[DerekPDX]

Hi Everyone,

I am relatively new to film, and just bought my first SLR, a Pentax MX, off of Craigslist (only 40 bucks!). It seemed to be in pretty good shape, just needed to get the mirror foam replaced--it was falling out just by touching it--so I sent it away for a good ol' CLA. When I got it back it looked great, super clean, the meter was responsive, and the shutter seemed snappy at high speeds. I was stoked. Then I removed the lens and looked at it the mirror foam to see how it looked, and I was a bit surprised. It is completely flush with the metal surrounding it. It also feels firm, unlike the new light seal foam on the back of the film door. That is springy and soft. Is this normal? I thought the mirror foam was supposed to stick out a bit. As it is now, I don't know if the foam is really preventing the mirror from hitting the metal, which I would think is the whole point.

[digital029art]

I did mine and other models in the pasr. sometimes you get the softer foam, others have a denser foam, but they all stick out about 2mm from the mirror box. fyi.
on the MX it's in two pieces because of the focusing screen release tab.

[DerekPDX]

Thanks, Chris. I just took it down to my local camera shop and had the guy there take a look, apparently he was some head Pentax repair guy in their Colorado facility years ago, and he said they definitely didn't replace the foam. He did it for just 5 bucks, which saves me the hassle of having to ship it back out. Crisis averted!

[stevebrot]

Then I removed the lens and looked at it the mirror foam to see how it looked, and I was a bit surprised. It is completely flush with the metal surrounding it. It also feels firm, unlike the new light seal foam on the back of the film door. That is springy and soft. Is this normal?

Good to read that the crisis is averted. What you described is a camera with no foam! The shop that did the CLA should have done it as part of the service and you should not have had to pay any extra. Did a local Portland area shop do the CLA? If so, could you PM me a message indicating which shop?


Steve