camera-class-action-alleges-aperture-defect/

"A camera owner has filed a class action lawsuit against Ricoh USA Inc. over claims that the company’s line of Pentax camera products are defective in a way that causes them to produce useless, almost completely dark photographs."

Partial Workaround for Body Aperture Block Problem with Lens Aperture Ring

First, you need to enable this in the Custom Function:

 

Second, you need to set the aperture ring of your K-mount lens out of the A position, provided that your lens has it:



Now, your semi-dead Pentax camera will work in the Av and M modes with correct exposure, as long as a non-A aperture position is selected. The credit of this clever method belongs to Mr M R Padmaraju of the DPR Pentax forum, the thread of his original post can be found here.

DPR has Re-shot Studio Scene

https://www.dpreview.com/articles/1423988259/letter-from-the-reviews-editor-pentax-k-1-mark-ii-studio-scene-re-shoot

Conclusion remains unchanged.

K-1 II has Worse IQ than K-1 and is Not Recommended by DPR

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentax-k-1-ii-review/11

I am not surprised with the conclusion for what I have inspected and found with different Mark II samples these days.

New Fast Primes for K-1

Credit: http://i.imgur.com/m6XvbPd.jpg

Since K-1 was marketed last April, we wanted newly designed original fast Pentax prime lenses. But there is not even one Pentax fast prime ever announced nor marketed (of course). Does it sound like that Pentax (actually Ricoh) is no longer be able to design and produce new prime lenses by herself these days? :-(

When Will Ricoh Update the Image Sync!?

It's just a Piece of Shit! The Wi-Fi function of the K-1 is virtually useless with such rubbish App and software but yet the development of the App seems halted. So, what did Ricoh want?! :-(

K-1 White Dot Issue (on Longer Exposures)

http://photosofarkansas.com/2016/08/19/pentax-k1-white-dot-issue-on-longer-exposures-same-as-the-other-cameras-using-the-sony-36mp-chip/

One Year since the Pentax FF was Officially "Announced"

http://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/pentax-news/pentax-full-frame-officially-coming-cpplus-2015.html

Time flies, but Pentax is moving slowly.

Product Recall: Power Leakage Problem of the K-3 II

http://news.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/rim_info/2015/20150710_009081.html

K-3 Firmware V1.21

Contains fix for a major bug which was introduced last time.

http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/support/digital/k3_s.html