Pentax ZX--7

So I recently had bought a Pentax ZX-7 35 mm camera along with a Pentax 28-80 lens and it looked to be in great conditin no scratches

or anything just some very minor wear. I bought batteries and film for it and put it in and everything was still going good. But when I tried

to take a picture, I pushed the shutter button down but nothing happened. The button will push down and there is clicking and shutter

sound like it's about to to take a picture but no results. Can anyone help??

<p>Hi Jasmine.<br>

<br />Look through the view finder. Can you see through the lens? If not the mirror might be stuck. <br>

The ZX-7 is a fine camera, but like many Pentax cameras of that era they did tend to have motor drive issues. <br>

Are all the other functions working? Does the battery seem to be providing power to the view finder on the top?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>If the mirror is not in the correct 45 degree position (take off the lens and look), it's a classic failure of this model.<br>

The gear on the mirror motor is the weak point of the ZX (and equivalent MZ) series cameras. It shrinks, cracks, and then spins freely on the motor shaft. It has to be replaced with a solid brass gear. There's instructions out there, but it's a tricky job. I've done it on an MZ-3. <br>

Paying someone else to do it is not likely to be cost-effective.<br>

Cheaper to buy another ZX camera -- but they'll all fail in the same way eventually.</p>

<p>A thread discussing this issue <a href="http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/8-pentax-film-slr-discussion/39450-mz5n-mirror-blocked-service-manual.html">here</a>. IMO one might get some satisfaction out of fixing this if you're interested, but factoring in the time spent it probably makes more $ sense to find another working body since they're inexpensive. I have a -5n that I've been meaning to try and fix (maybe this winter) but ultimately it's worthless now, and if I can't fix it, I probably won't replace it because I already have numerous other bodies.</p>