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Mark Wood
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 03:49 pm: | 
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I have a Pentax SP1000 ("cheaper" early '70s Spotmatic without the self timer) which has the (what I believe to be) typical problem with the meter switch. The meter seems to work well but on releasing the shutter, the mirror only lifts to about 2/3 of its full travel and the meter switch stays on. If you wind on and release the shutter repeatedly, it eventually releases the switch - remarkably, always on the third attempt!
I suspect it's time to have the camera properly serviced but as I have heard that this is a common fault, I just wondered how easy a problem it is to sort out.
Many thanks for any advice. |
Mark Wood
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 03:51 pm: |
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PS. Apologies for the message title - whoever put "r" and "t" next to eachother on the keyboard has a lot to answer for... |
Ed
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 11:39 am: |
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Probably time for a cla--the mirror is not coming up with enough force to release the meter switch. |
Mark Wood
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 04:29 pm: |
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Ed-many thanks; you've reinforced my opinion that a full, professional(!) CLA is in order. I'd really hate to dive in with an amateur screwdriver and risk the destruction of such a good camera!
As a sideline, I'm afraid that I think I can add fuel to the contraversial battery debate with regard to this type of camera. There is no doubt in my mind that a (normal, 1.55V) silver oxide battery causes the SP1000 meter to over-read (i.e. underexpose) by nearly a full stop when compared with a new and correct RM400 mercury battery (that registers the correct voltage under load). To solve the dilemma, we really need to know whether Spotmatics (or which specific Pentax models) really do use a bridge circuit for the meter-I now suspect that the SP1000 doesn't. There has been a lot of debate on this subject but does anyone actually have a proper circuit diagram for the metering system in these cameras? As a (sorry, they still pay me to do it, I have to admit!) university chemistry lecturer, I'm afraid that I really do cringe at some of the rather non-scientific and most importantly, factually incorrect discussions that abound on the "www" on the mercury battery topic! |
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