The $10 SP 1000

[rukmeister]

Well I've finally been tempted into the world of film...

So my first film camera is this Pentax SP 1000 that I spotted in the local recycling store for AUD $10. Absolutely covered in layers of dust.
Cleaned up pretty good, bit of scuffing, nothing major. All the mechanisms are fine as far as I can tell. Shutter sounds about right and meter works well.

Though light seals and mirror dampener are completely disintegrated. So obviously new light seals in order, does anyone know if Jon still sells the kits? His ebay shop is empty... or where else to get a seal kit?

Also, there is this black "line" visible in the viewfinder... could anyone tell me the cause/fix for this please?

[Attila]

Hey look forward your results!

Until you find light seal use simple electrical tape, cover possible holes when film already loaded.

I have no clue about viewer.

[rukmeister]

Thanks! Great tip with the electrical tape! I've got some handy too (needed for other crazy hobbies huh )

How about the lack of mirror dampener? Will I cause any damage to mirror/shutter from firing it a few dozen times ie a roll of film?

[Excalibur]

Welcome to the film world of pleasure and relaxation....IIRC someone recently bought a kit off interslice.

[Attila]

[peterqd]

[Minolfan]

Funny new avatar peterqd!
I never made it that probing.

[rukmeister]

Thanks everyone for the info,

as for the prism damage it isnt that big a deal (well for $10 anyway) it's only "in focus" when camera is held about 20cm from the eye, with your eye directly on the viewfinder, it's visible, but barely and only as a strip of grey "fog" it's so out of focus. It doesn't really obscure very much or stop being able to focus...

whether it affects focus accuracy, i won't know until I shoot some film I guess.

A good start I think anyway, good way to see how I like film or not $10 + bit of elec tape and a roll of film - not bad for an experiment.

Now I wonder if my Yashinon DX 50/1.4 will hit the mirror or not....

[peterqd]

[Nesster]

First, congrats on the SP1000 - my favorite spottie.

You might find some foam tape - a couple of mm thick is good - to put in as mirror damper.

[rukmeister]

It certainly has a nice feel to it, foam tape sounds good looks like off to the hardware store!

Unfortunately no joy with the yashinon dx 50/1.4

Sheesh I'd like to use this lens for something other than macro one day!

[fuzzywuzzy]

Jon Goodman is still selling his kits but got tired of EBay BS. I bought some kits from him a couple of months ago, at that time he was trying to get a new website up, not sure what the status is now.

Send Jon an email and he'll get right back to you.

[rukmeister]

Ah Thanks, I'll shoot him off an email after I've run this roll through the camera.
Just want to make sure shutter is still ok and I'll see what comes out and whether it's worth fixing or not. If the shutter speeds are off I don't think that's something that I really want to attempt fixing myself.

[rukmeister]

Funny how things work out. Like father like son. Had one of those rare catch up calls from my dad. We usually go to photo talk as it's pretty much the only thing in common.

Turns out he still has his Pentax SP II that he'd bought before I was even born
It was his first film camera too! And he really looks after his gear so it's in pristine condition.

With matching 50/1.4 Super Multi Coated Tak! WoW. Plus all original boxes, manual etc! It's been sitting in storage for over two decades.
Seals still look ok, lens is fungus free. He's going to send over since he has no interest in film anymore and its been sitting in storage for so long unused. Lucky me!



Well I'm 2/3 through a roll in the SP1000, but once the SP II arrives I think this sp1000 might end up being for disassembly & repair practice. I've been really enjoying using the pentax, very much looking forward to how all the shots turn out. It's a very odd feeling not being able to see the results instantly. Felt like a complete idiot a few times flicking the camera over after a shot too look at the back for the picture

[rukmeister]

Well something isn't right with this guy. I'm not sure what it might be though...

At first I thought it might be that only the fast shutter speed shots didn't come out, but there are definitely a couple 1/1000 and 1/500 shots that exposed properly so it's not that...

About 2/3 of the roll came out perfect. Meter seems to be fine and so does the shutter as far as I can tell. But the other 1/3... hmmm

The ones that didn't come out seem to be underexposed and something else going too. I have absolutely no idea what might do this, maybe someone else recognises this kind of thing?

All the funny ones look like this :







Any ideas? Reason I thought maybe it's the shutter at first was those 3 were all at 1/1000, but there were other shots at 1/1000 that came out perfect.....

Looking at the negatives now, it does appear to be when the shutter was 1/1000, but not everytime! Apart from the above there appear to be frames where the shutter did not open at all. All the exposures at slower shutter speeds came out fine.

[Nesster]

The shutter is capping and dragging... on my cameras this tends to happen a) in the cold b) at high shutter speeds. The shutter may just need to limber up after all those decades - shoot with the empty camera at all speeds, a lot - or it may need a shutter cleaning and lube.


I'm finding the majority of my Pentax mechanical shutters are in need of a CLA - they cap in conditions a and/or b.

[peterqd]

It's difficult to be sure without inspecting the camera, but to me it looks probably as though the first shutter curtain is a little sluggish to get off the mark. This causes the second curtain to catch it up and results in what is called capping, when the gap between the two curtains is either zero or at least far too small, and the result is underexposure. The banding in the last two shots is a typical sign.

This is a very common problem with old cameras and is often erratic, some frames are OK, others not. Very often it clears itself after some exercise - for example:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/spotmatic/discuss/72157605851923697/

If it won't cure itself, you'll need to clean and lubricate the shutter curtain bearings. There are 4 in the base and 4 at the top. The bottom ones are easy to get at by removing the baseplate but the top ones are awkward - you have to remove the top and then other components to see them. Often a CLA on just the bottom ones will do the trick because these collect more crud. Clean the bearings by applying lighter fuel several times and working them, and then allow the solvent to dry thoroughly. Then lubricate with a very tiny touch of light oil on the end of a fine screwdriver or even a needle. I use valve oil meant for the piston valves on brass musical instruments, which you can buy in any music shop selling brass. Light sewing machine oil is OK for this too.

Under the baseplate you'll also see the tensioning screws for the shutter curtain springs. These are locked with a red lacquer. !Do NOT be tempted to touch the tensioners! - they're set in the factory and readjusting them is a PITA.

[rukmeister]

Thank you so much for the information

I know the 3 lenses i used were fine - they've been cla'd and the underexposed shots are randomly scattered through the roll - happened with all the lenses.

What you're saying makes sense to me. The rest of the shots came out ok, but some do seem a touch underexposed too for what I intended (and the meter gives me very close readings to what my SD14 dslr gives on centre weighted with same lens etc so i'm pretty confident the meter is still ok)

When I have time I might do top and bottom, then I can find out for sure what's going on with the veiwfinder at the same time.

[Nesster]

Yes, the two typical symptoms are present in your samples - the dark edge band, and the random darker band in the middle. The slit movement in the shutter becomes erratic over the full frame. Thanks Peter for the cleaning/lubing info, I might try that on some of my cameras rather than sending them out to be worked.