Mirror stays in up position

Laci Toth · Feb 28, 2021

Hi everyone,

I’ve a Pentax SP1000 and the mirror sometimes stucks in up position and only another exposure brings it back. The curtain moves so it takes the photo but the next one is always on the ‘blind composing’ side which I don’t mind but what should be the problem?
First I thought it’s the weather as it was below zero when it all started approx. two months ago but it does this now on a warmer climate like in a heated room. There’s one incident per roll.

cmacd123 · Feb 28, 2021

I have seen one where the mirror bumper foam was sticky., or the second curtain may be slow and not releasing the mirror.

dietersairplanes · Feb 28, 2021

It's a typical Pentax problem related to failed lubrication and adjustment. All you can really do is live with it. It's much worse in cold weather.

shutterfinger · Feb 28, 2021

A factory service manual is available at https://learncamerarepair.com/product.php?product=11&category=2&secondary=10

dietersairplanes · Mar 1, 2021

If the K1000 is anything like the ES, and Spotmatics, which i highly suspect it is, the innards responsible are just under the easily removable bottom cover. Simple studying of the way it works reveals the causative events. I concluded that it was a design issue not truly reparable. It's just the way it was. Every time i thought I had it licked, the darn thing would do it again at some point. When the camera was cold, it could be made to do that easily. Taking the camera inside until YOU were warm and comfortable didn't help. The camera is made of metal which stays cold longer than you. After several days inside, it runs fine. Take it outide in the cold and it invariably does it again. The cycle repeats. I discovered that the best remedy was to put the Pentax back into the camera bag and leave it alone until the next time you reached in to grab it, and discovered it had turned into a Nikkormat. Voila, the problem disappears.

Laci Toth · Mar 1, 2021

cmacd123 said:
I have seen one where the mirror bumper foam was sticky., or the second curtain may be slow and not releasing the mirror.

I’ve checked the mirror foam when it happened for the first time and it wasn’t sticky. I also thought that it has to do something with the foam as days before I replaced the foam around the door as it was in a bad condition but in this case the foam is all fine not sticky or damaged or anything.
As the photos came out perfect I think it’s not the curtain. Probably if it’d be a curtain issue the negatives would have exposure issues.

Laci Toth · Mar 1, 2021

dietersairplanes said:
It's a typical Pentax problem related to failed lubrication and adjustment. All you can really do is live with it. It's much worse in cold weather.

Do you think it’ll be worse with time? Should I send it to cla?

Laci Toth · Mar 1, 2021

shutterfinger said:
A factory service manual is available at https://learncamerarepair.com/product.php?product=11&category=2&secondary=10

Thanks! I’ll look into it and will see if I can do something about it without ruining anything.

dietersairplanes · Mar 1, 2021

The shutter is fine. The problem has nothing to do with that. You're going to sent a camera worth $2.00 off for a CLA when you know full well they will get it working long enough to go out the door until the next time you go out on a cold day? I send all my Pentaxes off to the nearest dumpster for a CLA. Or, just live with it. It's not really half bad of a camera in some ways, if you just live with it. Spring will soon be here and it will settle down for the summer. Just go shoot. Whne the mirror locks up, you already got the picture anyway. Wind on and waste the next one and the mirror will come back down. Wind again and you'll be ready. Say hello to a Hungarian for me. Good people.

grain elevator · Mar 1, 2021

Laci Toth said:
Do you think it’ll be worse with time? Should I send it to cla?

On my spottie, it did get worse with time, now it's permanently stuck... Ithink if you like this camera and want it to be reliable, you have no choice but to get it serviced. A replacement spottie will likely developl the same problem.

Laci Toth · Mar 1, 2021

grain elevator said:
On my spottie, it did get worse with time, now it's permanently stuck... Ithink if you like this camera and want it to be reliable, you have no choice but to get it serviced. A replacement spottie will likely developl the same problem.

Yes, I’m currently seeking for a good repairman as my gut feeling says the same that it might be worse later.

Hatchetman · Mar 1, 2021

Call Eric at Pentaxs.com I had this issue after he did a CLA and he knew what the problem was. I guess it wasn’t part of a normal CLA but I sent it back and he fixed it.

cmacd123 · Mar 1, 2021

dietersairplanes said:
I send all my Pentaxes off to the nearest dumpster for a CLA. .

Most of usknow that they are not making any more of these Gems, so we get them fixed. (Buying another one it will sooner or later need a CLA.) if they are irreparable, (things liek Foam taking the silver off the penta prism, or body dropped and out of alignment) they should be hoarded as a source for spare parts. (or traded to you favorite repair person for part of teh cost of working on another one)

Laci Toth · Mar 2, 2021

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and ideas!
For now I wait if it’ll be more frequent or not.
If yes I’ll send it for a check.

Mirror stays in up position

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