[Abstract]

Hmm I see, then I guess its a dead shutter...Guy said he was fine with giving me a refund...Replacing the electronics and everything else seems like it would cost a lot more then to just buy one in better condition.

I am looking at a CHINON CG-5 right now, seems very similar. See how this goes.

thanks a bunch.

[ChrisPlatt]

Suggest you look for a nice Pentax...

Chris

[Abstract]

Suggest you look for a nice Pentax...

Chris

Hmmm alright, I have been looking, they seem to skyrocket in price in the last couple minutes of the bid. I will keep a look out though, thanks.

[stevebrot]

Suggest you look for a nice Pentax...

Chris

Nice pat answer Chris, but my batting average with Pentax bought on eBay is about the same as other brands...hit or miss. Given the age of the cameras we are talking about here, the chances are pretty good that a particular body may be DOA, regardless of brand. A non-functional ME Super is just as dead from repair point of view as a dead XR7, Chinon, or Minolta XG-series. None of these is worth repairing if the issue involves the meter, shutter, film transport, or mirror box. Under the skin they use very similar technology and are not economical to repair...assuming you can even find a donor camera for parts.

A KX or KM would be my preference in Pentaxland, but prices for a KX are high and all K-series bodies are hard to come by. The MX would be my next choice and if one has lots of money, a LX would be right on top.

Outside of Pentaxland, the Nikon FE/FE2, FM/FM2, and Olympus OM-1/OM-2 are at the top of my personal favorites for pro quality build.


Steve

[uccemebug]

The MX would be my next choice

The only camera I ever threw out for being a total lemon was a used Pentax MX that I bought in Japan (where used stuff is usually in excellent shape). Brand has less to do than how the camera was handled by its prior owner(s).

Minolta XG

By all means, stay away from Minolta. Never, ever bid on a Minolta XD body.

(I don't need the prices going up.)

[ChrisPlatt]

Nice pat answer Chris, but my batting average with Pentax bought on eBay is about the same as other brands...hit or miss.

An experienced eBay buyer knows that regardless of item description any 35mm SLR bought there will require CLA at least, or repair.
I always anticipate this additional cost in my grand total, don't you? Sometimes you might get lucky, but you can't count on luck.

The great thing about Pentax film SLRs is that they can almost always be made to work like new at very modest cost.
Not so most other brands - there is simply no equivalent to Eric Hendrickson for those.

FWIW before I wised up and switched to Pentax I went through an extended Ricoh/Sears phase. I was a true believer.
But those SLRs all eventually became unrepairable and went to the great camera junkheap in the sky.

I like Ricoh cameras. I still have several Ricoh rangefinders. My first "good" camera was a Ricoh 500G.
But if you want a reliable and repairable used 35mm SLR, buy a Pentax, and send it to Eric.

Chris

[stevebrot]

he great thing about Pentax film SLRs is that they can almost always be made to work like new at very modest cost.
Not so most other brands - there is simply no equivalent to Eric Hendrickson for those.

Very true for models made up until the early 1980s and much less true afterwards. With the advent of fully electronic shutters and programmed auto exposure, the cameras became significantly less serviceable. This is true across brands with very few exceptions (LX, F1, FE2, FM2, and such). My friendly local camera repair guy told me so. (Mike Knight at Knight Camera and Repair here in Vancouver.) The mirror box/shutter assemblies on the newer cameras cannot really be repaired or adjusted, so replacement is usually the only option. To compound matters, parts are increasingly difficult to find and often a donor body is required...assuming that it does not suffer from the same problem. Add in the cost of the shop time for the repair itself and it is usually cheaper to simply chuck it.

Perhaps Eric will weigh in on this thread with his comments, but in his absence, perhaps you can share why a ME Super would be more easily repaired than an XR7? Both are highly dependent on electronics, share very similar non-repairable electronic shutters, and have proprietary circuitry for which replacement modules are no longer available. From my perspective, both are throw-away cameras not worth repairing beyond replacing seals and cleaning the viewfinder and doing basic lubrication of the film transport. Adjustment? There is almost nothing to adjust! Even the shutter release is an electrical switch.

My advice to people shopping for a manual focus K-mount camera is to definitely check out Pentax, but not discount other makes. The eventual purchase decision should be based on usability, condition, and features. I like my Super Program. It is well-made, solid, and has a nice feature set. It is not, however, my go-to auto-exposure body. It is too small for my hands and I find the up/down buttons and the clumsy mode switch tedious in actual use. The XR7 has better control layout (changing shutter speed is a one finger operation), equivalent quality viewfinder, and AE-Lock. OTOH, the Super Program shines with a higher top-end shutter speed, program exposure, and true TTL flash automation.

I paid about $40 for the Super Program (body only) in EX+ condition and consider it a good value at that price point. I paid $25 for the XR7 bundled with two (Tamron and Tokina) zooms, but was prepared to pay up to $40 with normal lens. (I paid $45 for the XR-2s with normal lens and don't regret the purchase.)

If any of the above bodies fail, I will see what the repair guy says, but experience has taught me that the cost for any repair is minimum $70 and it goes up from there. (For example, I have over $200 in my KX body at this point...) Most likely the poor broken camera will go directly to the trash or be donated to the shop as a parts body.


Steve

[ChrisPlatt]

As a matter of fact Eric can rebuild an ME Super shutter...

Chris

[stevebrot]

As a matter of fact Eric can rebuild an ME Super shutter...

Chris

Whatever...:ugh:

In which case, he can rebuild an XR7 shutter as well (pretty much the same unit).


Steve

[ChrisPlatt]

Whatever...:ugh:

You might be able to persuade Eric to take on your Ricoh.
Of course it would be on a "best effort" basis. He won't have any parts,
and Ricoh parts are very hard to source. Been there, done that.

With a Pentax you can be 99% sure he will be able to repair it.
I like those odds much better.

Chris