Help with Pentax MG Troubleshooting

aeparks · Mar 19, 2017

I managed to come across my mom's Pentax MG a few days ago. I've always been interested in shooting film so I picked up some low-end film and batteries today. The camera batteries are working properly, however I can't get the shutter to fire.
Earlier I couldn't get the wind lever to work properly, but realized it was because I hadn't properly pushed the rewind crank back into place. I'm having trouble with the lever again, but can't seem to figure out why this time. Any ideas on why the shutter isn't working, or lever isn't working? I've been reading the manual but can't seem to find an answer.

table1349 · Mar 19, 2017

Don't know if this will help or not. The MG's and MX's were prone to shutter film wind issues.

Favorite Classics > Pentax ME Super Ramblings > Three Common Failure Problems

Derrel · Mar 19, 2017

Agreed....Many wind breakdowns on those compact Pentaxes.

aeparks · Mar 19, 2017

Ah jeeze, I hope not. My mom said she never had issues with it, I'll be so sad if it broke right when I actually wanted to use it. When it did this earlier she was able to fix it immediately by pushing down the film rewind crank/button. I'm not sure what I did, or if I even did anything.
Any ideas about the shutter not releasing?

Derrel · Mar 20, 2017

Well, button batteries are finicky; a small fingerprint can prevent functioning. My suggestion: remove battery cover, clean both of the batteries and place them back in using a cloth, not bare hands. Before doing that, clean the camera's battery compartment contacts using a pencil eraser, and a q-tip or swab. Clean the battery cover's inner side the same way, gentle pencil erase rubs --with a clean pencil erase that's been primed by rubbing off some of the hardened, outer eraser part.

99% of issues with electronic shutter cameras of that era come from BAD battery contacts! The amount of contact surface is extremely small, so cleaning batteries and putting them back into a cleaned battery well is a big issue. I've brought back to life many "dead" cameras by using the above method.

jcdeboever · Mar 20, 2017

This guy could get it in proper order. I know a lady from a camera club that sent one to him (your model) and it came back in fine order. I think it cost her like $75 bucks total with shipping, same issue as yours. She was fond of it because it was a family camera so the cost wasn't an issue. She has a 50mm 1.7 and she took some nice images with it. I was amazed how different it looked when she got it back, very clean, looked almost new in comparison. Shutter speeds were super close.
Home-Pentaxs

webestang64 · Mar 20, 2017

Derrel said:
Well, button batteries are finicky; a small fingerprint can prevent functioning. My suggestion: remove battery cover, clean both of the batteries and place them back in using a cloth, not bare hands. Before doing that, clean the camera's battery compartment contacts using a pencil eraser, and a q-tip or swab. Clean the battery cover's inner side the same way, gentle pencil erase rubs --with a clean pencil erase that's been primed by rubbing off some of the hardened, outer eraser part.

99% of issues with electronic shutter cameras of that era come from BAD battery contacts! The amount of contact surface is extremely small, so cleaning batteries and putting them back into a cleaned battery well is a big issue. I've brought back to life many "dead" cameras by using the above method.

Had to do that on one of Pentax MV's.

table1349 · Mar 20, 2017

aeparks said:
Ah jeeze, I hope not. My mom said she never had issues with it, I'll be so sad if it broke right when I actually wanted to use it. When it did this earlier she was able to fix it immediately by pushing down the film rewind crank/button. I'm not sure what I did, or if I even did anything.
Any ideas about the shutter not releasing?

I do have one that is not all that uncommon with SLR's especially Pentax SLR's. Are you sure you ran the film winder lever out to it's full extension? If you soft hand it you don't reset the shutter release.

Also, make sure you put return the film winder lever to the closed position when you are done using the camera. If memory serves me correctly that is what turns the meter off. If you don't the batteries don't last long.

compur · Mar 20, 2017

The M-series Pentax SLRs (ME,MV,MG, etc) were not very robust and it is common to find them today in non-working condition even if they've just been sitting unused for a long period. The earlier K-series (KX, KM, K-1000, etc) are more likely to be found working these days.

aeparks · Mar 20, 2017

I just tried cleaning the batteries and the battery compartment and put them back in, now I'm not seeing any light through the viewfinder that was previously working. Something must be up with the battery compartment I presume? Would that cause the shutter issues along with the wind lever not working?
So strange that the viewfinder lights and wind lever were both working yesterday when I initially put in the batteries.

Derrel · Mar 20, 2017

I think the shutter needs to be fired 2 or 3 times and the film counter advanced to Frame 1 for the meter to work. Are you 100% positive the batteries are good, and installed in the proper polarity direction? many cameras of that era did not turn the metering system on until Frame 1. if things were working yesterday, they should work today, so...

I know it seems like a simple thing, but everything needs to be checked, including battery polarity. Since you are not familiar with the camera, small details can easily be overlooked.

table1349 · Mar 20, 2017

Take a round toothpick or small jewelers screwdriver and trip the shutter from the hole in the middle of the shutter release. If that works you may have a faulty shutter button or it may reset the shutter trip mechanism.

Derrel · Mar 20, 2017

And from Wikipedia: ..." the selector around the release button had three positions: Auto, 100X (1/100, X sync) and B". See if the camera will shoot at 100x.

limr · Mar 20, 2017

jcdeboever said:
This guy could get it in proper order. I know a lady from a camera club that sent one to him (your model) and it came back in fine order. I think it cost her like $75 bucks total with shipping, same issue as yours. She was fond of it because it was a family camera so the cost wasn't an issue. She has a 50mm 1.7 and she took some nice images with it. I was amazed how different it looked when she got it back, very clean, looked almost new in comparison. Shutter speeds were super close.
Home-Pentaxs

Agreed - if you still can't figure it out and are determined to shoot this camera, this guy does very good work for very reasonable prices.

aeparks · Mar 21, 2017

Still can't seem to figure it out on my own, but thank you everyone so much for the great tips and advice. I definitely learned a bunch of new things since I'm just getting involved with film cameras and have a very little idea of what I'm doing. I'm going to send it to the repair guy that was recommended when I get the extra money. (College student..I'm sure you get it) I know it's a cheaper entry level film camera but I'd really like to get it fixed since my mom said I could have it, I know it was special to her as she took it traveling when she was younger. Meanwhile I'm probably going to be diving in headfirst and reading as much as I can about film photography. I'm already reading up on some other camera models that I've taken interest in. :1251: