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Zack
Tinkerer
Username: Zack
Post Number: 5
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 09, 2007 - 12:54 pm: | 
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So I finally went and bought my dream body. A Pentax LX. KEH had some great deals on BGN rated bodies and a great return policy, so I ended up grabbing one. It arrived in cosmetically great shape. Sadly it did exhibit the "sticky mirror" problem. Infinity focus was off as well; I assume this is because the pads are now just sticky goo and don't hold the mirror in the right spot anymore.
I had figured in the cost of a CLA at my local camera shop before even getting the LX, so after running a roll through it, I took it down to LeZot Camera. I told them everything I knew about the sticky mirror issue and left it with them. They got back to me after about a week. The only thing they found wrong was and i quote "a worn part, a piston that lifts the mirror had become sluggish, but was only slow if i fired the shutter after the camera had been resting for a while". This just didn't sound right to me. The body had exhibited every symptom I knew of the sticky mirror problem.
They offered to correct the mis-aligned mirror and fix my infinity focus for $100, but they're not doing anything about the hesitating mirror. Now I'm faced with the dilemma of whether or not I leave my LX with them, or try and fix this sticky problem myself. I have a lot of faith in this shop. They've cut me some great deals in the past, but I'm really not sure on this one. I guess my real question is: is there really a piston in the LX that could be causing the mirror to hesitate? Should I just trust them with my LX? |
Dgillette4
Tinkerer
Username: Dgillette4
Post Number: 50
Registered: 04-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 10, 2007 - 08:34 am: |
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Hi Zack: how long have you had it? KEH will usually refund or exchange, I can't say aabout the piston but does it haave a foam where the mirror would hit that could be sticky? Don |
Zack
Tinkerer
Username: Zack
Post Number: 6
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 10, 2007 - 08:44 am: |
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Just about two weeks. I don't think it warrants a return. I'm totally confident I can fix the sticking mirror myself, it's just aligning the mirror that's tricky.
As well as a mirror damping pad at the top of the mirror box, the LX also has two pads on the sides of the box that the mirror rests on. They're there to reduce noise/vibration when the mirror comes back down. It's the foam on these that has become sticky. I can actually see that it's turned to goo with my eyes.
Right now I'm toying with the idea of just replacing the foam myself(since the shop refuses to acknowledge it) and then giving it back to them to re-align the mirror. |
Rick_oleson
Tinkerer
Username: Rick_oleson
Post Number: 299
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 10, 2007 - 10:39 am: |
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I can understand the "I think I can fix this" feeling when you have the camera already and your choice is to fix it, pay too much to have it fixed, or lose it.
I cannot for the life of me understand it when it involves refusing to take advantage of a guarantee. This is the second time recently that I've heard someone say they were going to let KEH's warranty lapse on a camera that wasn't working properly because it wasn't really THAT bad (though it was unacceptable), and they thought that either they could fix it or maybe it would just get better all by itself.
Back to your question, I haven't worked on an LX but as I recall there was an air piston damper in the mirror mechanism, like the one in the Pentax MX and the Olympus OM1. If this was dirty or damaged it could cause sluggishness in the mirror operation, though I don't recall ever encountering that problem in an OM. |
Donnie_strickland
Tinkerer
Username: Donnie_strickland
Post Number: 25
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 10, 2007 - 06:26 pm: |
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What Don and Rick said. Just send it back! KEH will make it good. |
Will_inoue
Tinkerer
Username: Will_inoue
Post Number: 7
Registered: 06-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 11, 2007 - 08:26 pm: |
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At KEH isn't a BGN camera from the As-Is section - meaning no warranty or guarantee? BTW, I do love that section of the store - I have got some good deals there. -Will |
Donnie_strickland
Tinkerer
Username: Donnie_strickland
Post Number: 26
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 04:26 am: |
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In my experience with KEH, the "as-is" section is just that: no guarantee. But "bargain" doesn't automatically mean "as-is". |
Zack
Tinkerer
Username: Zack
Post Number: 7
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 07:13 am: |
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From how I interpret their website, As-Is and BGN are separate categories. It looks like all the items listed As-Is are non-functional in some way. My LX works; I've already run a roll through itt. It just has infinity focus and sluggish mirror issues. I'll probably contact them shortly. |
Docman
Tinkerer
Username: Docman
Post Number: 10
Registered: 03-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 11:26 am: |
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no, it's not a piston that's causing the sluggish mirror issues.
have a look:
http://www.fotomozaic.ro/artikel.php?s=1&categ=0&idstory=51 |
