Since my first DSLR back in late 2004 and my joining this forum i have constantly been amazed by Pentaxes quick response to problems with new gear ... quite often i would see a fix happen with relatively few people on this forum complaining about it and without seeing the same problem myself.
Firmware updates came through with fixes for things that hadn't even been talked about in the forum.
Actually this happened with v1.02 on the K7. They fixed a problem with the grip that nobody (apart from me) seemed to mention.
There was quite often stories about fixes done after the warranty period was up which gave me a warm feeling and much confidence about buying new Pentax gear.
Its mostly about perception. However, Pentax have now outsourced this operation so dont expect an independent company to operate at zero profit.
Lately though ... They seem to be ignoring any small problems that come up and the problems that do happen seem to get blown out to be even bigger.
When a BIG problem such as the SDM issues comes up [and there is no denying it is a big problem] their refusal to acknowledge its existance allows it to become a HUGE problem.
I strongly suspect they need to assess the extent and nature of the problem first. However I do believe that they can afford to offer a 5 year warranty in the meantime to divert criticism. I suspect they have already changed the source of motors for later lenses to reduce the incidence of early faults but may well NOT have been aware of the tendency to fail in the longer term. This may have more complex causes.
Whether anyone likes it or not, it will take a while to decide on an effective fix and a strategy for dealing with existing lenses. They are only barely profitable right now so dont expect massive handouts.
the SDM issue has left the pentax specific forums and become widely known over the dozen or more photo forums i visit and even into non photo related forums that i visit.
[and before you ask, i only talk about Pentax problems here and "over there"]
I quite often see threads about "what new camera to get?" and see an increase number of responses saying "I wouldn't get the Pentax, not with the problems they are having!"
In all good concience i can not recommend Pentax any longer to these newbies... i just say nothing.
Knowing the issues EVERYONE is having now, I am just honest. I say buy a Pentax but take out an extended warranty of you get any SDM lenses. Most people just buy a Kx and kit lens, and they should be just fine.
If it is Hoya's influence to "deny everything" and "don't fix anything" then they have done the more harm to Pentax's reputation than anything ever done in the past. Shame Shame Shame!
They have denied nothing, they have just not admitted anything....yet. If they do, then I suspect it will be like Canon and the 1Dmk3 - they will wait until they have a solution and a strategy worked out which is fully costed. In Canon's case this took nearly a year. In Nikons case I dont think they EVER admitted their first SWM lenses had a problem and Canon is pretty quiet about some of its problem lenses.
[just my opinion of course]
Its a perfectly reasonable opinion as far as it goes, I dont think anyone disagrees they need to act, but this does not justify any of the invective aimed at fellow forum members or Pentax employees by a minority of "campaigners".
Nor does it change the fact that Pentax's demise would serve nobody's interest.
And if I really thought there was a serious issue I would switch brands, but all I see is the same people repeating the same thing over and over again. We still have no idea what the failure rate is - only that its affected a lot of early adopters.
If I suffer from an SDM problem, I will get if fixed. It wont be the first lens issue I have had, and it wont be the last I am sure. Its just life, not life and death.
Hopefully Pentax will come up with something that will restore confidence in the brand, even if they cannot provide an immediate technical solution, because the cat is out of the bag anyway (even if the cat turns out to be more of a kitten than a lion).
However they have taken massive headcount reductions and I suspect this will have a bearing on the time it takes to solve this problem.
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