The Lens Fiasco of '09

So I should most definitely be studying for my Nihongo final but I'm not. Haven't been all night. You'll know why I failed. So here is a tale, that I wish were just a tale and not being told from first hand experience. However, highsight is 20/20 and there are no time machines (Though Sheldon would argue that going back in time to fix something like this would merely eliminate the need to do and... oh dear... off track... um in any event the past is the past.

So I have a Pentax SLR (Two in fact, 1 is a model Sears put out years ago that my Daddy got my Mommy) and after hearing that you can use Pentax SLR lenses on a Pentax DSLR I was like hell yeah, well that and my Pentax (though most pro photogs hate them with a passion but can never really say way) has served me quite well. So after I, a beginner in DSLRs, read an amazing review from Pop Photo saying it was perfect for beginners and found out that there was an amazing deal on B&H Photo and Video on the set (with the kit lens was cheaper than without kind of deal) all with how good Pentax has been to me thus far in my photo career had me sold.

I want to start off by saying I love my Pentax K2000. It is not just a piece of equipment, it is a friend. To most that may sound weird as hell but as you work with a camera like this and you enjoy photography and constantly learning (are we ever really done learning?) you become very attached to your camera and even some lenses, yes, lenses. This is why tonight I was absolutely heartbroken at one point.

My Mom had also gotten quite a few lenses over the years (maybe Dad got 'em for her at the same time as the camera... not sure) A few smaller lenses and then my favorite, the zoom lens. So tonight I get the balls (or lose my mind, who knows) and try some of the lenses on my DSLR. Now all of these have been used with ease on both of my SLRs so I wasn't worried. It's all Pentax or made for Pentax. DUMBEST ASSUMPTION EVER! So I get to my dear old zoom lens put him on and go to click it into place and he clicked in an odd spot. So I'm like WTF? Then I try to take him back off to examine the issue and THE DAMN THING WON'T COME OFF!! So I'm freaking, wriggling it a bit, but also scared to break either of my lil buddies. So I search the interwebz and find nothing. I am pretty well dying at this point. Tears are streaming down my face and I'm wondering later how I even have the tears anymore as hard as I was crying. Also surprised I didn't wake up Cody with my sobbing.

So I search for a while, then fiddle with the camera, then set it down and search some more, fiddle, search. Then finally I really get to looking at one of the initial sites I found (hey I was not in the state of mind to be thinking rationally, I had just fucked over two of my friends- my DSLR and one of my fav lenses) and then I really start freaking when I see this guy's solution:

http://erdener.org/pentaxlensremoval/

I was horrified. NO I CAN'T DO THAT TO MY BABY! I kept screaming in my head while bawling some more, mumbling incoherently. Then I realize the site I gotten this site from had a better solution, though it was still very scary and I wasn't sure I could accomplish it before I had to shoot my next hockey game.

http://moyworld.com/StuckLens/Stuck_Pentax_Lens.html

So I'm still crying, telling myself how horrible of a photographer I am and how I don't even deserve to own my camera or any of my equipment when I finally calm down enough (or rather I think my tear ducts finally went on strike and said "screw you drama queen, we're outta here") to read thoroughly and still think it's a lot of work. But wait. He got the first idea with the little feeder gauges from a different site.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=19214685

Honestly, I could kiss this man. I want his address in order to send a thank you card, maybe with some cookies. Hell, maybe I'll send a hot stripper to his door with cookies and thank you card in hand! So then my next mission was finding something small enough to get between the AF and pesky pin on the lens when it hits me. The cheap-ass palette knifes I got with my paintbrush holder. So I figure out where the AF pin is (like the second guy, I marked it with a silver sharpie and that mark will stay there, a kind of badge of honor for my little camera buddy for having survived my stupidity) and work to get it in between the two and about 5 minutes later I think I have it. I carefully reach around (Heh, reach-around) and turn the lens and....
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OFF HE COMES!!! I literally danced around the room with lens in hand. No really, I kid you not. The furkids were scared to death at my sudden change in mood. So the moral of the story kids? Only Pentax brand lenses should be trusted and while those made for Pentax will likely work, research to make sure. Oh and the funny part? The last site where I found the solution? That is EXACT SAME ZOOM LENS!! O.O Which makes me feel better to know that I am not the first to have this problem and that luckily, enough people have screwed up that by the time I came along there were several solutions to try and even more luckily, the least destructive worked.

So that my dear friends, is the story of The Lens Fiasco of '09. Please take care of your little camera friends and face-snuggle them extra close tonight. Also, with that I am off to remove the pesky little pin from my lens so we don't have another Lens Fiasco of '09 or of '10 as well as come up with a name for my camera. I think I owe her that much after all that we've been through. Enjoy your night and I hope you got a laugh or two at my expense, I know I did.