Want to check out some prices for CLEANING the camera and other prices for REPAIRING. Check this site. http://abilenecamera.com/ Camera repair store are closing as fast as camera stores. Many times the repair will cost more then a used camera. Their normal price for cleaning is $90.00 plus you need to pay for the shipping. You can pick up a used camera for the same amount from the many on-line camera stores or on www.ebay.com (remember to check the feedback of the seller, some are not that good). The on-line camera stores may sell for only a few dollars more than some people bid on E-bay but you usually get a 30 day warranty from a camera store. Other times some camera stores will put ridiculous prices on a Sears KS cameras calling it a hard to find "manual" camera. Camera stores will take credit cards too. Always insure your package, UPS will be cheaper when insured (the P.O. is expensive when insured).
Items to remember when repairing or replacing Cameras: If your manual focus camera body is DOA, think of getting a Auto Focus body on E-bay or camera store. Even the Autofocus bodies will work with older K-mount lenses and many other brands. Minolta manual focus lenses will not work with Konica/Minolta AF bodies. It will be a manual focus lens and work in "aperture priority" mode just like you had before. Most newer Pentax bodies are lighter and have motor drives built in. Newer lenses you then purchase could be AF lenses (if you bought an AF body). Now the problem with "program" modes with newer Pentax bodies. As my CP-7m and CP-9AF page describes the Pentax lenses made after 1987 all seem to be the "auto" type of lens to work with the newer "program" Pentax bodies. This allows you to focus - point and shoot. Some of the Program cameras came with two or three "programs". One just called "program" that takes a middle of the road between shutter speed and aperture depth of field. One called "action" that gives faster shutter speeds and "creative" that gives more depth of field but slower shutter speeds. The DP-5, CP-5, CP-9AF, CP-6 and CP-X all had different Program modes when used with a "program" or "auto" lens. Depending on the Pentax body, they would have two or all three of these "program modes, depending on the model of the Pentax body. Ricoh bodies are a whole different story and the "program pin" on the lens is located at a different part of the mount, so they are out of the picture. The newer Pentax bodies would also have the old "aperture priority" from the late '70 that require you to choose an aperture and the camera figured out the shutter speed.
How do you tell if you have a Pentax K-mount "program" lens. They could have "PK-a" stamped on the mount somewhere (the PK-a/r means Pentax and Ricoh pins), they could have a GREEN F-22 number, a locking F-22 or a locking "P" or "A" on the aperture ring which is also colored green. There should be a tiny copper dot at the bottom of the lens on the mount usually surrounded by a tiny circle of white plastic. If the lens is MADE BY RICOH, it will not work with Pentax program mode. This tiny copper dot contacts one of the pins of the Pentax or program K-mount body listed above. It just tells the camera's computer it's maximum aperture size. This is why the CP-7m is NOT listed above. That camera's program mode only opens the aperture to F4. And only if the lens' aperture is set past F16. If the aperture is below F16 the "program mode" light flashed in the viewfinder. So on a CP-7m even with a 135mm F2.8 lens the three "program modes" it offers, will only open the lens, in dim light, to F4 then start to eat away at the shutter speeds. Need more shutter speed? Manually open the aperture wider then F4 and that camera, like the Pentax models, will go into aperture priority and you can open the aperture all the way open to gain shutter speed. One way to be sure, put the lens in question on a program camera and see if it works in "program" mode. Without that contact pin, the camera will only work in "aperture priority" and will not go into "Program."
Yes, you can pick up a used Chinon body. The web link below has plenty of camera stores willing to sell 10-20 year old cameras. So will individuals on E-bay, some pick them up at public auctions or house sales. Some will state where they got it but "know nothing about the camera" and sell them "as is". Sometimes you can get a great deal, other times the camera is DOA and only good for parts. You will notice the "as is" bids on E-bay are pretty low, that is for a good reason. A camera in a hot closet or attic for 10 years will be toasted and the battery could still be in the camera, rusted and destroying the battery contacts. Other E-bay sellers are moving to digital photography and selling their old equipment. Some resell as a hobby. Check the "feedback" on the users. A user with many unhappy customers don't last long on E-bay.
Chinon Genesis cameras. If the camera has a new
battery and still flashes "low battery", consider it DOA. Repair
would be very expensive and one Chinon repair person said there are no more main
electronic parts.. Check www.ebay.com or the on-line camera stores
link above. Some people love them and want them repaired. I
can only say they were ahead of their time but there are many "point and
shoot" models for under $200 that would equal what the Genesis was back in 1990
now in a much small package. I saw some shots from a Canon Elph from
a party I was at. Excellent, great flash shots and normal shots.
There are some great deals on Ricoh "point and shoot" models as Ricoh is
no longer in the U.S. 35mm market, only digital.
Using a Ricoh "P" lens on any AF Pentax camera. See this link about the
most likely problem with this scenario, a lens that won't come off. There
is a pin on the Ricoh "P" lenses that gets stuck in the notch in a Pentax AF
body. There is a way to remove the pin that is pretty easy, if you have
the right screwdriver.
questions: see my main page for my address