Huss
Veteran
I was using my XK yesterday without issue the entire day. After rewinding my last roll of film, I discovered that the film advance lever would not move. It felt as if it had already been wound, but the shutter would not fire. In essence, it was jammed.
Now, this is not the common mirror lock up issue that can be caused by low batteries, or not pushing in the sensor thingy switch on the front of the camera. That is easily resolved by either rotating the battery cover from close to open and back (triggering a switch underneath it), or setting the camera to X.
The fix actually was very easy. I removed the camera's baseplate by removing the two little screws, and pushed a lever to the right with a tooth pick.
I have attached a couple of pictures for reference to help anyone else. Especially seeing that most repair places refuse to touch this camera.
Pic 1 - the base plate of the camera removed. The wind mechanism is on the right, and the lever that needs to be pushed is just underneath the rewind button, which is the silver circle directly underneath the film wind lever.
Pic 2 - a close up of the lever. Pardon the orientation (and my hairy knuckles!) but photobucket is refusing to allow me to rotate the image for some reason! The lever is in the center of the screen, to the right of the rewind button and just above that central gear.
In the above photo you need to push the lever from its top edge across to the central gear below it. The lever is actually lower than that gear. This will release the mechanism and the camera is good to go.
I would think that this principle would apply to many other cameras too, in case you ever face a situation of a jammed film advance lever.
Peace out
Huss
Now, this is not the common mirror lock up issue that can be caused by low batteries, or not pushing in the sensor thingy switch on the front of the camera. That is easily resolved by either rotating the battery cover from close to open and back (triggering a switch underneath it), or setting the camera to X.
The fix actually was very easy. I removed the camera's baseplate by removing the two little screws, and pushed a lever to the right with a tooth pick.
I have attached a couple of pictures for reference to help anyone else. Especially seeing that most repair places refuse to touch this camera.
Pic 1 - the base plate of the camera removed. The wind mechanism is on the right, and the lever that needs to be pushed is just underneath the rewind button, which is the silver circle directly underneath the film wind lever.
Pic 2 - a close up of the lever. Pardon the orientation (and my hairy knuckles!) but photobucket is refusing to allow me to rotate the image for some reason! The lever is in the center of the screen, to the right of the rewind button and just above that central gear.
In the above photo you need to push the lever from its top edge across to the central gear below it. The lever is actually lower than that gear. This will release the mechanism and the camera is good to go.
I would think that this principle would apply to many other cameras too, in case you ever face a situation of a jammed film advance lever.
Peace out
Huss
Jack Conrad
Well-known
Thanks Huss, I'll keep this in mind.
farlymac
PF McFarland
Nikkormat EL's are prone to that same issue, only a different lever. I've done this with several cameras, and sometimes it works, sometimes it just jams again. That's when the fun starts, trying to figure out why it is jamming.
Those XK series cameras being as rare as they are, it's a good thing to know the simple fixes. Thanks for posting, Huss. If I ever run across one of these in a junk shop, I'll have some hope that I could get it to work again.
PF
Those XK series cameras being as rare as they are, it's a good thing to know the simple fixes. Thanks for posting, Huss. If I ever run across one of these in a junk shop, I'll have some hope that I could get it to work again.
PF
Huss
Veteran
Glad that it may be of help!
The XK really is a delightful camera to use. I have both the original AE and the later AE-S metered heads for it. I much prefer the original as the meter seems more accurate (using a version of Minolta's CLC pattern) and the shutter speed readout is far more legible.
I feel in a way I brought the problems on myself, as I loaded it in such a way that I was able to shoot 39 exposures on the 36 exp roll. By first threading the film lead very positively, then winding out the film as I placed the canister in the film chamber. That way I immediately closed the back and started winding on/loading the film without wasting as many 'blank' exposures. Problem was I tried to shoot a 40th shot and I guess my attempt to wind on too far (because it almost seemed like it could make it) caused the mechanism to slip and freeze. That's my theory anyway and from here on out I'll not be doing that again!
The XK really is a delightful camera to use. I have both the original AE and the later AE-S metered heads for it. I much prefer the original as the meter seems more accurate (using a version of Minolta's CLC pattern) and the shutter speed readout is far more legible.
I feel in a way I brought the problems on myself, as I loaded it in such a way that I was able to shoot 39 exposures on the 36 exp roll. By first threading the film lead very positively, then winding out the film as I placed the canister in the film chamber. That way I immediately closed the back and started winding on/loading the film without wasting as many 'blank' exposures. Problem was I tried to shoot a 40th shot and I guess my attempt to wind on too far (because it almost seemed like it could make it) caused the mechanism to slip and freeze. That's my theory anyway and from here on out I'll not be doing that again!