farlymac
PF McFarland
Today, the FedEx delivered a package with a Pentax ME Super, 1.7/50, 2/50, AF200T flash, various loose items (filters and such), and a Nikkor 2.8/24 in the bubble case (the only reason I bid on the bunch), all for much less than the 24mm alone retails for.
Everything looked good (the 24mm needs lube really bad, as it squeals), but the mirror was up on the ME Super, and the winder was jammed. I figured it was just dead batteries, so I loaded a fresh pair, got the lights, but no action. Tried the slap-into-palm trick, and that didn't work. Opened up the bottom, and no amount of lever manipulation would help. I could get the shutter to wind and trip, though it tripped on it's own when the winding lever was let go.
I knew how these particular camera were prone to hang-up, and after digging a little farther, found out you had to physically move the shutter blades to finish the stroke. I tried that, and nothing happened.
Then I came across Margaret Mak's article at KyPhoto on the subject, and found I wasn't pushing far enough on the shutter blades. Mind you, I was really leery about messing around with it as they are just very thin plastic. But I gave it one more try, and down came the mirror!
I was so happy. Closed up the bottom of the camera, put the batteries back in, wound the film advance, pushed the shutter button, and nothing.
Back to opening up the bottom again, pushing levers, re-reading Margaret's article. Even tried the self timer to see if cycling that would kick things in gear. But I've come to the conclusion that it really needs a thorough cleaning, as what seems to be the current problem now is just plainly the shutter is stuck. You can hear something click at the proper time the self timer would release the shutter, so I'm pretty sure the action is intact, and not the dreaded broken tab on top of the shutter release stack.
I may try spritzing it with Ronsonal, to see if that loosens things up. I'm not really enthused about the prospect of opening up an electronically controlled SLR, what with all the wires that would have to be unsoldered, and all the little parts that can go flying anywhere. It's not a camera I'm all that enamored with either, so maybe I'll just give it away, and sell the lenses.
Anyhow, those are just some of the things that can go wrong with a Pentax ME Super.
PF
Everything looked good (the 24mm needs lube really bad, as it squeals), but the mirror was up on the ME Super, and the winder was jammed. I figured it was just dead batteries, so I loaded a fresh pair, got the lights, but no action. Tried the slap-into-palm trick, and that didn't work. Opened up the bottom, and no amount of lever manipulation would help. I could get the shutter to wind and trip, though it tripped on it's own when the winding lever was let go.
I knew how these particular camera were prone to hang-up, and after digging a little farther, found out you had to physically move the shutter blades to finish the stroke. I tried that, and nothing happened.
Then I came across Margaret Mak's article at KyPhoto on the subject, and found I wasn't pushing far enough on the shutter blades. Mind you, I was really leery about messing around with it as they are just very thin plastic. But I gave it one more try, and down came the mirror!
I was so happy. Closed up the bottom of the camera, put the batteries back in, wound the film advance, pushed the shutter button, and nothing.
Back to opening up the bottom again, pushing levers, re-reading Margaret's article. Even tried the self timer to see if cycling that would kick things in gear. But I've come to the conclusion that it really needs a thorough cleaning, as what seems to be the current problem now is just plainly the shutter is stuck. You can hear something click at the proper time the self timer would release the shutter, so I'm pretty sure the action is intact, and not the dreaded broken tab on top of the shutter release stack.
I may try spritzing it with Ronsonal, to see if that loosens things up. I'm not really enthused about the prospect of opening up an electronically controlled SLR, what with all the wires that would have to be unsoldered, and all the little parts that can go flying anywhere. It's not a camera I'm all that enamored with either, so maybe I'll just give it away, and sell the lenses.
Anyhow, those are just some of the things that can go wrong with a Pentax ME Super.
PF
