Topic: Help with Spotmatic SP500

[astrobeck]

Hey all.
I have a Spotmatic SP500 which has been working mostly fine until today.
Since getting the camera last year I have just used it with an external meter or sunny 16'd it for exposure.

I noticed today that when I push up the meter lever on the side of the lens housing and then push the shutter button the mirror hangs up until I push the meter button to the down position.
It's then that the mirror is released. The foam on the mirror bumper is good so it's not that.
the shutter works fine and the mirror doesn't hang up if I don't try to engage the meter.
If I engage it, then it seems to get stuck.

I realize I should probably just keep using it "as is" and not engage the meter button since it doesn't work ( I don't have a battery and never bothered to get one) but I'd kind of like it to not jam the mirror since that meter button might get pushed up by accident.

I hope all this makes some sort of sense and someone has a remedy.

Thanks!
Beck

[Francois]

There's probably a place that needs a drop of light oil somewhere in the mechanism...
Are there any interlinks visible in the film chamber on that side?

[johnha]

I have a similar problem on an SP2, I suspect an issue with the stop down mechanism which is activated by the metering switch.

These links may help explain the mirror release mechanism:

http://forum.mflenses.com/jammed-spotmatic-t7169.html

https://simonhawketts.co.uk/2016/01/16/repairing-a-pentax-spotmatic-stuck-mirror/

John.

[astrobeck]

Thank you. I'll do some digging.

I have a similar problem on an SP2, I suspect an issue with the stop down mechanism which is activated by the metering switch.

These links may help explain the mirror release mechanism:

http://forum.mflenses.com/jammed-spotmatic-t7169.html

https://simonhawketts.co.uk/2016/01/16/repairing-a-pentax-spotmatic-stuck-mirror/

John.

[Francois]

Sometimes it doesn't take a lot to stop a part from working.
I have an old Minolta on which the shutter wouldn't return, but only on the slow speeds. It turns out there's a cog on the bottom that, while it looked like it was free-turning, had just enough resistance to stop the whole camera. A single tiny drop of oil applied with a blunt hypodermic needle fixed the problem.

[astrobeck]

It is amazing how some simple things like a drop of oil fixes what appear to be doomed cameras, etc.
I've even fixed things by just letting them sit out in the Sun to warm up or loosen up at times.
I'm determined to fix this  Spotmatic as it used to work like a champ and I know it should work great again. 

Sometimes it doesn't take a lot to stop a part from working.
I have an old Minolta on which the shutter wouldn't return, but only on the slow speeds. It turns out there's a cog on the bottom that, while it looked like it was free-turning, had just enough resistance to stop the whole camera. A single tiny drop of oil applied with a blunt hypodermic needle fixed the problem.

[chris667]

My Spotmatic did this!

I had it serviced and it was fine. I believe it is a fairly common issue on them.