Pentax K1000 problem

[Peter_S]

Hi!

A friend of mine has a Pentax K1000, and contacted me about a problem he has with the camera:
When he sets the shutter speed to 1/1000 the right part of the resulting image is darkened - see photo. He thinks the that one curtain is faster than the other; that is possible - I had exactly that issue with my M6, and the effect on the image looked similar.

What do you think? And whatever it is - is it easy to repair? He is from Poland, so maybe someone here even has a recommendation where to send it to for repair.

Any help is appreciated!
Cheers,
Peter

 

[rolleistef]

given the price of a K1000, it would probably be more worth it to buy another camera... Did Aldous Huxley say something about societies that prefer throwing things away rather mending them?

 

[mike rosenlof]

Can't help too much with the shutter except to confirm that yes, it's likely a curtain speed mismatch problem. Sometimes called "capping". I believe that it should be fairly easily repaired and just about any competent repair tech should be able to handle it.

The main reason I'm posting is that I'd love to hear the actual Huxley quote that Stéphane referred to if anybody can elaborate.

 

[wblynch]

Don't use 1/1000th.

There. Solved. Easy! 🙂

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Don't use 1/1000th.

There. Solved. Easy! 🙂

No, not solved. If the shutter curtains do not move the same speed, then all the high speeds from 1/125 up will show uneven exposure to some degree. Why half-ass something, and why even suggest that?

 

[Dwig]

No, not solved. If the shutter curtains do not move the same speed, then all the high speeds from 1/125 up will show uneven exposure to some degree. ...

+1, though actually all speeds will show some error with the error being successively less with each lower speed. It probably becomes insignificant somewhere around 1/125 or 1/60.

Whats happening is that the curtain travel times are incorrect. Probably the first curtain has slowed down more that the second curtain (dirt, ageing lubricant, fatigued springs, ...) resulting in the second curtain catching up with the first during their travel.

Repair is simply a CLA (clean, lube, and adjust) to restore the proper curtain travel times and to readjust the shutter speeds. The relative costs of repair and replacement will, of course, vary substantially depending on locale.

 

[BardParker]

Eric Hendrickson is the best Pentax repair guy around. He did a complete CLA on my daughter's K1000 for $72. Works like a fine Swiss watch now!



http://pentaxs.com

Kent

 

[Pioneer]

Eric Hendrickson is the best Pentax repair guy around. He did a complete CLA on my daughter's K1000 for $72. Works like a fine Swiss watch now!

http://pentaxs.com

Kent

+1 on Eric Hendrickson. He can easily bring that wonderful camera back to specs for a reasonable price.

The advice to toss it away and go buy another is just silly and makes no sense at all. If you spend the same amount that it would cost for a repair to buy another, then you will have a very good chance of getting another camera with problems. Now you own two cameras that need repair. However, if you spend your money to fix it, you have a great camera that you KNOW is good! Makes a heck of a lot more sense. A serviced K1000 is a very reliable, very good camera that will give you years and years of top notch service.

 

[Peter_S]

Hi!

Thanks for the helpful replies, I appreciate it. I passed the information on; and (after owing three analog Ms...) I fully agree, rather repair and knowing it now works 100% than buying an unknown used camera again.

Cheers!
Peter