Asahi Pentax Spotmatic SP - mirror lock?

[niimo]

I just picked up this camera, it's in great cosmetic condition and shutter time seems fine. However, the mirror is stuck! I read somewhere about this camera having a "hidden" mirror lockup feature, but I cannot find any more info on it. Hoping for some guidance here on 'unlocking' it. Thanks a lot!

***EDIT***

Good and bad news. I opened up the bottom of the camera revealing the gears and such. By accident, I discovered the mechanism that releases the mirror to go back down. That's the good news. The bad news is I am no mechanical minded genius who knows how to adjust it to allow this little lever to work properly (even though it is not corroded in any way). I think it is merely a spring loaded lever that has become too weak. I could probably replace it, if I knew where to get that sort of part!
-Nimai

 

[Graham Line]

The mirror would stay up if the camera was stuck in 'B' shutter mode. I think (not certain) the SP also has a foam bumper that can turned sticky with age and trap the mirror in the up position. If it has a self-timer, that would also kick the mirror up before the exposure.

 

[aizan]

the hidden mlu is flicking the shutter button with your finger. if the mirror doesn't come down when the shutter button is pressed, something else is wrong.

 

[niimo]

The mirror would stay up if the camera was stuck in 'B' shutter mode. I think (not certain) the SP also has a foam bumper that can turned sticky with age and trap the mirror in the up position. If it has a self-timer, that would also kick the mirror up before the exposure.

Although the foam does need to be changed, it's not the foam holding it, it is definitely being held there in place. I am not sure about being stuck in "B" or being related to the timer.. thanks for your response!

 

[niimo]

the hidden mlu is flicking the shutter button with your finger. if the mirror doesn't come down when the shutter button is pressed, something else is wrong.

Hmm bummer, I guess it's the latter, then!

 

[radiocemetery]

Hi Niimo,

I had the same problem that you describe when I got my Spotmatic about a year ago. My camera seemed to have the mirror stick when using the slower shutter speeds. I took the bottom plate off and saw that the mirror release lever was sticking at the point where it contacted the rest of the shutter release mechanism. The slightest nudge would allow the mirror to return to the right position. I used a dremel tool and a felt wheel ( a very small felt wheel) and jeweler's rouge to polish the point of contact. I applied the tiniest dab of graphite grease to this point for lubrication. Now the mirror returns properly every time. If you try this, do not change the contours of these parts, all you want to do is polish them. You can google Pentax Spotmatic and find lots of info. on these popular cameras. Someone had posted a complete service manual and parts list for these. I will try to find the links and post them.

Steve

 

[radiocemetery]

Hello again,

Try this link for Spotmatic info.

http://www.pentax-manuals.com/manuals/service/servicemanuals.htm

This site is brought to you by Kim Coxon, who contributes here at RFF pretty often. Hope this helps you.

Steve

 

[niimo]

Hello again,

Try this link for Spotmatic info.

http://www.pentax-manuals.com/manuals/service/servicemanuals.htm

This site is brought to you by Kim Coxson, who contributes here at RFF pretty often. Hope this helps you.

Steve

Very helpful thanks you Radiocemetery!

Yes, in fact, I found the same thing you did, unfortuntaly I don't have the same tools to use.. I will try the graphite first. It was probably not smart of me to do, but I ever-so-slightly bent the lever that was getting caught and now it is working much better, returning about 95% of the time. Hopefully this will do the trick!

 

[Murray Kelly]

I remember having a similar problem with my Spotmatic. It was the mechanism that shuts down the DOF preview when one pushes up the button on the rewind side of the mirror housing on the left side looking from the front of the camera.

The Spotmatic site mentioned above had an exploded view of the innards and it occurred to me that it might be sticky lubrication. With an oil can with a needle applicator I had been given, I put one drop into the hole just under the stuck mirror at the site inside the camera where the lever sticks out and the problem went away.

Of course I cannot tell if your particular Spotmatic has the same fault but it sounds very similar. I hope this is of some help to you with your problem.

Murray. Brisbane.

 

[Kim Coxon]

Is the mirror stuck up all the time or only once the shutter has been fired?

Kim