EDIT: Main problem solved by
Hilo. Thanks again for being so generous!
Hi, I'd like to help out a friend with a pretty delicate problem.
About two years ago, he bought a non-working Pentax ME at a trade, along with a Hanimex 28mm lens. The price was not exactly "bargain", although not astronomical either. However, he also paid for a repair that never happened. More so, the repairman worsened the condition of the camera, and he didn't receive his money back, either. So the overall cost was in the territory of "high", considering what's left over.
So let's introduce the subject. I will mention all the issues that impede the camera's functionality, hopefully not forgetting any.
- the battery and winder cover are missing.
- some dings in the pentaprism and back door (!), just cosmetic issues, don't know if there are light leaks, but probably yes.
- the top seems to be disastrously assembled. The film advance lever sticks out way too far, and is very loose altogether. The mode selector dial is loose too, instead of having firm clicks, and cannot be set on "Lock" at all.
- the mirror bumper is missing and the focusing screen has some goo stains near it.
- the mirror is cracked from top to bottom, one cannot really see this in my pictures, but it does affect the viewfinder (the OOF areas appear as double or triple, interesting effect)
- the orange film indicator at the back is missing
- the film counter is not working.
Everything else that I didn't mention, assume it's working
He gave it to me so I can help him get out of this deadlock. However, I don't know what's best to do.
Clearly, any type of professional repair is excluded, because of its uneconomical nature.
The only alternatives I can see is either try and repair it myself (although I have almost no experience, if I knew what steps should I follow, it would be easier), or sell it for spare parts and get a different camera. He has no experience with SLRs, so I'd think that a camera with manual exposure control would do him better.
The catch here is that the new camera must be cheap, as in, buy it with the money earned from the old one.
Any suggestions welcome
Last edited by kcobain1992; 11-04-2012 at 02:08 AM.