Reliability question

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I just recently purchased a Pentax 67 in the face of the protests of several people at my local rental place.

They say that their Pentax bodies are constantly going in for repair. More so than their Mamiya and Hasselblad cameras. I know the bodies don't tend to wear great cosmetically (brassing and all that) but I can't believe they're breaking down more than any other brand.

To prove their point, they pointed out that renting a Pentax 67 body, prism and lens was more expensive than renting out a Hassy or a Mamiya! I checked their price list and it was true, they are charging more...

-- Paul (paulr@loop.com), December 30, 1997

Answers

I have heard (and experienced!) that the 67 bodies tend to develop shutter and/or winding mechanism "jams". In my case it happened a few weeks after I started cocking the shutter very rapidly. After that I cocked the shutter more gently, and never had another problem. Of course, this may just have been a coincidence. Over a period of about eight years and three different bodies, that was the only problem. (Needless to say, I was several thousand miles from home at the time!! But I've had breakdowns with Leica, Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Rodenstock, too...)

-- Myron Gochnauer (goch@unb.ca), December 30, 1997.

I have been using a Pentax 6x7 for several years and it has been very reliable for me. The only problem I had was when I stuck my thumb through the shutter curtain when the camera was being reloaded. The shutter curtains are quite vulnerable to damage when you have the back open so it is quite possible that this would lead to a higer damage rate among rental camera bodies. I have had trouble with Blads over the years. Shutters jamming and body crank problems most often. Good Luck, John Brink

-- John Brink (johnbrink@worldnet.att.net), December 31, 1997.

there statement that p67 bodies are unreliable goes against everything i have heard or experienced with the system. i find the camers very reliable, a great camera for field work. maybe if their rentals are breaking it is the people who they are renting too. another thing to consider, the system is a great seller for pentax even though it has gone unchanged for about a million years, and as far as i know no changes are planned

-- david cichocki (davcic@aol.com), December 31, 1997.

FWIW- I have been told the same thing by a number of rental houses around the country-- as I understand it, on the newer bodies, there is now a plastic part in take up winder mechanism that is prone to failure. My local (Houston) rental house doesn't stock P67's for this reason. I personally have never experienced any problems though...

-- Waco Moore (waco@ibm.net), January 04, 1998.

Reliable? 22years and my 67 has never been in the shop.Wish I could say the same for my wife's car...

-- Robert Huebner (huebner@harborside.com), February 21, 1998.


My first TTL meter was a lemon and I had to trade it in for a new one, but the body and replacement have been extremely reliable for two years now. I wouldn't think of trading the Pentax for a Mamiya or a Hassy.

-- Morgan Bond (mbond@cats.ucsc.edu), June 03, 1998.

I have been using 6x7's for aerial work for the last 14 years and have found them reliable..except for the take up mechanism as mentioned by a couple of you. It has been repaired/replaced 3 or 4 times on different bodies in the last 10 years. However, as Myron notes, I believe it is due in large part to my uncontrollable rapid winding style. Still, it's a very irritating flaw in an otherwise excellent system.

-- GeorgeBordner (aerials@minn.net), June 04, 1998.

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