Hey everyone! Just starting a new thread so we can figure out who's coming this Saturday.


Okay, the plan is we can meet up somewhere in Cubao (maybe Araneta Center or Farmers' Market so we can all head to Gilbert's place together. (I've included his address at the bottom.) Meeting time, preferable around ten-thirty so the places to wait are open (i.e. McDonald's, the mall, etc.) and so we're sure we don't catch Gilbert asleep. :P

For those interested in coming along, please PM me your mobile numbers so we can coordinate this properly.

Who's coming along? Myself and Joey, Jay, Vernal? Franz? I forget. Anyway, just PM me your number so we can coordinate.

-------------------------
Name - Gilbert Cruz
Address - 4850C Guadalcanal St., V. Mapa , Sta. Mesa near Unciano Hospital/College
Phone - 780-3905
Cell - 09192591326
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would love to go with you guys... but i've to attend to my daughter's school activity (halloween program/pot luck) this saturday morning... :(

How about after lunch, then?

i'm not sure what time it will exactly end...

@Mike...stick with your original plan. If you change that makes it more difficult for some lurkers planning to join. I am working around your time frame and text Joey if I show up or not.

Am picking up my Bronica ETR this Saturday. Not sure what time yet but I guess I'll run into you guys.

mike, 10:30 is okay na. vernal, hope you can make it.
joey

10:30 am it is. Where do you all want to meet? Cubao? For those coming from the south, we can take the MRT up to Farmer's Market or to Aurora and take the LRT together with the north group to Sta. Mesa.

Please don't forget to PM me your mobile numbers so I can confirm your attendance, and for us to know if we'll be waiting for you.

For those who didn't reply or PM me, we're meeting at Starbucks Araneta Coliseum at 10:30 am. Please try to PM me your numbers before then so I'll know to wait for you. I'll get my mail on my phone naman, so I'll SMS you to confirm I got it.

Don't forget to bring your lenses! See y'all tomorrow! :-)

Fun day, fun day. Now the waiting to see the quality of Gilbert's work.

Also, not a lot of good or interesting stuff at Hidalgo today. And man, have Pentax prices skyrocketed. Hindi na makatarungan. (Justice is no longer served.) :-(

yup yup.. my officemate bought his Takumars more or less 2k/lens.. I think 2k was the most expensive.. hahahah..now we saw a 135mm and was priced 6k.. no way.. that's 300% from its original price..


Anyway, it was nice meeting the masters.. hahahah.. Met sir Bong and sir Joey.. hahahaha :Grin: Thanks Mike!... hehehe.. Never thought them to be so canny.. No dull moments! ahahahah:D

Nice meeting you guys! Mike & Jay are cool...you can tell who is more madaldal* by the number of post (Mike=204/Jay=74) above considering they both signed up Sept.07

:Grin:

Hoping our lil gems will receive good TLC/CLA from Gilbert. :)

(*translation: who writes more :D)

At least Pentax has regained the respect that it deserves in Hidalgo, before when you ask for Pentax accesories everybody will tell you Pentax? "walang kwenta yan"(translation : vete! eso no tiene valor aqui hombre!)

Nice meeting you guys! Mike & Jay are cool...you can tell who is more madaldal* by the number of post (Mike=204/Jay=74) above considering they both signed up Sept.07

:Grin:

Hoping our lil gems will receive good TLC/CLA from Gilbert. :)

(*translation: who writes more :D)

@Bong: :D Okay, okay. Madaldal na ako. (trans: I'm shy - yeah right!)

I can't wait to see how Gilbert does as well. I'm so excited. I just can't hide it. :D

Update for Bong and Joey: I spoke to Gilbert yesterday. He just got back from the province late Sunday night. He said he would take a look at our lenses this week, and that I should expect feedback from him this week RE: viability and survival rates. :P I'll update again as soon as I get word. :)

thanks michael. i hope the 'being salvaged' tag on your signature changes for the better.

UPDATE: Gilbert got delayed with other things. He'll try to work on our lenses this weekend. He said to expect word on Sunday. :(

Hello, it's been a week since your last post. Any developments? UPDATE: Gilbert got delayed with other things. He'll try to work on our lenses this weekend. He said to expect word on Sunday. :(

Yeah, if Gilbert is taking this long to clean lenses, I'm thinking of bringing mine to Photoline na lang... they do a decent job and the wait is only 3 days...

I managed to follow up Gilbert and he's got 2 lenses done (I think there were 6: two each between Mike, Joey & myself...). Giving leeway for the fact he was out during the week of Nov 1...

One of my lenses is done and ready for pickup. The other one is a hopeless case, the leaky oil has eaten through the MC.

One of my lenses is done and ready for pickup. The other one is a hopeless case, the leaky oil has eaten through the MC.

sorry for the loss.

can gilbert fix the autofocus mechanism in pentax lenses? does anyone know of somebody who can? coz im looking at an af80-320 lens in hidalgo but the camera cannot control its af although i can always focus it manually.

thanks in advance!

can gilbert fix the autofocus mechanism in pentax lenses? does anyone know of somebody who can? coz im looking at an af80-320 lens in hidalgo but the camera cannot control its af although i can always focus it manually.

thanks in advance!

Oh that lens...:Shock: (black FA 80-320)

Yeah, I tested that too. Joey & I tried it with the K10D, *ist DS & the MZ5n...doesn't auto-focus (btw it also has beginnings of fungi infestation). That seems to be a quirk of that model (the AF dying), the silver edition--for some reason--is more durable (Joey has one). I thought of getting it but ... not.

Gilbert might be able to fix that although he may not have access to parts like the electronics (AF lenses have their own motherboard of sorts in them). Best really if you send it to Camerahaus or Sanly.

yup. thats the one. i was just playing with the idea of buying though i dont have immediate use for it. if i get it fixed in camerahausor sanly, how much do you think would that cost? hope its cheap lang.:)

yup. thats the one. i was just playing with the idea of buying though i dont have immediate use for it. if i get it fixed in camerahausor sanly, how much do you think would that cost? hope its cheap lang.:)

Sanly is not known to be cheap in repairs--the replacement parts could be expensive. I have this SMCP A 35-80/4-5.6 which came bundled with an old kit I picked (for P3k) and was infested with fungi; I brought it to Sanly and their solution was to replace the elements (they had parts!) then only to tell me that it would cost P3.7k just for the replacements (no service fee pa). Mas-mahal pa sa pag bili ko nun kit (translation: never mind).

They might also send it to Japan (like what they did to Fred Ileto's zoom).

Now I wished they had parts for my SMCP A 50/1.4 ... :Dum:

ALAN! DON'T BUY THAT BLACK 80-320 ZOOM IN HIDALGO. not a good buy. there's also a sigma 28-80 mm zoom IN THAT SAME STALL. DON'T GET IT. the sigma doesn't focus to infinity and kinalikot na iyon.

joey

I concur completely! There are serious IQ issues with them. The 80-320, for instance, will ensure you never have to use soft blur or gaussian blur in photoshop ever again!

That was the reason I didn't pick it up: Why spend money on a lens that gives imparts an IQ that can be achieved easily in PS?

One of my lenses is done and ready for pickup. The other one is a hopeless case, the leaky oil has eaten through the MC.

I'm really sorry to hear that Bong. My condolences. :(

Just spoke to Gilbert. The 50/1.7, he didn't push through with cleaning it all the way as the coating had already been eaten through. But he managed to remove some of the fogging at the rear element.

As for my Cosina macro... all he said was, cryptically, "punta ka nalang dito at tingnan mo nalang kung usable pa." (Just come here and see for yourself if it's still usable)

I shudder at the thought. It didn't exactly instill a whole lotta confidence, I must confess.

I'm picking up my lenses tomorrow afternoon. Text me for details.

Okay. Hope I can make it tomorrow!

I concur completely! There are serious IQ issues with them. The 80-320, for instance, will ensure you never have to use soft blur or gaussian blur in photoshop ever again!

That was the reason I didn't pick it up: Why spend money on a lens that gives imparts an IQ that can be achieved easily in PS?


thanks for the heads up! i would have haggled to get it at half price if you guys hadnt warned me. hehe :D.

You're welcome. :) Not every lens you find at Hidalgo is worth salvaging.. :)

Bong and I met up this morning and headed on over to Gilbert's to pick up our lenses.

The short of it: If not for the fact that it took as long as it did (effectively 2 weeks, discounting the undas we lost) there are no problems with the service. My F50/1.7, whose glue had gone white and started separating the plated comprising the rear element, was now spot-free.

The problem, though, was that there had apparently been a hairline crack in a middle element. Upon heating and cooling down, this hairline crack had spread to about three millimeters long. It's extremely thin, though, so it had absolutely no detrimental effect on IQ. In fact, unless you look through the lens at a light, you'd hardly be able to tell it was there. Gilbert suspects the lens have been dropped some time in its lifetime. Oh well. As long as the crack doesn't grow, I'm quite content in the fact that I no longer have a mere paperweight on my hands.

Secondly, there was the Cosina Macro. The coating of the rear element had been eaten through just a bit, but it was otherwise okay. Apparently in addition to the fungus, moisture had gotten into the barrel, and that was what caused the unusual streaking on the rear element. But all's well now.

I haven't taken any real test shots with the Cosina, other than a few snaps to see that the grayish haze was completely gone. The F50/1.7, though, hasn't left my body since. After three months of MFLM, it's a little refreshing to finally have AF in a prime - especially at the focal length I've already grown used to, and with low-light capabilities to boot!

All in all, 600 bucks for my repairs. :)

I'll try to post some pics of and with the newly CLA'd lenses by tomorrow.

.....


In other news, Bong's lenses were done fairly well. His K135/3.5 (Did I get that right?) was miraculously oil-free and the action was smooth and sharp. Bong'll probably chime in with his own report. :)

It's back! It's a SMC Pentax (K) 135/2.5

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2064/2052332447_cc0d12c2f4.jpg

The oil's gone and the aperture blades are snappy once again. Some photos taken with it later in the day at the widest opening:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2239/2052332415_b017cf5fe7.jpg

(the plane of focus is between "o" and "c")

another one...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2231/2052332421_424c9b3722.jpg

The other lens I earlier mentioned that 'died' is a Panagor zoom (M42) where the oil has permanently fogged the MC. It is actually pretty clean except that it results in a cloudy image. Gilbert is pretty meticulous, that could account for the long turnover. I'd recommend him if you were not in a hurry...I gave him two more lenses to work on.

@Bong: Dapat sinabay ko na yung 50/1.4! It just needs oil lang naman...(trans: When are you going back to meet with Gilbert?)

@ Bong and Michael, thanks for sharing, gentlemen! Does this mean you are on the way to finding a new master lens cleaner?

@Franz...not soon, the lenses I gave to Gilbert are not urgent so he can take his time with it.

@Bren...yep. Gilbert is the man...but like I said, only if you're not in a hurry. In the EB last night other names were thrown in as an alternative that may be worth following up. They may be important for rush jobs. Otherwise, I think I'd go for Gilbert. Beyond CLA, I think he gives the lenses TLC...

@Bren: You're welcome. I agree with Bong, he really does take good care of the lenses. Even the exteriors are well-cleaned. Inside, the barrels are pristine - not a fleck of dust or dirt to be found. For the job he does, it's worth the wait.

@Franz: I, too, need to get my M50/1.4 CLA'd. The grease is a bit dry and the focusing ring slips a bit. On top of that, there seems to be a stray eyelash floating around in it. :-s

I'm glad you liked Gilbert's job. (di ako napahiya sa pagrecommend :D)

@Mitz: Yeah, thanks so much for the suggestion! I was really floundering about on what to do with those lenses. :)