Hi Andrew! Welcome to the list. If you look on eBay and search for "seal kit" or "foam kit" you should find a kit to replace the foam on the MX for around $12.00. The focus screen is removable in the MX for cleaning, look for a little "release tab" hiding under the mirror foam. VERY gentle cleaning with warm soapy water and a saturated (wet) Q-Tip, rinse, dry with dry compressed air. Glass cleaner diluted with water 50/50 will also work but be careful, the alcohol in the cleaner can damage the screen if much pressure is applied. (On second thought just use the water.) The screen is very easy to scratch/scuff, however it is interchangable with LX focus screens, also available on eBay. BTW: The MX and 30t are great cameras, 200t a good flash with TTL capability if you move up to a camera with that feature, the Focal lenses are rather iffy.
Don > -----Original Message----- > From: Andrew Bingham [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Sunday, August 08, 2004 7:14 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Hello List - MX Mirror Foam / Mirror & Focusing Screen > Cleaning. > > > Well, first I'd like to say hello to everyone here on the list! I'm > in my third month as a Pentax user, and I've got a few questions ;) > > So far I've accumulated a few pieces of Penatx gear (enough to get a > good start in photography, anyway): > > Pentax P30t body & 35-80mm f/4-5.6 lens - $62 shipped (excellent > condition) > Pentax 50mm f/2, Focal 28mm f/2.8, Focal 80-200 f/4.5 lenses - $36 > shipped (good-excellent condition) > Pentax AF200T flash - $30 shipped (like new, with manual and > leather pouch!) > Pentax MX - $50 > > The P30t, lenses, and flash are all in good shape, although I don't > know about the quality of the Focal zoom (seems a little soft at > times) it's good for me to start with. My plan is to get a good bag > to put all this stuff in, a decent tripod, and milk if for all it's > worth until I am technically proficient and know what I want in a new > camera. > > The MX needs to have the mirror foam replaced, and there are a few > bits of the foam already collected on the mirror surface. Also, there > is a dark smudge on the focusing screen when looking through the > viewfinder - nothing major, but a little bit annoying. Looking at the > screen itself it looks like someone might have tried to clean it and > damaged it, or maybe smudged it with some kind of cleaner. Whats the > best do it yourself way to replace that little piece of foam? How to > safely clean the mirror/focusing screen? > > The shutter speeds and meter seem fine, mechanically the camera is in > excellent condition, so a full CLA seems a little overboard. Also, > its got a couple small dents on the bottom from someone overzealously > screwing in a tripod, and the hot shoe sits a little crooked from a > small dent (hence the price). My plan was to use the MX for wide > field astrophotography during the winter, so I didn't need a 100% > perfect specimine, and I would rather give a slighlty worn camera a > good home ;) > > Thanks in advance for your suggestions, > > -Andrew >
