I bought a K20D kit back in June. It came with a cheap 18-55, and I added a DA* 200mm f/2.8 a month or two later.
Since I do most of my shooting in the woods, where a lot of branches and such can confuse the AF, I shoot almost all the time on MF, and have been pleased with the 200mm.
The shorter kit lens (f/4) does a surprisingly good job in strong sunlight with AF, but on MF it is clunky and unreliable.
My problem is the AF quit working about a month ago. It won't work with either lens, even the 200mm, which has internal focus, so the problem is in the camera body itself. With either lens, it will go from one end to the other, not focusing on anything.
I called Pentax, and they said I had to send it in to CO, but, despite the fact I don't trust them (they screwed me out of a rebate on some silly technicality), I really can't afford to be without this camera for very long. I've tried to get them to work with me on this, but it's about like dealing with the phone company.
If it wasn't for the clunkiness of the shorter lens, I would just chalk this up to experience and just use MF on everything, until I can afford to go back to Nikon, or try Canon or Sony. But to do that, I'll have to get a better short lens with a reliable manual focus, because I need a short lens to shoot fishing scenes and such in the tight quarters of a boat.
My question is: Have those of you who have the better short zoom or fixed Pentax lenses had any problems using them on MF? I presume the better lenses have a smother and more accurate manual focus ring, but I don't want to spend another bundle to get a good f/2.8 or f/1.4 to find out they won't work well on MF either. But if the MF is good, I can get by just fine or MF. I'm used to it.
I didn't expect much from the cheap kit lens in the first place and figured I would replace it with a good one later, but not this soon. And I didn't expect Pentax to be such policy-wogs. It's bad PR, especially when they are dealing with someone who's job it is to take pictures AND communicate.
I still haven't decided whether I will send the camera body back to them for repair. It's still under warranty, but, because of what they did on the rebate, I'm not only afraid they will keep it for a long time, I suspect they will find some excuse (in the fine print) to bill me for whatever repairs are necessary. I can't even get them to give me a time line on turn-around, so if any of you have had to send a camera back (under warranty), I would appreciate it if you would tell me how long they kept it, and if they honored their warranty?