some horrible luck here

irishwhite · 09-04-2010, 09:41 AM

So a while back I got an SF-1 and P30 for $15. Get a battery for the SF-1 and hit the shutter....well, mirror locks up. bummer....but not so horrible because the P30 works wonderfully and everything was all of $15.

Yesterday I received a beautiful PZ-1 and equally flawless looking Pentax FIF-330 FTZ flash which I got for just under $90 after shipping. I mean, these things look absolutely brand new. Both with their cases/pouches without a single sign of wear. Pop out the batter I used for the SF-1 and throw it into the PZ-1, first firing of the shutter..and again the damn mirror locks up. DAMN!!!

well about a week ago I bought a zx-5 and zx-30 with sigma 28-80mm and sigma 70-300mm lenses for $50 off of craigslist. didn't care much for the bodies, but I also recently got a grip for a ZX-7 I have on the way and realized it would fit into the zx-5/zx-30 as well. Pop the grip into the zx-30 and you can guess what happened after the the very first shutter firing. The mirror locked up, of course!

By this point i was a bit scared to try the zx-5, but through the grip on it and it fired with no problems. Of course it's the body i don't even care about.

So i've got the zx-7 and an sf-10 on the way sometime next week. Let's hope my luck changes for the better.

Last edited by irishwhite; 09-04-2010 at 10:00 AM.

titrisol · 09-04-2010, 11:15 AM

I had heard of these problem in the MZ/ZX series, a bad gear that breaks
Never heard them on the PZ-1 .. could you check to see if the mirror foam has turned to goo and is keeping the mirror stuck ni the UP position?

irishwhite · 09-04-2010, 03:34 PM

Originally posted by titrisol

I had heard of these problem in the MZ/ZX series, a bad gear that breaks
Never heard them on the PZ-1 .. could you check to see if the mirror foam has turned to goo and is keeping the mirror stuck ni the UP position?

Yeah, that was the first thing I checked. I'm telling you, the camera really is in pristine condition. Well, outside of the mirror issues of course.

Also, the mirror is difficult to pull back down. My SF-1's mirror pulls back down effortlessly. Maybe it's just a different type of gear mechanism.

Anyone know if the motor drive for the pz-1 and the zx-5 are interchangable? if so, maybe i'll try my luck and switching one with the other. Although I doubt it's that simple and i'm not so confident in my abilities to exchange one for the other. I emailed Eric about the cost for getting it fixed...he says it'll be a total of $145.00 :-(

09-04-2010, 09:41 AM	#1
irishwhite Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: philadelphia Photos: Gallery Posts: 349	some horrible luck here So a while back I got an SF-1 and P30 for $15. Get a battery for the SF-1 and hit the shutter....well, mirror locks up. bummer....but not so horrible because the P30 works wonderfully and everything was all of $15. Yesterday I received a beautiful PZ-1 and equally flawless looking Pentax FIF-330 FTZ flash which I got for just under $90 after shipping. I mean, these things look absolutely brand new. Both with their cases/pouches without a single sign of wear. Pop out the batter I used for the SF-1 and throw it into the PZ-1, first firing of the shutter..and again the damn mirror locks up. DAMN!!! well about a week ago I bought a zx-5 and zx-30 with sigma 28-80mm and sigma 70-300mm lenses for $50 off of craigslist. didn't care much for the bodies, but I also recently got a grip for a ZX-7 I have on the way and realized it would fit into the zx-5/zx-30 as well. Pop the grip into the zx-30 and you can guess what happened after the the very first shutter firing. The mirror locked up, of course! By this point i was a bit scared to try the zx-5, but through the grip on it and it fired with no problems. Of course it's the body i don't even care about. So i've got the zx-7 and an sf-10 on the way sometime next week. Let's hope my luck changes for the better. Last edited by irishwhite; 09-04-2010 at 10:00 AM.

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09-04-2010, 11:15 AM	#2
titrisol Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: In the most populated state... state of denial Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,852	I had heard of these problem in the MZ/ZX series, a bad gear that breaks Never heard them on the PZ-1 .. could you check to see if the mirror foam has turned to goo and is keeping the mirror stuck ni the UP position?

09-04-2010, 03:34 PM	#3
irishwhite Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: philadelphia Photos: Gallery Posts: 349 Original Poster	Originally posted by titrisol I had heard of these problem in the MZ/ZX series, a bad gear that breaks Never heard them on the PZ-1 .. could you check to see if the mirror foam has turned to goo and is keeping the mirror stuck ni the UP position? Yeah, that was the first thing I checked. I'm telling you, the camera really is in pristine condition. Well, outside of the mirror issues of course. Also, the mirror is difficult to pull back down. My SF-1's mirror pulls back down effortlessly. Maybe it's just a different type of gear mechanism. Anyone know if the motor drive for the pz-1 and the zx-5 are interchangable? if so, maybe i'll try my luck and switching one with the other. Although I doubt it's that simple and i'm not so confident in my abilities to exchange one for the other. I emailed Eric about the cost for getting it fixed...he says it'll be a total of $145.00 :-(