Originally posted by murrelet Entertaining read!
Speaking of technicians, There's a Pentax tech I'm using locally here at Advance Camera in Portland, Oregon. I haven't quite built up a relationship so don't know him by name. He's working on an ME Super I bought recently and overhauled my MX earlier this year. Nothing against Eric, but I figure I should keep this guy busy to keep a critical mass of technicians out there.
His name is Paul Gatineau, he's worked on at least a dozen Pentax film cameras I've have or had over the last 2 years (have sold a few off), he does great work. He just got done going through my "new" Black K2 and is giving my K-1 a long overdue cleaning. He worked with Eric, both were supervisors at the Pentax repair center in Chicago, so he really knows what he's doing. A great source of information, usually ask him questions about particular camera models - reliability, availability parts and costs, before I buy.
Link to web page for anyone interested:
Advance Camera Repair