Frame counter problem on Pentax 67

[Lss]

I have recently purchased a Pentax 67 body only. My first lens for this system (105/2.4) has just arrived, so now's finally the time to test the camera. Unfortunately, there is a problem.

Without film in the camera, the frame counter shows the big dot left of zero. After I open the back cover, I can rotate the frame counter to wherever I want and as I let go off it, it either stays where I have set it or returns to the big dot depending on whether I closed the back cover or not. I guess this is all normal. I can thus test the shutter following the process described in the manual.

The problem
Once I load film, I can advance the film as much as I want, but the frame counter never moves and the shutter does not get cocked. If I do the trick above with film loaded, I can cock the shutter and I assume take pictures fairly normally - however, the frame counter never moves from 1 (or wherever I manually set it). This is not really optimal, since I don't know how many times I need to advance the wind lever to get to frame 1 nor do I know how many exposures I have left. I guess this can lead to missing photos in the beginning and even end of the film.

Has anyone experienced this? Any tips?

I'm using 120 film and have set both the counter and the pressure plate for 120. The battery is fresh. My camera did not come with the shutter cocking key, so I can't test with that.

 

[Lss]

Update: The issue obviously remains. Anyway, I shot a roll of Portra with the camera yesterday and will try to get it developed this week. If all is well with the film, I can at least use the camera.

I will also ask for a repair estimate as soon as possible. I'm afraid it will be close to 50% of the camera's value, and I'm not sure whether I'm willing to spend that. Perhaps I can work something out with the seller. The camera sure feels nice, but the frame counter issue makes it very inconvenient. I'm sure I already shot at least 3 or 4 empty frames at the end of my first roll. Once I figure out the number of empty frames in the beginning of the roll I should be able to get it right most of the time.

 

[Lss]

I got the film back and unfortunately there is another problem. The frame spacing grows after each exposure and I can thus only get 9 exposures on a roll of 120. This is definitely not normal behaviour or some small fluctuation in the frame spacing; each space is wider than the previous one, you can see it with the naked eye from an arm's length. I suspect the two problems are related. It would make sense to me that the frame counter takes into account the thickness of the film on the take-up spool and controls the advance mechanism to maintain frame spacing.

The only good news is that the exposures are not overlapping, and there appears to be no light leaks.

Has anyone seen this on their Pentax, is it an easy fix or should I start talking to the seller about returning the camera? I'm certainly no Pentax 67 expert, but the camera seems otherwise in good shape for its age.

 

[Lss]

The repair estimate is 200-300 euros. Yikes. According to the camera repair man this is a fairly common problem on the Pentax 67 and requires a lot of work to fix.

 

[Keith]

Two to three hundred euros is a lot of money IMO for a camera that's not really worth a lot more than that.

Is there any chance of returning the camera to the seller ... that would be my choice if it was possible?

 

[Lss]

Thanks, Keith. The seller is willing to take the camera back, but I have decided to keep it anyway. The price is pretty good and the seller is willing to lower it further to compensate for the problems. I had to think pretty hard on this one, and many probably would prefer returning it. I think that would be my advice, too, for anyone in the same situation. 🙂

The camera is usable for me, although it does waste film. The price reduction however covers the lost exposure for 50-100 rolls depending on what I shoot, which should be at least 2-3 years worth of pictures based on how I intend to use it, probably more than that. That's the good part. The bad part is that it's not worth fixing this thing, and it will be very difficult to get what I paid if I ever decide to sell it. But I have no such plans. Film and additional lenses will be the major cost for me anyway.