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09-19-2016, 12:36 AM   #1
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Dead Pentax LX

Well, I was juggling several things while standing in my tile-floored kitchen when my LX slipped out of my hands and, SMACK! It hit the tile floor flat on its back. It was only a distance of maybe 30 inches, but it was enough. The impact shattered the plastic frame around the viewfinder. Not that big of a deal -- I found another viewfinder on eBay in better condition than the old one for cheap. But now, when I trip the shutter, the mirror flaps up and stays there. The shutter doesn't trip, though. If I fiddle with the shutter speeds for long enough, I can get the mirror to come back down.


If memory serves, the LX has two manual mechanical speeds: X-sync and B. But neither of these speeds work now. I got a ridiculously high quote for repairs from Eric,, I can buy another one for what he wants. If I have to, I'll see if my local pro camera repair place will take it on -- probably for less than half of what Eric charges.



But I want to give it a go first. I'm hoping it's something simple -- maybe some cog or lever got jarred out of position and can be popped back into place. I'll start by removing the bottom cover and looking around.


So anyway, just wondering if anyone here might know about about the inner workings of the LX and might have some pointers that I can follow.

09-19-2016, 03:15 AM   #2
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QuoteOriginally posted by cooltouch Quote
So anyway, just wondering if anyone here might know about about the inner workings of the LX and might have some pointers that I can follow.
put simply, complicated. weather sealed for starters.

best leave it to the pros.
09-19-2016, 04:21 AM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by cooltouch Quote
I got a ridiculously high quote for repairs from Eric,, I can buy another one for what he wants. If I have to, I'll see if my local pro camera repair place will take it on -- probably for less than half of what Eric charges.
It may not be Eric's fault. If I remember right, I think Pentax tweaked the LX throughout it's production run so there are some parts that may be specific to only one particular year. Sorry about your camera. Here's to hoping it's something simple.
09-19-2016, 10:45 AM   #4
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Mine was doing something very similar, Eric had done a bumper/seal repair last year so I sent it back to him and told me that the circuit board inside the camera was faulty. Of course these are no longer available from Ricoh. To make matters worse Pentax had used three different boards during the production run which aren't interchangeable, so just buying an old donor LX doesn't guarantee that you'll have a board that matches your camera. Apparently the only way to tell which board is in which camera is to open them up and check, I got lucky and had another one that matched.

Did you send it to Eric for the estimate? Usually he includes in the estimate what he is going to repair, for reference the bumpers and seals are about a $200+ repair.

09-19-2016, 12:31 PM - 1 Like   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by cooltouch Quote
ridiculously high quote for repairs from Eric,, I can buy another one for what he wants.
He'd probably have to buy another one for parts to fix it. The difference is, the one you get back from Eric will be in like-new condition; the one you buy on eBay will probably need some love and money put into it.
09-19-2016, 03:03 PM - 1 Like   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by cooltouch Quote
I got a ridiculously high quote for repairs from Eric,, I can buy another one for what he wants.

You can pay Eric to repair your camera and have one that will work for 20 years, barring accidents.
Or you can buy another LX and pay Eric to fix that one down the road - if he's still repairing them.

It's good to have options.

Chris
09-19-2016, 10:23 PM   #7
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Eric quoted my $300 -- if it were even repairable he wrote -- based on my description of what happened. I had a local pro camera repair service do a CLA on this camera a few months ago, which took care of the sticky mirror and a focusing error, for $80. These guys have been around forever. They're fast and they're good. Most all the local pros take their gear in to these folks for servicing. If it's something like a non-repairable circuit board, they'll let me know right away. But they probably won't be able to repair it, either. In which case, Eric becomes the only option.

09-24-2016, 01:58 AM   #8
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Buying and maintaining a Pentax LX is seldom a cheap proposition.
It's definitely not a camera for the fainthearted.

Chris
04-14-2021, 07:11 PM   #9
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Hi, cooltouch and friends: I'm having a similar issue with both mechanical shutter speeds of 1/2000 to 1/75 sec and electronic ones from 1/60 sec to 4 sec. Sequence is: mirror goes up, shutter fires (opens and closes), red indicator turns black, but mirror won't return. I have to open partially the shutter side is the front camera face and swing the lower extreme of two levers in the shutter side of the mirror to return the mirror down. I can open bottom and front covers, remove the self timer / dof / mlu mechanism module and the shutter trigger arm. Any suggestions on what to do next? Thanks in advance, guys.
04-15-2021, 06:11 PM   #10
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Hey j0nehpk, your problems sound somewhat different from mine, so I wouldn't know what to recommend.

I put my LX on the shelf after its fall, but I got it to where I could get it to fire just by working the film advance lever a couple of times and the mirror would drop. Sounds minor and mechanical. I still plan to have my local pro repair guys look at it, I've just had so much other stuff going on in the past couple years, I haven't gotten to get out with my cameras nearly as often as I would like. Hopefully that will change soon.
04-16-2021, 07:40 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by cooltouch Quote
Hey j0nehpk, your problems sound somewhat different from mine, so I wouldn't know what to recommend.

I put my LX on the shelf after its fall, but I got it to where I could get it to fire just by working the film advance lever a couple of times and the mirror would drop. Sounds minor and mechanical. I still plan to have my local pro repair guys look at it, I've just had so much other stuff going on in the past couple years, I haven't gotten to get out with my cameras nearly as often as I would like. Hopefully that will change soon.
Thanks fir your feedback, cool touch. I’ll try the winding method, but if you or anyone else hears about a diy fix related to my issue, let my know.
05-01-2021, 05:45 PM   #12
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Just to add to my above description, specifically what I do to get the shutter to trip is I rack the lever all the way to its end, then hit it again firmly a couple of times -- something about putting torque on it the last time or two that gets the shutter to trip. Which is what makes me think it's a mechanical issue having to do with the advance mechanism.
05-02-2021, 02:50 AM   #13
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LX are tough! I dropped mine back in the eighties with a heavy Tamron 28-135mm lens on it. The lens mount sheared on the camera. I managed to find an old-school camera repair shop here in Spain. It took 3 months to repair and although I don't remember the exact price, I remember thinking it was more than reasonable at the time. Today, I still have the LX and the Tamron and both work perfectly. So if you have it repaired professionally it's worth it as this camera will go on and on!
05-02-2021, 09:04 AM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by cooltouch Quote
If memory serves, the LX has two manual mechanical speeds: X-sync and B. But neither of these speeds work now.
QuoteOriginally posted by j0n4hpk Quote
Hi, cooltouch and friends: I'm having a similar issue with both mechanical shutter speeds of 1/2000 to 1/75 sec and electronic ones from 1/60 sec to 4 sec.
The LX all mechanical speeds are from X-sync to 1/2000.
05-03-2021, 02:33 AM - 1 Like   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by cooltouch Quote
. . . But I want to give it a go first. I'm hoping it's something simple -- maybe some cog or lever got jarred out of position and can be popped back into place. I'll start by removing the bottom cover and looking around.


So anyway, just wondering if anyone here might know about about the inner workings of the LX and might have some pointers that I can follow.
here is a pdf of the LX repair manual

http://www.pentax-manuals.com/manuals/service/lx_repair.pdf

good luck
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