[K David]

Recently a camera technician (certified by Reddit) opened an Ask Me Anything thread about camera repair. A lot of it is about Canon and Nikon, but there are some really interesting questions and answers.

I am a camera and lens repair technician, AMA. : photography

[j2photos]

Interesting find, I did read down a bit where he said he doesnt work on Pentax stuff at all, its a shame.

[dansamy]

Yes, but some stuff would be universally applicable, regardless of camera brand.

[j2photos]

Yes, but some stuff would be universally applicable, regardless of camera brand.

Oh I know, but somewhere deep down I was hoping to see him write, "Pentax has the best build quality" or something else of that nature praising Pentax over Canikon

[EarlVonTapia]

Oh I know, but somewhere deep down I was hoping to see him write, "Pentax has the best build quality" or something else of that nature praising Pentax over Canikon

The camera repair tech didn't say it, but a few people chimed in to give a good word for Pentax.

I am fairly confident that Pentax are known for the highest durability, thanks to metal bodies, weathersealing etc

[FrankC]

In my high school and college years I worked at a camera shop. We took in cameras for repairs daily, and without any question, we took in fewer Pentax camera than any other major brand. Nikon and Canons came infrequently too, but much more so than Pentax simply due to the huge number of camera that are out there compared to Pentax. Many times when a camera was brought made by one of big three (P/C/N) it was damaged by the user from being dropped, or it had sand in it from being left on a beach towel, or it just needed a new battery. Very common scenario among those who needed batteries was that they had brand new batteries at a local drug store. Unfortunately, those were all too often dead in the box because the drug store just didn't sell very many of them, so they ended up buying a really old battery that had been sitting on the shelf for a year or two.

But, by far, without any question, the undisputed champion of cameras being repaired was held by Minolta. When I saw a C/N/P owner coming in the store, I usually just waiting at the counter with the battery for their camera. Many times it was just a battery on the older cameras (FE, FM2, AE-1, A1, ME Super, LX). However, if the customer was carrying a Minolta Maxxum, I would wait at the counter with a repair form at the ready. The problem with the Minolta Maxxum AF film bodies was that they had a mechanical interface between the body and lens which controlled the aperture. It was a flat ring with a flange that mated up with the flange at the back of the lens that was connected to the aperture. The flange in the body ahd to be stiff so when the lens was attached the aperture would open up as the lens was rotated onto the body. Problem was that the ring in the body was held together by four 1/32" cheap plastic pins which would snap. So the lens would be mounted on the body, but the aperture would be at f/22 instead of wide open resulting in a very dark view finder. This was such a chronic problem that I once actually had three customers in store: One turning in a Minolta for repairs, one picking up a repaired Minolta, and another buying a replacement body - All with the same problem. All with Minolta Maxxum bodies with plastic lens mounts. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that no one filed a class action law suit against Minolta.

[EarlVonTapia]

The problem with the Minolta Maxxum AF film bodies was that they had a mechanical interface between the body and lens which controlled the aperture. It was a flat ring with a flange that mated up with the flange at the back of the lens that was connected to the aperture. The flange in the body ahd to be stiff so when the lens was attached the aperture would open up as the lens was rotated onto the body. Problem was that the ring in the body was held together by four 1/32" cheap plastic pins which would snap. So the lens would be mounted on the body, but the aperture would be at f/22 instead of wide open resulting in a very dark view finder. This was such a chronic problem that I once actually had three customers in store: One turning in a Minolta for repairs, one picking up a repaired Minolta, and another buying a replacement body - All with the same problem. All with Minolta Maxxum bodies with plastic lens mounts. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that no one filed a class action law suit against Minolta.

Heh, that's troubling. I just got a Maxxum recently.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/14-general-talk/99051-your-latest-acquisi...ml#post2670788

Haven't tested it yet. We'll see . . .

[FrankC]

EarlVonTapia - Don't worry about your 7000 with its metal lens mount. The problem that I wrote about seemed to have been related to only those bodies with plastic lens mounts.