# Got an old Pentax on trade.



## Boz Mon (Jun 4, 2010)

I got this old Pentax with 3 lenses, some filters, and a case on trade.  The only problem is the shutter sticks, and if it did work, I dont really know how to use the light meter on top of it.  Anyway, its pretty cool, and if anyone knows of an easy fix I would be all for that.

















The images seem to be re-sizing automatically for me at least.  If they are too big let me know and I'll shrink them.


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## IanG (Jun 4, 2010)

I had 2 or 3 SIa's (US name may have been different) which I bought second hand in the lte 7-'s they are brilliant cameras very capable performers.

Mine went when I switched completely to K mount but a couple of years ago I met someone I'd sold one to in the early 1980's and he was still using it & the meter as his only camera !!!

The light meters easy just set the film speed tilt down slightly to take the reading and read what f stop it suggests for your chosen shutter speed   Simplistic but works.

Ian


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## Boz Mon (Jun 4, 2010)

So do you think its worth fixing?


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## IanG (Jun 5, 2010)

That depends on the cost of a service/CLA, these camera's don't fetch high prices even in good condition and fully functioning.

Ian


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## Dwig (Jun 5, 2010)

The camera is an Asahi Pentax Sv. It was not sold as such in the US. In the US it was rebranded with the importer's name and sold as the Honeywell Pentax H3v The Asahi Pentax S1a mentioned in another reply was sold in the US as the Honeywell Pentax H1a. Check out: Pentax (original - Camerapedia.org)

A sticking shutter is usually a significant repair. Its unlikely that it would be cost effective to repair the camera as newer models can usually be purchased used for less than the cost of a shutter repair.

BTW, the 35mm f/2.3 pictured in an early lens, made from 1958-62, and predates the Sv body. Its a clumsy lens to use by todays standards, not having a fully auto stop down diaphram, but was bleeding edge technology in 1958. There's a good description of old Takumar lenses on this page: Early Pentax Takumar Lenses


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## IanG (Jun 5, 2010)

Dwig's point is valid, I've had a good Spotmatic body thrown in free alongside another ebay purchase & I bought a mint Spotmatic F 50mm f2 lens & case for £25 ($40) only to discover after that I knew the original owner who'd donated the camera to a raise funds for a workshop facility.

I have an early Pentax with a broken shutter, and unless I learn how to repair it myself it won't get fixed, but I'm part way there on the learning curve of repairing cameras & shutters.

Ian


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## Boz Mon (Jun 5, 2010)

Ok so its not worth fixing.  What model is it?  A Honeywell Pentax H3V?  What is the significance of the lens being sloppy?


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## Dwig (Jun 5, 2010)

Boz Mon said:


> Ok so its not worth fixing.  What model is it?  A Honeywell Pentax H3V? ...



Re-read my first post. Of course its not a Honeywell Pentax H3v since it says "Asahi" and not "Honeywell". As I said in my first post, its an Asahi Pentax S1v. The H3v and S1v are identical except:

1. The brand name on the top cover.
2. Where the camera was originally sold new
3. Who honored the original warranty (long since expired).

Also, its quite pointless, not to mention annoying, to post oversized images like the ones in the first post.


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## Boz Mon (Jun 5, 2010)

Dwig said:


> Boz Mon said:
> 
> 
> > Ok so its not worth fixing.  What model is it?  A Honeywell Pentax H3V? ...
> ...




You dont have to be such a dick about it.  I misread your post.  The images that I posted must have automatically resized themselves when I posted them because they are a normal size when I open this thread.  Thanks for the info :mrgreen:


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## Mitica100 (Jun 6, 2010)

Boz Mon said:


> *You dont have to be such a dick about it. * I misread your post.  The images that I posted must have automatically resized themselves when I posted them because they are a normal size when I open this thread.  Thanks for the info :mrgreen:



That's not called for! Dwig only pointed out something that was obviously neglected by you by not reading the rules on posting images.

You asked for help and you got it. If someone like Dwig, or any other posters for that matter, points out an obvious mistake that you made, say thank you and get on with life. You have been helped by him, by the way.

Just my 2 cents here...

</rant>


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## IanG (Jun 6, 2010)

Boz, you might try exercising the camera a little, firing it off a few times etc every few days. I have a much later  KM that developed a sticky shutter so I just stopped using it, but I did try firing it occasionally. It now works perfectly despite not having a service.

Sometimes lubricants dry out through lack of use that happened to my Rolleiflex, the original owner had used less than a dozen rolls of film in 40 years 

The repair manual for the S3 covers the SV and S1a as well, I found it through this website.

Ian


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## Boz Mon (Jun 6, 2010)

Ian, I have been trying to fire it every once and awhile it sometimes will go like 2 or 3 times before it sticks.

Mitica, if you go back and read my first post, I wasnt sure if the images that I  posted were re-sized on everyones browsers.  Apparently they are not.  The images pop up on my browser with a bar at the top that says "this image has been resized"  I have not seen this in any other forum that I go to so I was under the impression that there was something built into the forum that automatically resizes the images.  Apparently I was wrong and I didnt appreciate the way that Dwig told me about it especially because I did mention it in my first post.


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## IanG (Jun 6, 2010)

Boz, I'm reading up on Pentax repairs in the next month or two as my 1958 model is terminal, shutter curtains loose, jammed etc. But that's how it was when someone gave it to me about 20 years ago  

I like a challenge and have repiared and restored quite a few larger cameras. That Sv looks to be in nice condition, and it may just need lubrication, but it's knowing where and how much.

____________________________________________________-


The re-sizing is a vBulletin feature when you hot link to an image, usually in vBulletin there's an option to upload an image to the forum's server but that seems to be turned off here, and there's a maximum size limit in Pixels & Kb.

The problem is your images are still 2000x3000 pixels, so large, the re-sizing is just to allow them to fit the screen easily, it's better to re-size for web use to a more friendly size like 400x600, or 500x750 

Ian


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## Mitica100 (Jun 6, 2010)

Boz Mon said:


> Mitica, if you go back and read my first post, I wasnt sure if the images that I  posted were re-sized on everyones browsers.  Apparently they are not.  The images pop up on my browser with a bar at the top that says "this image has been resized"  I have not seen this in any other forum that I go to so I was under the impression that there was something built into the forum that automatically resizes the images.  Apparently I was wrong and I didnt appreciate the way that Dwig told me about it especially because I did mention it in my first post.



Boz, thanks for replying. Whenever you do image attachments, the little box that opens when you click on "_Manage attachments_" tells you the max size of the attachment. It is not a mandatory size, as files bigger than that will be shrunk to a more viable and usable size for this forum. It's only polite to abide by these rules as much as one can so we don't clutter the forum with large sized attachments. I'm sure it was an oversight on your side and you'll have to understand that it's possible some other posters might find it annoying to have to wait for the image(s) to load. That being said, I felt that the way Dwig was addressed after helping you was uncalled for. I am not taking sides, I am just observing.

Going now to the Pentax problem...  Sometimes the camera can be revived if one takes off the bottom plate and puts *a few* drops of Naphta on all the moving parts. I had an ME which was slow speeded and the Naphta made it go back to the normal speeds. You will need a good Philips screwdriver fit for the size of the screws, a bit of Naphta or Ronsonol lighter fluid. Give it a try, you never know. 

Good luck with that and let me know if you have questions.


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## IanG (Jun 6, 2010)

Naptha will also kill of any moths who have their beady eyes on your shutter curtain as their next meal  It'll also halt any fungus in the camera or lens 

Isopropyl alcoholhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol will work equally as well to free up sticky lubricant, I use it to revive LF shutters.

Dimitri there's no attach images option, maybe that's only available to subscribers.supporters ?

Ian


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## Mitica100 (Jun 6, 2010)

IanG said:


> Naptha will also kill of any moths who have their beady eyes on your shutter curtain as their next meal  It'll also halt any fungus in the camera or lens
> 
> Isopropyl alcoholhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol will work equally as well to free up sticky lubricant, I use it to revive LF shutters.
> 
> ...



I thought everyone can post attachments...  I'll check.


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## IanG (Jun 6, 2010)

I use a few VBulletin boards & thi is the only one without the option.

It's no big deal to me as it's too Digital in bias anyway 

Ian


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## Boz Mon (Jun 6, 2010)

Thanks for the tips guys I'll see what I can do to get this thing working again.  BTW I also have an ME Super that works wonderful I may add.


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## Boz Mon (Jun 8, 2010)

YOU GUYS ARE GENIUSES!! The shutter is no longer stuck.  I took the bottom off and put some isopropyl alcohol in there and it works now!  I did run into another snag wich is indirectly related to another thing.  There is a weird battery in the light meter thing not sure if its still made.  And 2nd if I can find a battery, does anyone know how in the world to work this thing?  Thanks again everyone!


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## Mitica100 (Jun 8, 2010)

The clip-on external meter takes a PX-13 or a PX-625 1.35v Mercury battery, as far as I remember. As to where to buy it, eBay sellers have a few for sale:  *CLICK*   otherwise search on Google and you'll find it.

Glad it came back to life!


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## Boz Mon (Jun 8, 2010)

Yea, me too.  Now how do I work the camera and light meter?  Ive never used anything like this before.  BTW it was sitting for like an hour and now it sticks again.  Can I, or should I put more alcohol on it?

Also whats the deal with the diaphragm cocker thing on the side of the lens?  I have never seen one of these either?


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## IanG (Jun 8, 2010)

Boz, the instructions for using the light meter should ve available online. I do have them here in the UK a couple of Pentax publications, but I'm rather snowed under packing, sorting out negs & prints before I return to Turkey tomorrow.

I'll try find them for you in a few days once I'm home, if not I'll post how to use from memory   That meter is actually very good if you can find the right battery, I used to shoot tranparenies with my S1a (just a budget version of the SV with no elf timer and an un-marked & un-regulated 1000th top speed).

Great to hear the camera is A1 - OK now 

I nearly bought another early Pentax yesterday but my wife's still not forgiven me for buying a brand new Canon D300 last November despite it only costing £10 ($15), the battery cost me more !!!!  Oh and she'll think I bought this to 

Ian


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## Boz Mon (Jun 8, 2010)

Sweet deal, thanks for the help!

It keeps firing then inconsistently sticking.  Should I just keep working at it in hopes that it will start working correct?

Another edit:  It seems to now only not stick when I click the shutter holding the camera upside down.  I'm going to let it sit overnight and see what happens.


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## Dwig (Jun 8, 2010)

Mitica100 said:


> The clip-on external meter takes a PX-13 or a PX-625 1.35v Mercury battery, as far as I remember. ...



You remember correctly. The SV/S1a instruction manual on the Butkus.org site ( Pentax camera instruction manuals, Pentax professional instruction manuals ) has a page on the meter and states that it uses a Mallory PX-13b.


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## Boz Mon (Jun 9, 2010)

Yea, so it pretty much just stopped working again :-(


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## guitstik (Jun 9, 2010)

Boz, shoot Garry at garryscamera.com a line and see if he can't do something with it. My Minolta's film advance lever wouldn't move and he fixed it and did a CLA for $48.00 and that was with shipping. I've since shoot about two roll's with it and not had any problems.


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## Boz Mon (Jun 9, 2010)

guitstik said:


> Boz, shoot Garry at garryscamera.com a line and see if he can't do something with it. My Minolta's film advance lever wouldn't move and he fixed it and did a CLA for $48.00 and that was with shipping. I've since shoot about two roll's with it and not had any problems.



Awesome, Ill shoot him an email right now.  It seems that they are semi local to me too. :thumbup:


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## Boz Mon (Jun 13, 2010)

Well Gary was absolutely no help.  I have been still firing it every once and awhile and I put some more alcohol in it.  It seems to be working again for the time being.


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## Mitica100 (Jun 14, 2010)

Boz, do me a favor and try it this time with Naphta or Ronsonol. You can get Naphta at your hardware store or you can get Ronsonol at your grocery store, cigarette dept. Make sure you buy the Ronsonol Lighter Fluid for the older, wick lighters. And since you're out for that, get a can of air (spray) for blasting debris out of the camera. Alcohol will work sometimes but you have a better chance with Ronsonol.


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## Boz Mon (Jun 14, 2010)

Ok Ill try that today.  You think I can get that Rosonol stuff at walgreens?


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## Mitica100 (Jun 14, 2010)

Boz Mon said:


> Ok Ill try that today.  You think I can get that Rosonol stuff at walgreens?



Yeah, they should carry it. You might need to repeat the operation a few times, each time using the compressed air can to blow away debris. It should work itself out after a few tries. Lemme know the results.


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## Boz Mon (Jun 14, 2010)

will do.  I am going to buy some when I go to work today and I'll try it when I get home.  Thanks again for the help.

Quick question....I take the bottom plate off and dab some of this in there.  Then do I let it sit upside down for a bit and then fire it?  Or should I immediately start firing it?  Also, should I put the bottom plate back on after every treatment?


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## Boz Mon (Jun 15, 2010)

Well its been almost 12 hours and the shutter has not stuck once.


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## Stratman (Jun 27, 2010)

If you are genuinely interested in getting this camera back to like new as far as it working, send it to this guy. Link ---> Home  He worked for Honeywell Pentax back in the day, and now has his own shop. If all it needs is a  good cleaning and adjustment, he is pretty reasonable. I have an S1a coming in the mail, and if it needs work, he'll be getting it     A S A P. His price for bringing the old screw mount Pentaxes back to life is $63. He comes HIGHLY recommended by all the film guys on Pentaxforums.com.  Read through this thread..  http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/...on/105296-pentax-repair-eric-hendrickson.html


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