pentax spotmatic more shutter trouble

I'm not happy with this video, it sounds jumbled, but I'm not going to redo it unless someone really wants more detail. This video deals with a slightly different shutter problem than in the previous video, instead of sticky gears, this is about a sticky mirror release.

[@ArvindVerma-wd9ti]

I was going through my old cameras Thanks to "Coronavirus". Took my Asahi Pentax Spotmatic F which I had got as a gift in 1973 during my art college days in India. I migrated to Chicago in 1976 and used it during my MFA for a month. Than upgraded to a Minolta that was the end of it till now. Seem to be working fine till I bought some films and a battery. Put the film shot a picture than the mirror got stuck on and off. What a disappointment I was not going to spend any money in repairing it, till I searched the web and hit this post. Thank you Sir I solved the problem. Thank you

[@tobroken1965]

Glad I could help, happy shooting!

[@buzios999]

I just watched your very informative video. My neglected Spotmatic had been languishing in the closet with it's mirror stuck, something I hadn't even realized, until I tried it out. So I went to KZbin for help, and with little in the way of appropriate tools and a lot of impatience, I gave the visible mechanism, below the lens mount, the tiniest squirt of WD40. 10 seconds later the mirror just dropped down and the shutter has been firing away perfectly.

[@tobroken1965]

Atta boy! just be careful with WD40, it creeps. Shoot in good health!

[@comabereni1]

Your videos are excellent. It's very easy to follow and learn from your observations and suggestions. You are saving cameras from landfills.

[@tobroken1965]

Thank you, I love to see old cameras brought back to life.

[@kris.s.w.8574]

Hello, Thanks for the video - helped me to diagnose problem with my SPII - Jamming the mirror for low trigger times. Problem still not solved but working on it. I have only one comment - during disassembling the housing you need to unscrew 5 screws. There is one more, small one inside the housing, under logo Pentax. It's quite easy to see it when you look at the camera upside down. Thanks anyway - take care.

[@lucindaemms7781]

Thank you so much for this video! I managed to fix my grandpas camera :)

[@Sloane65]

Many thanks for your videos...I have a jammed film advance lever with the rewind button in the pushed in position on a Spotmatic SP F. I have gone through all the normal basic checks as with lubrication of the cogs under the bottom panel, pushing the sprung lever into the top position, managed to to get the mirror to operate, but still no joy re the film advance. As this was purchased as a non working camera I was happy to sacrifice it as an experiment and dismantled it to its bare bones, and even then, the film advance wouldn't move....any ideas?

[@clivew5190]

I find your videos very helpful, I was wondering how difficult it would be to repair or replace a broken self timer on a Spotmatic spII, the lever on mine was loose and wouldn't move past the 10'o clock position , so I took the lever off, removed the small disc beneath it, and there is a small lug broken off. Can these timers be removed in one piece and replaced. Or is it best if I just live with a broken self timer. Everything else works well on the camera, so I dont want to dismantle it and find theres nothing that can be done.

[@tobroken1965]

They can be replaced as a unit, its not very had, at least on the models I have worked on, that said, unless you really want to use a timer, I would be inclined to leave it alone it it works well and looks good. They are tough cameras but after all these years one mistake and you could have a paper weight, plus you have to peel the leatherette and take off the front of the camera. Again, not hard or very complex but you will be rolling the dice.

[@raulrodrigues2307]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us! I'm a begginer with two spotmatics and one of them has the film advance lever completely stuck, I have released the mirror, but the longer arm on the bottom is stuck. Do you have any idea where to look? I'm thinking about disassembling the top to look near the lever.

[@tobroken1965]

Without it in my hands its hard to say, it could be any number of things. However, a common problem I have had with old pentax cameras is the Spill getting stuck, that is a tiny brass tab thak moves under the pressure of the button release arm, it sit between two idler gears next to the film advance lever. when advancing the film it must be in the up position, the shutter button pushes it down allowing the two gears to move separately. It is a hard part to see especially if the shutter is cocked. The gears are brass, one on top of another with a chrome center plate, the shutter release arm pushes the spill down. If the Spill is down, try wiggling the gears gently, the Spill has a spring under it and a little movement may make it pop up.

[@samting1852]

Interesting to hear that the synch fires simultaneously. I know the FP setting is slightly delayed to let the "flashbulb" (remember those) come to full brightness before firing the shutter. Must have lost a connection in there somewhere. Looks too complicated to fix, so I'll just let it be

[@giampiero62]

hello, I have a problem with my pentax sp, and it is that when I load the lever it does not let me shoot, I have to delay a little so that it lets me press the button ... what can it be?

[@tobroken1965]

Sorry for the slow reply. I would guess its dirty and gummy inside, there are a lot of parts that move during film advance.

[@samting1852]

Thank you for your response. Yes, the flash fires on the FP setting.

[@tobroken1965]

I took these pics of one of my organ donor cameras, each pic has a short description. Maybe they will help. www.flickr.com/photos/128989732@N06/albums/72157679273174902

[@av8bvma513]

The "washers" mentioned are not to flush the mount with the body. They are vitally important for the registration of the mount. The parallelism, and back focus are set by these shims. Registration is critical for proper lens mounting and correct in-plane focus. The shims are in different thicknesses, and MUST be put back in the exact same positioning they were removed from. ** Always check the body, and the mount, and inside the camera for shims that may have fallen as the mount is removed. In a proper service this would be checked, adjusted, and double checked with dial guage and collimation testing.

[@tobroken1965]

Thank you for that information, thinking about it now that makes sense. I will update my video.

[@caitlingriffin3977]

Bought a Pentax P3 off of someone put fresh batteries pressed the shutter button it fired once and then I could no longer see out of the viewfinder as the mirror is stuck, but I also can't advance the winder-- any advice on how to fix it?

[@tobroken1965]

That camera is far more sophisticated that anything I work on, I couldn't even guess. However this is a link I use for Pentax service manuals, www.pentax-manuals.com/manuals/service/servicemanuals.htm this will take you to a login page, the password is Pentax (capitol P) its a real site it just looks suspicious. The P30 is listed there and its my understanding that the 3 and 30 are nearly, if not, identical. If you are able to fix it please post your results. Good luck.

[@janedonaghey7558]

I have a similar issue with my Pentax Asahi. I can advance the film but once I take a picture the shutter curtain sticks about a half cm open, not allowing the mirror to release back down. I can open the back of the camera and manually move to curtain closed and the mirror disengages back down. Any advice?

[@tobroken1965]

If I were going to guess, I would say either there is something in the travel path of the shutter curtain or the curtain tension could be off or, the antique lube used in the curtain rollers is gummy. Its hard to say, my first guess would be the shutter curtain path, but that is only a guess.

[@IsaAndes]

does anyone know where or how I can buy a reflex mirror. my pentax sv doesn't have one.

[@manuelbarraganrodriguez7471]

Gracias por compartir sus videos. Son muy instrucctivos. thank you very much

[@bloubear2557]

Can I apply oil without removing the front cover? Theres a slit where the Mirror release arm runs across, can I insert a similar fine tip through there instead?

[@tobroken1965]

Its possible, i've never tried but I have seen videos where similar things have been done on other cameras.

[@bloubear2557]

Ill try to do it and update what happened. Hopefully I wont have oil ending up on the shutter curtains

[@tobroken1965]

Good luck, here is a link to a close up of the side of the mirror box if you need it. www.flickr.com/photos/140340017@N07/29256923418/

[@bloubear2557]

tobroken1965 Thanks a lot

[@bloubear2557]

tobroken1965 I have succeeded, the mirror works fine now, I used a small syringe and loaded it with sewing machine oil, I used the tip to "feel" the main 'axle', and used the picture as a guide, 1 drop loosened it abruptly, and my Spotmatic now works well. Time to shoot some 35mm and see the results, Thank you for the help

[@ahippy8972]

I have one of these and the viewfinder goes black and stays black until I fire the shutter three or four times so I loose many shots blank firing. It looks like the lense cap is left on is that a shutter problem or mirror?

[@tobroken1965]

That would be your mirror sticking in the up position. The only way I know of to check why is to remove the bottom and work the shutter until the problem presents itself.

[@ahippy8972]

tobroken1965 thanks I will have a look now

[@tonyb6650]

Excellent help. Many many thanks. My Spotmatics thank you too. Now it's time to fix the ME Super! Hint hint. :)

[@tobroken1965]

The ME super is a whole new generation of compact SLR. That is beyond my skill set, I have tried a time or two to work on them and its complexity beats me every time. But thank you for the compliment.

[@fredperry5392]

This is an excellent video for fixing a stuck shutter. I followed your instructions and I fixed my stuck shutter. My only problem is when reassembling the camera I bumped off the 1/8 inch cross connector of the self-timer. I was able to get that back on and fitted properly, but the trigger to the self-timer doesn't pop out. Fixing this might be beyond my ability, but if you have an idea how I can fix the self-timer button, I'd greatly appreciate it.

[@tobroken1965]

Hmmmm, I'm not sure what you mean by "cross connector", however, the self timer button is spring loaded and held in place by an external E clip, (you will likely need a loupe to see it) it should have stayed in place when the face was removed. Is it possible the clip came off and the super tiny spring was lost?

[@fredperry5392]

The cross connector looks like a small 1/8 inch round flat pill that has a channel on each side. The channels run perpendicular to each other: i.e., up & down on one side and left to right on the other side. It's so tiny, at first I thought I had found the top of a broken screw. I see no spring. Thanks for replying so quickly.

[@tobroken1965]

Hard to say without seeing it. The timer button passes through the camera face plate from outside to inside, spring over shaft, then shaft through trim ring where the spring sits into a well, pressing the button will make the channel visible (around the smooth shaft) on the inside, the E clip will snap onto that channel (tweezer work) and should hold it in place when the face is removed. This is how mine are however many have minor build variations depending on what model and when made.

[@samting1852]

Light meter works fine with recently replaced battery. All other functions work perfectly.

[@Cozyartcatherine]

My camera has trouble with uncompletely closing the curtan. Seem like it dries oil. How can i add oil to make it works smoothly? Can you give some how to help me? Thank you very much!!

[@tobroken1965]

The shutter curtain could have several problems keeping it from closing properly. I dont even try to fix them, its beyond my skill. It could be dry or gummed gears or a tension problem, it could also be an obstruction in the path of curtain travel. If this is a camera you care about it sounds like a pro job, otherwise replacement may be in order. These old mechanical cameras are readily available and most are not very valuable and can be had for little money, most of mine came from ebay. Good luck.

[@urionandon]

how did you take off the leatherette? thank you for these videos

[@tobroken1965]

Thank you. In my experience (so far) the leatherette peels fairly easily. I use the tip of a razor knife to get under a corner and gently work it up and off. Cleaning the old adhesive off from the leather and camera frame was more challenging. An older video shows the sum total of what I know about the leatherette. kzbin.info?o=U&video_id=wAxegpHiGDA

[@cl0udbusting]

Does anyone know if this remedy will work for the same issue on a Pentax MX? I read on a forum somewhere that it was the same as a Spotmatic in this regard...

[@tobroken1965]

Its possible but i find it unlikely, the MX and Spotmatic are on different frames and the MX is smaller. I have only tried to work on the later ME and they are a nightmare (while at the same time an amazing device) everything is smaller and more compact.

[@maikhanhmai]

hello. I have one issue with my camera's shutter curtain, it's Canon FT. The curtain won't go down when I set 1s as the shutter speed ( but it works perfectly fine with other shutter speed options), and I have to wait for about 10 seconds or more for it to go down (sometimes it doesn't and I have to change the shutter speed so it will go down). Please help! Thank you.

[@tobroken1965]

This isnt a camera I know anything about, however it sounds like a slow shutter mechanism problem (usually clock works in those days). Internet search is your best bet. Good luck.

[@maikhanhmai]

Thank u so much for the fast reply. I just found a shop that fixed this problem. Have a nice day!

[@samoting4168]

My Spotmatic works fine, except the X-Synch does not fire the flash. Any ideas how to fix it?

[@tobroken1965]

This could be tough. I havent had this problem yet with any of mine so I cant be certain. Does the FP sync work? The only way to get to any or the parts that could be defective (other than the battery) would require breaking down the camera even farther than in this video.

[@princeharbinger]

Hi, how did you remove the top piece?

[@tobroken1965]

Do you mean the chrome cover on top of the camera? If it is I will see about getting a video out this weekend showing how most are done.

[@princeharbinger]

tobroken1965 Yes that's what I'm talking about. Unfortunately I don't have a spanner wrench on hand. Do you know of any alternatives? Also do you have to use that oil or could I just use WD40 or petroleum jelly?

[@tobroken1965]

I just put this one up, its generic but many are similar.

[@MichaelRusso]

Spotmatics and their earlier brothers and sisters are the model T's of SLR's

[@j_ontheroad_]

I've found with my Spotmatic F that is sticks only on two separate shutter speeds: 2 & 60. The shutter will fire but the mirror will stay up. The shutter curtain is working normally on all shutter speeds. Not sure if this merits gutting the camera or if there's an easier fix, would quite like to see the camera back to its regular self. Any advice?

[@tobroken1965]

I have not run across this particular problem, I would default to what I know which is limited to what is in the video, if that doesn't work, most of mine came from Ebay for under $10

[@IvanSanchezDS]

EXCELENTE VIDEO!!!!!!!... it would be amazing if you could make a newer version with better quality T_T

[@tobroken1965]

I have since sold off most of the junk cameras and kept only the ones that work, but if more beater cameras come along i will see what I can do.

[@CloudOfThoughts]

Thank you.

[@ansonlei6718]

Thanks!!