# Camera won't shoot with lens on



## asneakypanda (Oct 6, 2015)

Okay so I have a Sears KS Super II, SR2000, that i just got yesterday from a camera swap. It came with a 35-200 mm Tokina AT-X lens. I got a battery for it and checked the shutter and everything worked fine. But today I was gonna go out to take some pictures. So i tested it one more time and the shutter kind of halted. I press the shutter button and I heard a faint *click* but the shutter doesnt open all the way. Yet when i take the lens off. I can shoot for days. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the problem is? It shoots fine without the lens on it. But sadly i dont have another lens for this camera right now.


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## ak_ (Oct 6, 2015)

You have the back open on the camera and you can see the shutter half open? Is the camera fully manual or is it aperture priority only? Try to close the iris on the lens unmounted - depress the auto pin. Perhaps a sticky/stuck iris prevents the shutter from activating if the body couldn't stop it down. As it works without the lens the mechanism linkage seems the problem. you could set the aperture fully open and test this mounted on the camera.


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## asneakypanda (Oct 6, 2015)

ak_ said:


> You have the back open on the camera and you can see the shutter half open? Is the camera fully manual or is it aperture priority only? Try to close the iris on the lens unmounted - depress the auto pin. Perhaps a sticky/stuck iris prevents the shutter from activating if the body couldn't stop it down. As it works without the lens the mechanism linkage seems the problem. you could set the aperture fully open and test this mounted on the camera.


The shutter on the back wont open at all. It sounds like the pin is only going 1/4 of the way. And when i hold down the shutter button you can hear constant clicking. The camera is aperture priority only with the exception of a setting that allows you to exclusivly use 1/100 s shutter speed. It does the machine gun clicking on that mode which is called "X" on the camera. The iris is working fine as well and nothing is getting stuck. It is only when the lens is on the camera. I can't quite seem to pinpoint the problem


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## ak_ (Oct 6, 2015)

This it?
Sears KS Super II, Sears cameras, KS super

Try B (bulb): remove the lens. Cock the shutter. Press and hold down the shutter button. While pressing and holding down the shutter button in B, mount the lens, then release the shutter.


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## asneakypanda (Oct 6, 2015)

ak_ said:


> This it?
> Sears KS Super II, Sears cameras, KS super
> 
> Try B (bulb): remove the lens. Cock the shutter. Press and hold down the shutter button. While pressing and holding down the shutter button in B, mount the lens, then release the shutter.


Yea that's the camera. And it doesn't have bulb on it :/


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## timor (Oct 7, 2015)

Lens you have is purely mechanical, once mounted engages a resistor which tells the exposure calculator what aperture the lens is set for. If the resistors is broke, (might be a short, it is low end old camera after all), it may send some weird signal and calculator goes bersek. I think that's it for the camera. RIP.


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## gsgary (Oct 7, 2015)

Bin the camera and get a mechanical camera that does not need batteries


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## asneakypanda (Oct 7, 2015)

timor said:


> Lens you have is purely mechanical, once mounted engages a resistor which tells the exposure calculator what aperture the lens is set for. If the resistors is broke, (might be a short, it is low end old camera after all), it may send some weird signal and calculator goes bersek. I think that's it for the camera. RIP.


Mmm that sounds like that's the problem. Thank you for the input


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## asneakypanda (Oct 7, 2015)

gsgary said:


> Bin the camera and get a mechanical camera that does not need batteries


Yea I have other cameras that I can use. But it saddens me bc i really wanted to use that one. Oh well though. To the bin


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## gsgary (Oct 7, 2015)

asneakypanda said:


> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> > Bin the camera and get a mechanical camera that does not need batteries
> ...


I've never heard of the camera so it must be a very basic camera


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## timor (Oct 7, 2015)

Not so basic, basic is K1000, this one has autoexposure. But off course nothing remarkable. It is rebranded Ricoh.


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## Derrel (Oct 8, 2015)

Have you tried setting the ASA/ISO dial to 400 ASA, then setting the lens to f/2 or f/2.8 and pointing the camera at a BRIGHT scene? WIll it fire with the lens set to a wide aperture? I am wondering if indoor lighting and a low ASA setting in A mode are causing an issue.


And, according to the manual I saw, it does have Bulb mode, the little "B" on the switch.

I am also wondering if that lens you have "might" be a K-A mount lens, with the little "A" button dealio on it (to one side of the 22 or 16 number setting on the lens's aperture ring), and not really era-appropriate for the camera body???


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## compur (Oct 8, 2015)

At the rear of the lens there is a small lever that engages another lever inside the camera's mount for actuating the lens diaphragm (aperture). It's possible that this lever on the lens is stuck or bent and won't allow the camera to complete the exposure cycle when that lens is mounted. I suggest trying to move that lever on the lens to see if it moves freely and if it operates the lens diaphragm when moved. Do this with the lens aperture ring set to its smallest aperture (22).

If this lever isn't working properly then a different, working lens should solve the problem.


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## asneakypanda (Oct 8, 2015)

Derrel said:


> Have you tried setting the ASA/ISO dial to 400 ASA, then setting the lens to f/2 or f/2.8 and pointing the camera at a BRIGHT scene? WIll it fire with the lens set to a wide aperture? I am wondering if indoor lighting and a low ASA setting in A mode are causing an issue.
> 
> 
> And, according to the manual I saw, it does have Bulb mode, the little "B" on the switch.
> ...


Mmm. Yes i tried that. Even with wide aperture and bright light it doesn't work (shutter). My camera doesn't have a B on it however. Just L, A, and X... And my lens doesn't have an A button on it either, but I believe you are right about it not being a era appropriate lens


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## asneakypanda (Oct 8, 2015)

compur said:


> At the rear of the lens there is a small lever that engages another lever inside the camera's mount for actuating the lens diaphragm (aperture). It's possible that this lever on the lens is stuck or bent and won't allow the camera to complete the exposure cycle when that lens is mounted. I suggest trying to move that lever on the lens to see if it moves freely and if it operates the lens diaphragm when moved. Do this with the lens aperture ring set to its smallest aperture (22).
> 
> If this lever isn't working properly then a different, working lens should solve the problem.


The lever on the lens isn't bent or stuck and it moves very freely


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## Derrel (Oct 8, 2015)

Weird that there's no B on it since the manual shows it--but then again, there are so often minor differences in camera models, camera re-badged, and so on, or perhaps the link is to a slightly different earlier or later model. The fact that it seems to work with NO LENS on it makes me think the culprit is the lens and the lens mechanism itself. I'm not an expert in the K-mount by any means whatsoever. I thought compur's comment about the lens's mechanical diaphragm actuating mechanism might be the key; as I recall, I thought Ricoh made its OWN variant on the K-mount, and I keep thinking that the diaphragm actuating mechanism could be affecting the camera's performance. From what I gather, this camera offers no mechanical (meaning ,no external control,no dial or knob) user control over shutter speeds, right? If that is so, this would fall into the category of semi-automatic-only cameras, which was something Pentax did with like the ME Super camera of that same general era, so....the lens absolutely MUST, as in it MUST communicate 100% properly with the camera body, because the idea was to have the user pick an f/stop, and then allow the camera to automatically choose and set, internally, the right shutter speed; that is how these cameras worked. SO, as timor said, if the camera's electronics are toast, then the camera is a paperweight.


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## compur (Oct 8, 2015)

Ricoh (maker of this "Sears" camera) and Pentax K/KA/KR mounts are interchangeable between brands as far as I know. And, this camera only uses the basic K mount lenses. It does not require the KA/KR type as there is no electrical connection between lens and body, only 2 mechanical links: a lever for diaphragm control and a slot between two of the bayonet tabs to communicate the set aperture.

If the lens diaphragm lever is working OK and there is otherwise no damage to the lens then I don't have another suggestion, sorry. My best guess is that the problem lies with the body's mechanical connections. These Sears/Ricoh cameras were never known for their ruggedness.

I would suggest getting a Pentax K-series body in good condition to go with your lens.


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## sabbath999 (Oct 21, 2015)

One thing to check on old cameras is the aperture... 

I got an old M42 screw mount Praktika by accident off of Ebay (not the camera I ordered, the dude sent me the wrong one) and the camera wouldn't fire with the lens on but fired fine without the lens on or with any other M42 I own. Turns out it was the aperture on the lens is all gummy, when the camera tried to fire, it pushed the rod to close the aperture, but the aperture was too stiff for the spring pressure to move the rod.

Not saying that was what your issue was, just something I found a couple weeks ago on a camera I didn't order or want, but now own.


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