Pentax K1000 vs LX

Jack Shuman · Jan 7, 2018

I have a Pentax K1000 for over 10 years and have been very happy about it. Last year, I bought a Pentax LX, based on peoples comments that it is the best SLR in the world. However, I have had headache since I received it. It had various problems and I sent it out for repair twice. Now the repair cost exceedes the camera value and I have mixed feeling about it. I keep thinking about my trusted K1000 and wondering why this camera, costing a fraction of the LX, behaves much better. I did a little search online and here is my summary. K1000 and LX are about the same size (143x94x50mm vs 145x91x50mm), but K1000 is heavier than LX (606g vs 565g). How could LX put that much more feature into a much lighter body? There are only two solutions: use more plastic parts or make the metal parts thinner. Either way, reliability is compromised. I know there are many lucky guys here who will tell me that their LX bodies have never given them any trouble and I am just an unlucky person, but have you done statistics? Does anyone know the defect rate of the LX?

jcdeboever · Jan 8, 2018

Where did you send it too?

compur · Jan 9, 2018

The LX was a great camera when new but it now suffers from age-related issues, the most well known being the "LX sticky mirror syndrome" which can be Googled for more info. The camera was introduced in 1980 so some of them are now pushing 40 years old.

The K1000 is an older, all-mechanical design except for its simple meter which didn't even have a switch so there are fewer things to go wrong.

webestang64 · Jan 13, 2018

Never owned an LX, always out of my price range so I bought an MX instead. But I have to say my very well used 1980 K1000 still works great.

pendennis · Jan 13, 2018

Pentax tried put a lot of "pro" features into a fairly small body. Interchangeable viewfinders and focusing screens, motor drives, etc. Those features are great, but the body and chassis need to be designed and engineered with those features in mind. Nikon's F3 (715g) and Canon's F1 (795g) are larger, and sturdier. Pentax, after converting to the "K" mount was really late to the "pro" camera game, and it seems as though they played "catch up", without success, because even though the LX was produced until 2001, it never really caught on. Nikon was producing F3, F4, and F5, and Canon ran the F1 and EOS cameras with much more success.

Plastics, carbon fibers, aluminum, and titanium all contribute to improvements but those just couldn't help Pentax beat Canon and Nikon.

compur · Jan 14, 2018

Nikon and Canon were well ahead of Pentax in the pro market but only with 35mm format. That's all Canon and Nikon made but Pentax made medium format cameras too which were very popular with pros. Their 6x7 line was in production for 40 years and is the most successful medium format camera series ever produced.

dennyr · Feb 9, 2019

I realize this is a year old, but.......At the time, on paper, you could argue that the LX was "The Best" SLR 35mm available.
As others have said, even the last one ever made is old at this point. You really need a knowledgeable tech to work on those more complex cameras. You need a good tech for ANY camera, but electronics (can) pose potential issues that the mechanical cameras do not.
Pentax is the only, major, SLR i never owned, but i borrowed a few for several weeks.
I was lucky to know a Pentax freak, and she owned several LX and MX models.
I would love to have both, but if i could only have one...circa 2019...i would grab the MX.
I thought the Pentax MX was a fantastic SLR. I like it as much as any of my Minolta, Canon, Nikon or Olympus.
Anyway.......the LX was fabulous. I hope the OP got theirs sorted out.
Good Luck