| Latest Review Posted | Pentax MX
When it rains it pours.
I have been on the hunt for an MX for over a year now. Each time I found one I was either too slow contacting the seller or I baulked at the high prices. Like the K1000, prices of MXs have skyrocketed here in Australia with sellers asking many hundreds of dollars for decent working examples with a 50mm lens attached.
Fast forward to this past month and I now have three MX bodies. The price listed above is the average of all three, two of which also came with lenses (a SMC Pentax 50 f2 and a SMC Pentax 55 f1.8).
My main focus of this review is to tell you that these cameras seem very easy to work on. If you have opened a lens before to clean fungus from elements you can definitely do simple repairs of these generally reliable cameras. The second MX body I purchased had the mirror in the up position and extremely slow shutter curtains. The third body I purchased refused to wind on. In both cases it was the 'slow shutter speed mechanism' that was to blame. I am lead to believe that this set of springs, cogs and levers controls speeds from bulb through to 1/60sec. In each case the mechanism was dirty and full of grime. The whole assembly can be taken out in one piece, given a good clean and then put straight back. This requires the removal of just two screws. So, if you fancy doing a little tinkering, don't discount Pentax MX bodies that have stuck mirrors, stuck film advance levers and slow curtains. It is very possible that the fix is an easy one. Y... |
