My E-Bay LX - Incredible - Page 2

Wheatfield · 07-08-2008, 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by felix68

Last week, I took a chance on a minimal listing for a Pentax LX and FA-1 finder that was listed with this discription:

What should I do with this beauty?

Personally, I think you should use the thing.
There are parts in the LX that deteriorate if the camera sits idle for too long, and can cause the camera to stop working reliably. If you don't use it, then at some point it will no longer work, and may well be unrepairable, depending on what failed due to neglect.
And that, my well intentioned friend, would be an even worse fate than having a few beauty marks on a working camera, as the people who made the thing would have wasted their time.
Cameras should be used, especially cameras like the LX.

*frank* · 07-08-2008, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by felix68

I can't bring myself to take the protective plastic sheet off of the film platten and load a roll of film.
What should I do with this beauty?

Hmm, I don't mind taking it off your hand, for double the price that you paid, plus double the shipping cost you paid so you'd be able to send it to me here in Singapore. Deal?

*falconeye* · 07-09-2008, 05:33 AM

Originally Posted by felix68

What should I do with this beauty?

A clean good LX is worth $400-500.

A NIB in good working condition (make a few releases w/o film to see if shutter and mirror are working) should be at least twice this, say 1000$. Put the body cap but no lens. As I think putting a lens will leave marks.

Then offer it for sale NIB for $1000. In various forums (here and collectors forums). If nobody is buying, you will be able to use it w/o remorse

MRRiley · 07-09-2008, 06:00 AM

An unused LX is like an undriven Ferrari.... A WASTE OF POTENTIAL!

The LX was meant to be used hard, not kept in an airtight hermetically sealed museum. There are already enough of these fine cameras gathering dust.

USE IT!

on the "collector" angle... As a NIB it is very very unlikely that it is an OLD LX (1980s) and is thus less attractive to many collectors. Even if it's a mid 1990s-2001 model its certainly worth more than you paid for it, but its not worth tons more.

woof · 07-09-2008, 07:11 AM

Originally Posted by MRRiley

An unused LX is like an undriven Ferrari.... A WASTE OF POTENTIAL!

Yes! My humble perspective...

I made a decision a long while back that it is OK if I collect, but it is NOT OK if I do not use what I collect. That simply brings no joy to anyone.

I have a 1957 Asahi AP in condition 9. Less than 20,000 units ever made. This one broke in 1960, and was never used after that. It is so "new" that it still needs to be fully broken in. I repaired it and it is now my vintage daily driver. Seriously. And I LOVE that camera. It is as prosaic as it gets, and there is no hiding. Either YOU did something right or YOU didn't. Forget complaining about what the camera did.

I also have a 1958 Asahi "S." Condition 9+ Very rare at less than 5,000 units ever made. I got it for $150.00. Dumb luck. I've run about 12 rolls through it this year alone.

I like the concept of "treat it like it's the only one you will ever own." That fits perfectly with where I am with this. When I take a camera into the collection, it is with a commitment. The commitment is that I will always keep it in good repair, and that I will always use it. More than one person has alluded to the fact here that the former is largely dependent upon the latter, and I can tell you that that is absolutely true. I've sold some cameras recently because I was not using them.

Your camera is beautiful... but it's beauty derives in greatest part from its function. If we did not know and appreciate what it can do, and had no concept of what a camera is and does, there is nothing about it that is inherently beautiful. Actually, quite to the contrary, it is an odd looking contraption.

It's a camera. Use it. If you cannot bear to deflower it, then sell it to someone for more than you paid and leverage the profit to get a decent user with more in the way of accessories and or lenses. Nothing wrong with that.

woof!

cupic · 07-09-2008, 07:46 AM

You have got yourself a beauty.Now that you've admire it use it with good health

cheers

*straightshooter* · 07-09-2008, 09:08 AM

Set it on a shelf for a couple of days, look at it, drool over it and pat yourself on the back for getting a GREAT deal. Take 2 aspirin for the pain in your shoulder where you hurt it patting yourself on the back, load the darn thing with Tri-X or Ultracolor or whatever you prefer and go shoot some pics. Like everyone else said, this is a precision tool and it deserves to be used.

CW

*felix68* · 07-09-2008, 11:33 AM

Well, it seems that the consensus is to load it up with film and shoot with it and I have been considering this very much. I do appreciate all of the input and I also agree that a camera is a tool to be used. With all of that in mind, I think that I would enjoy a FA31 on my PZ-1p and K100D more. That is really what I have been saving up for anyway, and the reason that I am searching the bay.
I am not one to regret selling something off, especially when I have shot with the ME Super and PZ-1p and prefer the PZ vastly over the ME. I know that the ME is a poor comparison to the LX but it is a lot closer than the PZ, function wise. Plus, fast glass is forever.

Again, I really appreciate everyone's perspective and if it was 1990 and I had just purchased this in a shop, I would certainly have ripped the box open, thrown the packaging away and started shooting.

edl · 07-09-2008, 11:41 AM

Originally Posted by Peter Zack

Last argument. (Pardon me to the female members but the reverse would also apply). So if you were 'given' an unlimited relationship with Julia Roberts or Angilina Jolie (pick your own favourite). Would you pass her on to another suitor or ....

Do I have to pick one? Can I have both?

My 0.02 on this topic - I'd use it. If I got bored (not likely), I'd imagine a lightly used LX with original packaging could still fetch $500+. So you'll turn a profit on it in any event. Most likely, your use will confirm that it's operating well, which should be a concern for the next owner.

Boucicaut · 07-09-2008, 12:07 PM

Wow, talk about luck... congrats!

pentaxkat · 07-09-2008, 08:18 PM

Phone up KEH for a quote on how much they would take it off your hands for (then add a mark-up for "market value"). Consider how much profit you would make and whether you could buy an older LX and new lens with the profit.

If profit is not much I would do the following.

1) Keep the camera
2) Drool over its beauty for a day. Read the instruction manuals and generally lust over its "newness" (I've only ever bought 1 camera item new; the 35mm macro, and I did just this).
3) Take it out and take lots of photos. Use it and abuse it. Do not treat it like a precious, the LX was made to be abused. It has seals and is built like a tank. My Super A got wet, scratched and I loved every minute of it; each trip it got new damage (I dropped it, used the wrong strap on it so scarred it horribly, you name it really; hiking, cameras and the student lifestyle were not kind to it) and that gave it character.
4) Document its progress from "shiny new" to "much loved".
5) Don't be so hard on it you break it completely though; parts are getting rare!
6) Treat it to some nice old lenses.

God I want an LX so bad and I can't even develop film easily at the moment and even sold my precious super A (I pretty much live out of 2 suitcases so keep having to sell less used stuff). I miss it so much; my DS just can't develop the same kind of crazy brass scratches (I have had the DS roll across some rocks with the 21mm limited though; a mere tiny scratch in the lens hood is the only damage).

I keep thinking about an LX and long night exposures and that amazing camera meter that DSLRs just can't match. With some lovely provia film. Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

jgredline · 07-09-2008, 10:00 PM

I'm with Tom. Use the thing and floss it....Show it off...What is there to think about....

*felix68* · 07-09-2008, 10:03 PM

Originally Posted by jgredline

I'm with Tom. Use the thing and floss it....Show it off...What is there to think about....

Nothing but the FA31 that I could have instead.

*Blue* · 07-10-2008, 07:55 AM

Do you know when your LX was built? Have you checked the serial number etc.?
The reason I ask is Pentax built the LX into the 90s and that isn't even counting the Millenium (2000 y2k) version. There's a good chance this camera is about 12 years.

vizjerei · 07-10-2008, 08:07 AM

haha buy another one and keep this one in collection box XD