I'm not a full-time pro either. I'm a full-time writer, primarily a journalist, and that affords me a lot of opportunity for professional photography, so my equipment expenses are business expenses and well covered by photography revenue. But there were times when I worked as an advertising writer when I was strictly a hobbyist. I still had photography maintenance expenses, but I always counted them as part of the cost of the hobby. LIke you, I sometimes delayed repairs until cash flow was right. Spending money isn't fun, but it goes with the territory. Photography is an expensive hobby.
Paul On Aug 22, 2013, at 10:28 AM, Bruce Walker <[email protected]> wrote: > Sadly this doesn't leave us "advanced amateurs" in a happy place. I > don't shoot as much as a fulltime pro, I don't have the cashflow of a > pro either, but unfortunately I have a pro's taste in gear. I have few > lenses, but what I've selected is Pentax' fastest current glass and > those are mostly SDM (except for a Ltd macro). > > So I don't always have the dough to fix blown SDM motors. I'm just > waiting for the right moment (and mindset) to get my twice-kaput > 50-135/2.8 repaired again. (Meanwhile my MF skillz are improving.) > > However, I've done my homework and I know I'll not do better > elsewhere, so I've made no plans to do a wholesale brand switch. > Pentax, for all its faults, is still at the intersection of > performance, function and budget for me. > > > On Thu, Aug 22, 2013 at 9:56 AM, Paul Stenquist <[email protected]> > wrote: >> I expect to spend a certain amount on maintenance of my equipment. I don't >> know any pro shooters who don't -- whether they shoot Canon, Nikon or >> something else. I think my equipment expenses have been reasonable, with the >> possible exception of flash unit failures. But I think flashes in general >> are more failure prone. >> >> Paul >> On Aug 22, 2013, at 9:48 AM, Boris Liberman <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I'm with you, Paul, on this one. Pentax did not do as noble by not >>> admitting the problem, but it stands to reason that the technology was >>> being improved following consumer reports. I cannot tell from first >>> hand experience, but I wouldn't be surprised if nowadays all these >>> issues are hammered out and Pentax is merely suffering from bad >>> reputation that SDM technology managed to acquire. >>> >>> On Thu, Aug 22, 2013 at 4:41 PM, Paul Stenquist <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>>> >>>> On Aug 22, 2013, at 9:06 AM, Zos Xavius <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Does the tokina variations of these lenses have SDM like the 50-135? >>>>> If it were me I would just use the screw drive. SDM sucks anyways. I'd >>>>> be thankful pentax put in a screw drive for backwards compatibility, I >>>>> imagine they will get away from SDM entirely with new lenses. >>>> >>>> Pentax will not abandon SDM.. In lens focusing motors have become the >>>> industry standard. SDM is faster, more accurate and much quieter than >>>> screw drive. Pentax's initial attempt wasn't a perfect one. The motor >>>> could have been better. But I'm a heavy user who can't always take as good >>>> care of my equipment as I might wish, and I've had only one SDM motor >>>> failure on my three DA* lenses after at least 70,000 frames. >>>> >>>> Paul >>>>> >>>>> On Thu, Aug 22, 2013 at 7:42 AM, SV Hovland <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>> I have tested this on my own K-7 and DA*16-50. I wanted to find out if >>>>>> this is a good solution for me and I did the test before the warranty >>>>>> went out. I found it to be perfectly good. It focuses just as fast as >>>>>> SDM, but with more noise of course. So I decided to not send my lens in >>>>>> and complain about slow SDM after all. I could wait to complete break >>>>>> down and continue with the "old" focusing instead. >>>>>> >>>>>> Regards >>>>>> Stig Vidar Hovland >>>>>> >>>>>> ________________________________________ >>>>>> Fra: PDML [[email protected]] på vegne av Boris Liberman >>>>>> [[email protected]] >>>>>> Sendt: 22. august 2013 09:09 >>>>>> Til: Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>>>>> Emne: Re: Giving up on Pentax (probably) >>>>>> >>>>>> Well, it was easier than I thought. >>>>>> >>>>>> Here is the link: >>>>>> >>>>>> http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/208353-how-deactivate-sdm-silent-autofocus-allow-screw-drive-autofocus-da-16-50mm-f-2-8-a.html >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Thu, Aug 22, 2013 at 9:49 AM, Chris Mitchell >>>>>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>>> Hi all >>>>>>> >>>>>>> The last straw has been that my DA* 16-50 has stopped auto-focussing >>>>>>> again. The internal motor was replaced a couple of years ago (so out >>>>>>> of warranty) and now it looks like there's another couple of hundred >>>>>>> quid to be spent on it. And yes, I've cleaned all of the contacts and >>>>>>> yes, my DA* 50-135 works OK on my only remaining K-7 body. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> So the decision's nearly made to sell off the K-7, DA* 16-50 (either >>>>>>> repaired or as is), DA* 50-135, a lovely F*300 4.5 (the one with the >>>>>>> tripod mount), an FA-135 2.8 (probably my favourite lens ever) and an >>>>>>> FA-50 1.7. I'll put the proceeds towards a backup Fuji X body and get >>>>>>> the excellent 55 - 200 zoom to cover the long end of the range and to >>>>>>> sit alongside my growing collection of Fuji X primes. I'll keep a >>>>>>> number of MF lenses so may still be able to appear in the PDML >>>>>>> annual... >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Any guidance on how to price? Or if anyone's interested in making me >>>>>>> any sensible offers, contact me off list and I'll get more details and >>>>>>> photos arranged and we can sort out logistics. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Yours sadly, Chris >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>>>>>> [email protected] >>>>>>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>>>>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >>>>>>> follow the directions. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> Boris >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>>>>> [email protected] >>>>>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>>>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >>>>>> follow the directions. >>>>>> -- >>>>>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>>>>> [email protected] >>>>>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>>>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >>>>>> follow the directions. >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>>>> [email protected] >>>>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >>>>> follow the directions. >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>>> [email protected] >>>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >>>> follow the directions. >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Boris >>> >>> -- >>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>> [email protected] >>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >>> follow the directions. >> >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> [email protected] >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >> follow the directions. > > > > -- > -bmw > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
