You can probably save the M 50mm yourself, assuming the f1.4 is anything like the f1.7 and f2 versions. I managed to clean similar fungus from a couple of cheap ebay finds which has yet to reappear after a year or so, and they seem fine optically.

I found plain vinegar on a cotton bud worked well to clean the spidery marks off. You'll also need a lens wrench (look on ebay) and a microfibre cloth to polish the elements after cleaning with vinegar. A pair of surgical gloves can be handy to avoid getting fingerprints inside the lens while reassembling it. To be honest the hardest part is usually unscrewing the finishing ring (where it says "SMC Pentax-M 50mm f1.4" around the front element) as they often seem to have been tightened with a torque wrench and won't unscrew! Have a look on the web for some disassembly guides, what I will say is that you don't need to disturb the focussing mechanism on this lens while removing all the elements, so you won't have to fiddle around resetting the infinity focus afterwards.

I have a deep distrust of the leatherette hard cases Pentax offered for most of the older lenses as I suspect they trap moisture. I've had two lenses in said cases, both had or have a mould problem. Meanwhile my other K and M lenses in Lowepro soft cases with a bag of silica gel are fine.

I would guess mechanical. As far as I know all Pentax shutters default to closed if the batteries aren't healthy? Mind you, I've a feeling that the ES would work without batteries in manual mode.

It should be fixable, it probably just needs 30+ years of old grease and oil cleaning out and some new oil adding before a bit of adjusting.

I think it's more a case of the security industry wanting to appear relevant when it has some rather dim staff. A friend of mine used to work as a manager for such a firm (he left because they hadn't paid him for months and was fired for this "disloyalty" which should give a good idea of the sort of people they can be!) One of the guards he was keeping an eye on called the Police because of a "suspicious car". Said car was driven by my friend the manager, trying to attract his attention so that he would come down, open the gates, and check in that all was well!

It's a spambot, and not a terribly coherent one either!

Some of the particularly cunning ones now sign up to forums/blogs and post generic favourable comments including their spam links. These are more time consuming for the admins to remove as they strongly resemble a legitimate user, aside from the links.

Even when it's "hearsay" from friends who know, own, and work with horses?

The interesting part to me is how adding the hotshoe changed the shape of the bodies between the Spotmatic and K series. A slightly differently shaped prism housing makes the KM look a lot more modern than the mechanically very similar Spotmatic.

My first was a used K1000 in the mid 1990s, in recent years I've been assembling a collection of classic film bodies and lenses. I just find them nicer to use than the later AF bodies. I spent some time today with my MZ-7 (needs some attention as the shutter seems to jam on the first shot of the day, then settles down after a quick tap to unjam it) and found myself wishing I'd taken my KX or KM instead. The viewfinder display on the MZ-7 is a bit hard to read in strong sunlight, compared to the match needles on the KX or the single needle on the KM which were made for bright summer days.

Everyone else is doing it, and I don't see any mention of it in ebay's T&C...

Weirdly I have snagged items which I would have thought very desirable by just putting down the starting bid with 5mins to go. Apparently nobody else wanted a minty black ME with 50/1.7 for £20!

The main thing putting me off an ebay LX (unless stupidly cheap):

A CLA for an LX is not cheap, and I don't think they lend themselves to DIY servicing with small screwdrivers and lighter fuel!

To be honest I do find it helps if you wait until late to bid. If you bid early then someone will always be willing to pay more than you are, waiting until 30 seconds or so and then putting the same maximum bid down will often succeed by a few quid.

There do seem to be a few bidders who throw money about like water, I strongly suspect that they do it in order to intimidate the rest of us - don't try bidding against me because you'll never win. Fine by me, if you really want to pay more than any sane person would consider to be market value then you go for it!

As for daft final bids it happens with everything. I remember a few years ago watching a G scale model railway baggage van bid up to £120. It was a limited edition, but at that time they were still available brand new for about £67!

I will never pay ridiculous sums for used camera gear (why I don't have an LX - my limit for any single used camera or lens is £100).

I've tried my 50-135mm too, that seemed to vignette at anything shorter than about 90mm on an SFX.

The FA31 shouldn't have any such trouble as it was designed for full frame use!