He didn't.

Photos of the gear in question would help the sale, as would confirmation that it still works. I think it may be difficult to sell otherwise given that you are new to the forum.

Specifying payment methods (Paypal, bank transfer, cash) and the area if it's possible to meet in person would also help.

Good to know that fine gear is with people who enjoy it and produce results. The 645Z must be quite a camera.

Best price I've seen for an S-M-C 85/1.8 Tak. I bought one of these from John a few months ago and have been enjoying it ever since.

I can't see them either.

I applaud not taking apart a working camera for parts and instead looking out for one which is already dead. Same thing we do with people after all

I think more than anything this goes to show that no camera system is perfect, at least in the vast majority of cases. All we can do is try to use systems where it's weaknesses are things we're prepared to live with.

My small & light camera option is a Fujifilm X-T20, usually with a 35mm f/1.4. It's biggest weakness is a lack of IBIS but the sharp-when-wide-open lens partially makes up for that, I knew it would be there going in, have learned to accept it and enjoy using that combo.

As a user of an L-mount camera I have read quite a bit about the S9. The Sigmas have their fans but are known for being very quirky.

The image quality from the S9 is excellent, should be exactly the same as the S5 II, which is the same (or maybe a little worse due to the phase detect AF points) as that of my original S5. I find the S5's menus and button configuration to be very sensible and well laid-out, and the S9 will be very similar. The problems are the items that Panasonic left out in order to reduce size and cost - mechanical shutter, viewfinder, hotshoe, weather resistance and any form of grip. I regard a mechanical shutter and a viewfinder as essentials unless it's on a camera I'm going to be using very little, so I'd say it depends what you're going to use it for. A third-party add-on grip is pretty much essential.

Beyond that, if you're looking for something very compact then the problem is the lenses. There are no true pancake lenses for the L-mount unless you consider the Viltrox 28mm f/4.5 with it's fixed aperture and no manual focus ring or the Lumix 26mm f/8, again fixed aperture but also manual focus only. There's also a 7Artisans 18mm f/5.6, fixed aperture and manual focus but pretty decent. As you see, there's nothing for general use. The smallest lenses with AF and changeable apertures are the Lumix and TTArtisans 40mm f/2s. Obviously the Lumix is much more expensive, apparently optically a little better and without an aperture ring. I have the TTA and am perfectly happy with it's performance for the €179 I paid for it, and it does make for a fairly small setup (on an S9 smaller still of course).

Aside from that I have to say that all the L-mount lenses I've tried are nothing short of superb but none of them are compact. I love Sigma's I-series lenses, which are metal, solidly-built primes with aperture rings, silky-smooth manual focus and superb optics though with moderate max apertures, but then you'd be looking at something approaching a K-1 and fast prime in size and weight.

Very glad to read this. I hope you mean the new HD 16-50/2.8 and not the older SDM one.

The KP's cable that connects the camera to the moving screen is prone to breaking with time and use so not the best bet if you're going to be making a lot of use of that feature, though it can be replaced cheaply with a third-party one but that will impact weather resistance.

On the aperture block failure, the low shutter count may not indicate that you're safe for long as I've seen some comments on failure with very low shutter counts, I think it's more a question of time. Still, it's user-repairable I think and if not then I see a banner advertising the repair every time I come to this forum, though it's doubtless more expensive than a DIY job. I don't know if it's possible to check on the solenoid type based on the serial number but might be worth looking into. If you don't want to be caught out then you could get it done at the outset before it fails.