Originally posted by BigMackCam Fundamentally, I agree with you... but there are, I think, some points to consider:
- There are plenty of non- or partially-working cameras on the market that are claimed to be "fully working"
- External condition doesn't necessarily reflect internal condition (I've had two SLRs that looked great externally that had considerable component and PCB corrosion internally)
- Many older mechanical cameras - including those that are "fully working", and even collector-grade "mint / unused" examples - require some maintenance to make them "perfect", be it new light seals, mirror buffer foam, adjustment / re-lube / minor repairs
- Many folks don't have the skills and/or time to carry out maintenance
- Folks that don't have either the time or the skills don't have the time to
learn those skills
- Yes, you can send a camera to a service technician, but reputable / reliable sources are becoming less prevalent, and more expensive
- Some folks just want the pleasure and convenience of a shiny, new, fully sorted camera that will give years of service without the need for intervention
I love vintage gear, I'm a big believer in using what's already available, and it's certainly
possible to find bargains that require no work and will provide years of service - but this is by no means guaranteed (not to the same extent as buying a new, recently-manufactured camera off-the-shelf)... and it
can be a minefield for the inexperienced and uninformed buyer.
Hands up anyone here that's bought a used camera, lens or accessory that turned out to be faulty in some way?
As one of the dying breed of repairers ( mainly for myself and camera-dealer friends,so no outrageous charges!) of mainly mechanical cameras and lenses, despite having bought, collected and used hundreds of Pentax mechanical cameras for almost 50 years, I can honestly say that the number of 'repairs' I have had to do to these very reliable cameras has been minimal. In general, providing the blinds are still light-tight, the only attention needed is the occasional tweak to blind tension to cure shutter capping at 1/1000 and occasionally 1/500 speeds, or where a slight increase in the second blind tension is needed to ensure the blind completes its travel allowing the mirror to drop on completion of the cycle. Where the camera is a metered one, all that is usually required is cleaning of battery contacts, or sometimes where corrosion has set in, replacement of the wire from the battery compartment.( If the battery has leaked, occasionally it is difficult to remove the battery cover and that does need care to do it correctly without damage to the baseplate.) Even the need for lubricant has been minimal, and I cannot honestly recall a single instance where the slow speeds on ANY Pentax mechanical camera have ever needed attention, apart from the second blind not completing its travel as previously mentioned. I have never had to replace a deteriorated prism, accidental damage being an exception, of course, and even the light-traps in the back of the camera tend to deteriorate less than many other makes, the only potential issue being the foam that acts as a buffer to the mirror, easily replaced.
As I said, providing the blinds have not deteriorated ( only had to do that once to a Pentax, a model S where the rubberised backing had cracked through long exposure to sunlight/excessive heat), and the silvering on the mirror has not been cleaned excessively, you will not find a more reliable mechanical camera than any Pentax model from the first 'AP' pentaprism camera, through the Spotmatics , KX , KM, K1000 etc, until the LX. The only model I have ever found slightly fragile has been the MX, mainly caused by the cords for the shutter blinds occasionally falling off the pulleys, which can be fixed, but is a long task, and involves considerable dismantling, desoldering/soldering, and reassembly. I'm still puzzled why they used cords instead of the tried and tested tapes as used in the previous horizontal shutter cameras, but it was not a wise move! A word of warning regarding the MX in relation to those displaced cords.This seems to be when someone has- for whatever reason-excessively reduced/removed the tension in one or more shutter-blinds, which immediately causes the cord(s) to drop from the pulley(s)! If you do it with any camera fitted with taped blinds you will get away with it, but NOT with the MX. This does not affect any tension adjustment that might be needed because of capping because tension should never be reduced sufficiently to allow the blind cords to go slack.
I definitely agree that some sellers do look at their cameras through rose-tinted specs, but these tend to be more the collector looking to thin their collection of often rarely-'exercised' cameras rather than the professional camera dealer who always endeavours to keep a good reputation and usually uses a more realistic assement of what they are selling. The Pentax S I mentioned earlier was a good case in point, the seller being a collector, and a member of the PCCGB ( as I am ), who was outraged to be told his precious baby had see-through shutter blinds. He still insisted, despite seeing the evidence to the contrary, that the camera was fully working as he had described it, despite the less than light tight blinds! Sometimes you cannot remove that rosy glow from people's vision, but they certainly do not get repeat custom from me.
I agree that there is a certain degree of skill involved in camera maintenance, but with a decent set of screw-drivers and additional minimal tools, care and patience, it is not an onerous undertaking that soon becomes second-nature. There are a number of camera repair/maintenance manuals out there that help, Thomas Tomosy's books being a sound recommendation.
One final thought. If a mechanical camera is going to fail through a manufacturing fault, that will show up very soon after purchase. Given the age of most mechanical Pentaxes, that is no longer an issue, and their bulid-quality is such that wear has never been an issue in my experience, even on the most battered and hard-used cameras. It would be wonderful if modern DLSRs were as reliable, but that is never going to happen given their complexity and the inevitable deterioration over time of electronic components.