Where to service a Pentax LX?

[Jesper]

I'm looking for a good place to get a Pentax LX serviced as close to Sweden as possible. Does anybody have any suggestions?
It seems a shame to have two LX bodies without being able to use them.

 

[Hatchetman]

In the USA, this is the Pentax guru: www.pentaxs.com/

 

[GRHazelton]

Have a look at pentaxforums.com. Eric is the man at pentaxs.com, but there might be difficulties in shipping to the US and then back. There is a UK forum: http://www.thepentaxforum.co.uk/ IIRC there is a Pentax maven in the UK, you'll find him or them on the UK forum. A good idea to get those wonderful cameras up and running while there's still some hope of getting parts. I have three, one doesn't want to complete the exposure "cycle" on auto exposure. Gotta send it to Eric.

 

[Jesper]

Thanks for the advice. I'll try the UK site first since it is the nearest place.
It's sad to have them just sitting on a shelf.

 

[baachitraka]

I dreamed to own one but eventually stuck to OM-1n(s). Never sell those gems.

 

[Steve Roberts]

Hi,
I've had two Pentaxes repaired recently, an LX to fix sticky mirror syndrome and a K2 to cure a sluggish shutter. I sent the LX to a well known UK repairer and though I thought I was paying a substantial amount for this fairly standard fix plus a calibration/service, when I received the camera back the top plate clearly hadn't been removed and my impression was that the 'standard' charge covered the immediate problem and a basic check. I subsequently sent a K2 for repair and was told that it wasn't fixable.
I then contacted Eric Hendrickson, who invited me to send the K2 to him in the US (I'm in the UK). I did this and he replied with a quotation. Though the quotation was subsequently increased, when the camera was returned it had been cleaned to within an inch of its life. I've never seen a camera so clean - not even a new one! The fault appears to be cured (though I've yet to finish a test film) and even two things that I hadn't asked to be sorted out had been done. The whole camera feels new again. The actual repair cost was about the same as I'd have paid in the UK, but of course there was international postage to add. Turnaround time was about two months, including the Christmas break. For any of the more elaborate Pentaxes, Eric would be my first choice. Don't expect much in the way of email communication though - Eric is quick to reply but fairly economical with words!
Best wishes,
Steve

 

[btaylor]

I just corresponded with Eric, as a heads up he will be out of action for about a month until mid March. I'll have to wait until then to send him my SP500.

 

[Jesper]

Thanks Steve an btaylor. I'm considering sending them across the pond to get them serviced. Time is not an issue so it is more important to get them fixed correctly rather than soon.

 

[Brian L]

I'm a little late in here...But you might also try:

http://www.kamerazeit.de/

They're Pentax' official service partner here in GER - and super friendly people. As they're located in the more northern part at the Baltic Sea, it's not that far away from you.
All the Best,
Brian

 

[Jesper]

Thanks Brian. I haven't gotten around to send them off yet so I'll have a look at Kamerazeit.

 

[benjiboy]

Newton Ellis in Liverpool http://www.newtonellis.com/

 

[flavio81]

I'm looking for a good place to get a Pentax LX serviced as close to Sweden as possible. Does anybody have any suggestions?
It seems a shame to have two LX bodies without being able to use them.

It's sad to see the LX have does not have a perfect reliability record. I guess this was the crude, hard price Pentax had to pay for trying to build a camera that was more advanced (in features) than what Canon, Nikon, Minolta and Olympus had. The machine is surely an extreme design.

I would love to have a LX.

 

[Pioneer]

It's sad to see the LX have does not have a perfect reliability record. I guess this was the crude, hard price Pentax had to pay for trying to build a camera that was more advanced (in features) than what Canon, Nikon, Minolta and Olympus had. The machine is surely an extreme design.

I would love to have a LX.

I have 5 Pentax LX cameras (don't ask.) I use two of them very regular. Over the years I have had to have only one sent to Eric for repair and that was an ebay purchase which had supposedly been completely overhauled.

I have read any number of comments on the internet regarding the unreliability of the Pentax LX but I have yet to experience it personally. Likewise, I have a very good friend in the Midwest who used the LX professionally. One of my cameras came from him. He owned three of them, all purchased around the same time. Every year one of those cameras went to a Pentax approved serviceman to be cleaned and checked. So every LX camera he owned was serviced every three years. That was it for a twelve year period. I have no idea how many shutter actuations the one I purchased has but it is still one of my regulars.

I don't think that Pentax was quite as bulletproof as the Nikon F and F2 but they were still very reliable cameras. I think a lot of the internet reputation started after a number of these old pro cameras were picked up in estate sales and sold via e-bay. Cameras must be used and used regularly. When this happens almost all of them last for a very long time. I am not sure why the LX is now considered a fragile camera but I can tell you that most of the people I know who own the LX are not giving them up. I have also owned several Leica cameras over the years and my Pentax LX's have been more reliable than my Leicas. And that metering system is the best in the business, even today.

 

[onre]

It's sad to see the LX have does not have a perfect reliability record. I guess this was the crude, hard price Pentax had to pay for trying to build a camera that was more advanced (in features) than what Canon, Nikon, Minolta and Olympus had. The machine is surely an extreme design.

I would love to have a LX.

I work in a 2nd hand camera store, assessing the condition of used cameras. I do thorough testing for every body that comes in, including shutter times, exposure meter, correct operation of automatic modes etc. Based on this experience, there is no camera with perfect reliability record, save for something like a Box-Tengor. As mentioned above, Nikon F and F2 seem to be the hardiest 35 mm SLRs. For heavily used pro cameras, their reliability is amazing.