With all the enconia about the MX, and having seen one at a reasonable price
(around $100 for a mint-looking body), I put it on hold until the seller can
get a battery so that I can see how well the meter works. Thus far, it's
taking weeks for him to get the battery. Is the battery required for the MX
difficult to get (and could this be an ongoing problem), or should I be
wondering about this specific deal?
MX uses regular LR44 or SR44 cells. From what I have seen so far, it is highly unlikely any MX would not suffer any sort of damage consider its age even a mint looking one (at least 20+ years now). The most common problem is rusting inside, especially the mechanisms underneath the shutter speed dial & release button where the water does get in easily. If the camera has not been serviced properlly recently, you can be sure the shutter is off. Just fire the 1s shutter and watch your watch (will be significantly shorter than 1s). For the newer version (plastic memo holder, serial number #4...), the light meter will be accurate unless someone messed with it before, so is the focus. To check the condition, I would wind the shutter, use my finger to move the sprocket lightly and see if it move too much (it does move a bit). If it does, forget it (require major disassemble to replace the part, the broken screw, not the sprocket). Check the screw inside mirror box near the mirror, if it has tool mark, forget it (mean the mirror position & screen have been messed with). Use your widest lens to check infinity & 1 metre distance with split image, if it is off even by the slightly bit, forget it (calibration MX is a tiresome job as I have found out lately, 2 of the biggest repair shops here failed to do the job properly, one even tried to kill it. I don't know why they did such a lousy job consider they have been in business since 75). Also check the shutter curtain for damage. Well, the list goes on & on, but I should stop now before I go crazy. There is another broken MX waiting for me to fix now...
Alan Chan http://www.pbase.com/wlachan
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