Hello,
I bought a Pentax 6x7 not long ago from a Japanese ebay seller. It is the older non MLU version. The camera is in good condition overall. The winding felt a little bit stiff for the two rolls that I put through it, but it did wind for each roll all the way through, although it did at times feel slightly "stuck". I just assumed it was the way this camera feels to wind -- I'm not an expert and haven't handled that many cameras, especially medium format.
Today, I finished a roll and was winding it up, and it felt especially stiff and wrong. When I wrapped up the roll and went to put in another, I notice that it's not properly winding the new roll on the spool. It will sometimes spin the spool, sometimes not. I eventually discover what I think is a sign of a stripped cog of some kind -- if I turn the spool a little bit, it will "catch" for a certain part of the winding, and then will be stripped again and not rotate, even while I'm winding. Here are a few videos:
I've let the ebay seller know that the camera is not operational and that all I've done is use it in a completely normal way for two rolls, all of which were shot entirely indoors (minus one shot) and on a tripod. This is pretty concerning to me because it happened so soon after getting the camera, and because it's so expensive. I told him I'd like to return it for a refund, but I kind of suspect that isn't going to fly, because it didn't arrive broken -- it just broke right after I received it.
Any ideas on what to do in a situation like this, assuming the seller won't be "on the hook" for fixing it or refunding me? And by the way, I'm not saying that's wrong -- I am asking for it because I feel weird buying something that immediately broke, but I'm not saying it's weird or wrong of them to not claim responsibility. Any idea how much money and time it would cost to fix? I'm located on the West Coast of the US but have no local options. I paid $700 after all tax and shipping for the camera, and it has the 75mm f4.5 on it.
Options seem to be:
1. fight ebay to get a refund -- I think this would probably work but also seems kind of like a dick move somehow. Idk how much expectation is "too much" here. Note that the camera was also listed as an MLU by the seller but was actually not an MLU -- he refunded me $50 after I complained about it. I think I should have just returned it at this point
1.5. Fight ebay for a partial refund
2. Pay for repair of the camera. I think this would cost a substantial amount of money
3. Sell the camera in it's current state -- I'm guessing I would take a massive loss
4. Buy a new body (around $400 for MLU) and sell the old body taking a substantial loss, just use my prism finder and lens
Let me know what you think. I am not versed in what one may expect buying old cameras, and I feel like it's a bit...too much for it to have broken this easily after normal use, but I'm open-minded to it just being my fault -- I don't know how to determine that without additional guidance. Thank you!
I bought a Pentax 6x7 not long ago from a Japanese ebay seller. It is the older non MLU version. The camera is in good condition overall. The winding felt a little bit stiff for the two rolls that I put through it, but it did wind for each roll all the way through, although it did at times feel slightly "stuck". I just assumed it was the way this camera feels to wind -- I'm not an expert and haven't handled that many cameras, especially medium format.
Today, I finished a roll and was winding it up, and it felt especially stiff and wrong. When I wrapped up the roll and went to put in another, I notice that it's not properly winding the new roll on the spool. It will sometimes spin the spool, sometimes not. I eventually discover what I think is a sign of a stripped cog of some kind -- if I turn the spool a little bit, it will "catch" for a certain part of the winding, and then will be stripped again and not rotate, even while I'm winding. Here are a few videos:
I've let the ebay seller know that the camera is not operational and that all I've done is use it in a completely normal way for two rolls, all of which were shot entirely indoors (minus one shot) and on a tripod. This is pretty concerning to me because it happened so soon after getting the camera, and because it's so expensive. I told him I'd like to return it for a refund, but I kind of suspect that isn't going to fly, because it didn't arrive broken -- it just broke right after I received it.
Any ideas on what to do in a situation like this, assuming the seller won't be "on the hook" for fixing it or refunding me? And by the way, I'm not saying that's wrong -- I am asking for it because I feel weird buying something that immediately broke, but I'm not saying it's weird or wrong of them to not claim responsibility. Any idea how much money and time it would cost to fix? I'm located on the West Coast of the US but have no local options. I paid $700 after all tax and shipping for the camera, and it has the 75mm f4.5 on it.
Options seem to be:
1. fight ebay to get a refund -- I think this would probably work but also seems kind of like a dick move somehow. Idk how much expectation is "too much" here. Note that the camera was also listed as an MLU by the seller but was actually not an MLU -- he refunded me $50 after I complained about it. I think I should have just returned it at this point
1.5. Fight ebay for a partial refund
2. Pay for repair of the camera. I think this would cost a substantial amount of money
3. Sell the camera in it's current state -- I'm guessing I would take a massive loss
4. Buy a new body (around $400 for MLU) and sell the old body taking a substantial loss, just use my prism finder and lens
Let me know what you think. I am not versed in what one may expect buying old cameras, and I feel like it's a bit...too much for it to have broken this easily after normal use, but I'm open-minded to it just being my fault -- I don't know how to determine that without additional guidance. Thank you!
Last edited: