----- Original Message ----- From: Rubenstein, Bruce M (Bruce) Subject: RE: Subject: LX repair update
> Bill, this is where I really sympathize with you. You have to put up with enough crap shooting with Pentax, and then they wind up sticking it to you too. After a certain point you've had enough and want to deal with a company that takes their business seriously, and not some kind of hobby. I was talking to the fellow who I sold my F3 to when I was financing the move to Pentax. He is a busy working pro, and figures in the past 15 years since he bought the camera he has put about 10,000 rolls of film through it. The thing has never seen a repair shop, and has worked flawlessly for him. I probably ran a couple of thousand rolls through it myself, with no trouble, so it has seen a whole bunch of use. The F2 that I owned prior to the F3 went to hell and beyond for me, and faithfully served me for 10 years, then served it's next owner just as faithfully for another 16 years until a boating accident finally killed it. Up until then, it was in the repair shop once, 6 months after going naked through the windscreen of my car at close to 50 MPH Meanwhile, my LX's seem to last about a year and a half between expensive repair jobs. I do like them, but I am glad I don't have to depend on them to put food on the table. I am also glad I am able to afford to keep them in the gentrified lifestyle they demand. My 3 LX's will cost in excess of $1200.00 this year in repairs. Based on the amount of film I shoot with them, and the repair frequency, I figure I am paying about $12.00 per roll of film, plus the cost of the film and processing, for the pleasure of using Pentax's finest camera bodies. Mu buddy with the F3 figures the camera was close to free, based on the number of exposure cycles it has given him, with absolutely no input costs other than the initial purchase price. What really annoys me is that they are so unreliable though I don't treat them badly. I live in a dry climate, I don't pound on them, and I don't run a lot of film through them, but I run enough to keep them exercised. They just don't seem as reliable as they should be. I did talk to the Pentax service manager today. He seemed quite annoyed with my plight, including apologizing for his staff member lying to me (his words, not mine). It seems they still don't have the parts in stock to do the repair, they were shipped parts that did not fit my camera. Some modifications were done during the production life, and my camera is one of the ones that was pre modification. He seems to think it is repairable, but he doesn't know quite how long it will take. Thanks William Robb - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
