Pentax LX shutter Problem on 'Automatic'

[stemked]

Hello. I'm looking for a good place to have some identical work done

on 2 Pentax LX cameras. It's the exact same problem on both cameras,

the shutter is accurate and aperature reads correctly on manual, but

in 'AUTOMATIC' (hence Aperture Priority) the exposures are way too

long. Since I tend to shoot a lot of very long exposures I really

need accurate times over 4 seconds which I can really only get with

AP.

 

Does anyone here recommend anyone over the good people in Colorado

(Pentax USA?) for this type of repair? About how much might I be

looking at? One of these cameras is to be sold soon and I don't want

to invest an arm and a leg to get it repaired; if it's going to be

too much I'll sell it as an 'As Is'. Thanks.

[konrad_beck1]

I do not know the Pentax LX exactly but think that it works similar like the Olympus OM-2/3/4 in that it determines in Auto mode the correct exposure by looking to the reflected light from the film. Therefore my question: your long autoexposures are observed _with_ a

film in the camera? In the case of the OM's, they have very long exposures without film due to the black camera back. When new, the cameras came with a small grey card which needed to be placed in the fim plane to check auto exposure times. The "manual" reading in these cameras is done by completely independent CdS (I think) cells, whereas the auto reading is done by another pair of blue silicon (not sure) cells. If your problem is also there with film in the camera, and the LX has a similar outlay as the OM's, this might indicate a fault with the second set of sensors.

 

As mentioned, I am not familiar with the LX, and thus my answer here is just a guessing.

[lduchamp]

Yep, I thought I had this same problem the first minutes I got my LX (I remember at least 5 minutes of cold sweats) but placing some film in it solved everything. I hope it will be the same for you. Incidently, I bought a Minolta CLE one year later and had the same scare... OTF measure is definitely not for the faint of heart! (Or the slow learners as me...)

[j_anon]

I tried a local camera repair shop and after 7 weeks they decided I should sent it to Pentax (gee thanks folks!) Anyway, Pentax was slow, but they completely rebuild it, fixed the sticky mirror, replaced some electronics, etc and it cost about $165 with shipping. Came with a warranty on the repairs too.

 

I would go with Pentax if I were you.

 

p.s. I used Pentax for repairs on on Optio 430, and they were pretty quick...had it back in about 3 weeks.