Asahi Pentax Spotmatic Not firing at all

[giantelf]

Hello. I picked up a Pentax Spotmatic SP in an online auction for $10. When I press the shutter button nothing happens. I can open the back. The cloth shutter curtain is closed. When I use the front timer I see it draw down the shutter button but the shutter does not fire. The advance lever will not advance.

It has the 7 element Super-Takumar !:1.4/50 lens -- so there is at least that if the camera is toast or to gone to repair.

Two things I noticed: the lens has a dent in the rim. And there is small -- albeit larger - dent on faceplate above the Asahi Pentax badge. So....the previous owner has dropped it.

Any thoughts on next steps? Is it a goner? What are the next steps?

I read online this is a fully mechanical camera and the battery only powers the meter.

 

[mshchem]

Can you look through the lens?

These cameras suffer from old dried out grease.

Maybe a cleaning is due.

 

[reddesert]

There are a couple of common problems with Spotmatics that have to do with the mirror charge lever, which can result in (I think) either the mirror sticking up or the camera not firing, depending on where you are in the the cycle when the mirror charge lever is disengaged from the thingy it's supposed to be engaged to. You can look at this thread for some discussion: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/pentax-spotmatic-sp-stuck-mirror.210187/

The pictured mechanism is under the bottom plate so it is not hard to access, although finding a lasting solution may be harder.

 

[loccdor]

Great cameras when they're working, I've been using one since 2010. Almost pocketable SLR. What you paid is less than one fifth the worth of the lens alone. I paid $125-150 for a CLA'd model with lens. In these 15 years it never had a mechanical problem.

Your best option may be to find a cheap but working M42 camera to mount the lens on. There are loads of them out there.