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Just fixed a stuck shutter on a 1972 Pentax Spotmatic that sat in a closet for 20 years
The owner brought it in last week saying it was a lost cause, totally frozen. I spent a few evenings carefully cleaning the old, gummy grease off the slow speed escapement with a tiny brush and some lighter fluid. After the third cleaning pass, the whole timing train just started moving again, and now the shutter fires perfectly at all speeds. It's a small thing, but seeing that old mechanism come back to life after two decades feels really good. Anyone else get a kick out of reviving these old mechanical timers?
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miller.avery3mo ago
Nice. That slow speed escapement is a real pain when it gets gummed up. Did you have to take the whole top plate off to get to it, or could you work through the bottom? Always a gamble with those old Spotmatics.
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calebw503mo ago
Honestly, it's the same with a lot of old gear. The right way to fix something is usually the hardest way to get to it. You just have to commit to the full tear-down.
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thomas29119d ago
Man that reminds me of when I was trying to fix an old Pentax K1000 a few years back. I thought I could sneak in through the bottom plate and just clean the shutter mechanism without pulling the whole mirror box out. Haha nope, ended up with a pile of tiny screws and a camera that wouldn't fire at all for two weeks. Had to backtrack and do the full tear-down anyway, found a piece of foam from the light seal had crumbled and jammed up the curtain timing. Always the simple stuff you overlook.
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