Got an old Pentax on trade.

I got this old Pentax with 3 lenses, some filters, and a case on trade. The only problem is the shutter sticks, and if it did work, I dont really know how to use the light meter on top of it. Anyway, its pretty cool, and if anyone knows of an easy fix I would be all for that.







The images seem to be re-sizing automatically for me at least. If they are too big let me know and I'll shrink them.

 

I had 2 or 3 SIa's (US name may have been different) which I bought second hand in the lte 7-'s they are brilliant cameras very capable performers.

Mine went when I switched completely to K mount but a couple of years ago I met someone I'd sold one to in the early 1980's and he was still using it & the meter as his only camera !!!

The light meters easy just set the film speed tilt down slightly to take the reading and read what f stop it suggests for your chosen shutter speed Simplistic but works.

Ian

 

So do you think its worth fixing?

 

That depends on the cost of a service/CLA, these camera's don't fetch high prices even in good condition and fully functioning.

Ian

 

The camera is an Asahi Pentax Sv. It was not sold as such in the US. In the US it was rebranded with the importer's name and sold as the Honeywell Pentax H3v The Asahi Pentax S1a mentioned in another reply was sold in the US as the Honeywell Pentax H1a. Check out: Pentax (original - Camerapedia.org)

A sticking shutter is usually a significant repair. Its unlikely that it would be cost effective to repair the camera as newer models can usually be purchased used for less than the cost of a shutter repair.

BTW, the 35mm f/2.3 pictured in an early lens, made from 1958-62, and predates the Sv body. Its a clumsy lens to use by todays standards, not having a fully auto stop down diaphram, but was bleeding edge technology in 1958. There's a good description of old Takumar lenses on this page: Early Pentax Takumar Lenses

 

Dwig's point is valid, I've had a good Spotmatic body thrown in free alongside another ebay purchase & I bought a mint Spotmatic F 50mm f2 lens & case for £25 ($40) only to discover after that I knew the original owner who'd donated the camera to a raise funds for a workshop facility.

I have an early Pentax with a broken shutter, and unless I learn how to repair it myself it won't get fixed, but I'm part way there on the learning curve of repairing cameras & shutters.

Ian

 

Ok so its not worth fixing. What model is it? A Honeywell Pentax H3V? What is the significance of the lens being sloppy?

 

Re-read my first post. Of course its not a Honeywell Pentax H3v since it says "Asahi" and not "Honeywell". As I said in my first post, its an Asahi Pentax S1v. The H3v and S1v are identical except:

1. The brand name on the top cover.
2. Where the camera was originally sold new
3. Who honored the original warranty (long since expired).

Also, its quite pointless, not to mention annoying, to post oversized images like the ones in the first post.

 

You dont have to be such a dick about it. I misread your post. The images that I posted must have automatically resized themselves when I posted them because they are a normal size when I open this thread. Thanks for the info :mrgreen:

 

Boz, you might try exercising the camera a little, firing it off a few times etc every few days. I have a much later KM that developed a sticky shutter so I just stopped using it, but I did try firing it occasionally. It now works perfectly despite not having a service.

Sometimes lubricants dry out through lack of use that happened to my Rolleiflex, the original owner had used less than a dozen rolls of film in 40 years

The repair manual for the S3 covers the SV and S1a as well, I found it through this website.

Ian

 

Ian, I have been trying to fire it every once and awhile it sometimes will go like 2 or 3 times before it sticks.

Mitica, if you go back and read my first post, I wasnt sure if the images that I posted were re-sized on everyones browsers. Apparently they are not. The images pop up on my browser with a bar at the top that says "this image has been resized" I have not seen this in any other forum that I go to so I was under the impression that there was something built into the forum that automatically resizes the images. Apparently I was wrong and I didnt appreciate the way that Dwig told me about it especially because I did mention it in my first post.