Pentax ME Super Shutter Closed, Crank Wont Advance

[JonO822]

I just bought a Pentax ME Super from ebay and I'm having a little trouble with it. When I first got it everything seemed fine with it. I could look through the view finder but the batteries were dead so there wasn't any LED's lit up. It didn't have any film in it but I wanted to test it so I advanced the crank and pressed down the shutter but after I did that the shutter stayed closed (I can no longer see through the viewfinder) and the crank wont advance. Is there anything I can do to fix this? Also I tried putting in new batteries but the it still wont advance and the shutter remained closed, but the LED's do light up.

[AstroImager]

I actually owned one of these years ago...digging through memory...

If you can't see through the viewfinder, then the mirror is flipped up -- that may or may not have anything to do with the shutter.

Open the camera back, and see if the shutter is open or closed (as I recall, the ME had a cloth horizontal shutter with metal vertical bars on both ends).

Those cloth shutters, if not used over time, can get wrinkled and get stuck -- that might be your problem.

Have a look at the shutter, and tell us if it's open or closed, and maybe we can go from there.

Oh -- once you open the camera back, you'll see the film-frame-sized opening right in the middle -- that's where the shutter travels. If you see what looks like rubberized cloth across that, and you can't see the back of the lens, the shutter is closed. If you see the back of the lens, it's open.

Trying to remember how mirror-lock up worked on these (or if it even had it)...you go look at the shutter, I'll go dig up a manual

Paul

[JonO822]

Paul

I opened the back and the shutter is closed...

Jon

[Yarddog]

I too had an ME (BTW I always thought those ME Super, ME, MX etc. were some of the best looking cameras ever made) but can't recall exactly how it worked. I know I recenly had a Minolta XE-7 lock up in the exact same way. When I put a new battery in, it didn't cure itself like I thought it would. I eventually got it working by pushing the rewind button, turning the film wind sprocket both ways and fiddling with the wind lever. Somehow I got it working again and it contnued to work.

[AstroImager]

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JonO822 wrote:
Paul

I opened the back and the shutter is closed...

Jon

---

Well, I found some information...but I don't know how helpful it'll be. The ME Super had no mirror lockup, so you didn't inadvertently lock up the mirror. Apparently there is a common problem with the cams that operate both the shutter and the self-timer, and if they get loose or misaligned, the main shutter release button won't work properly -- and this could lock up your mirror without tripping the shutter (or tripping it but not releasing the film-advance lock).

One suggestion was to use a cable release (or a very small screwdriver) -- inserted into the screw-hole in the main shutter release button (gently!), to try and trip the shutter all the way. Press gently there, with either a screwdriver or cable release, and see if the shutter will trip and the mirror will flip back to its down position. If you get that to happen, then your shutter button mechanism is bad, and you'll need to either always use a cable release, or have it repaired.

If you can't get the shutter to trip and the mirror to release, it's probably repair shop, too.

One warning was to NOT try to get it to release using the self-timer -- the self-timer is driven by the same cams and levers as the shutter release button, and once it's locked up if you set the self timer you've just got *two* stuck things now

Hope that helps...

Paul

[JonO822]

thanks Paul for all you time and help...I tried your suggestion but it didn´t seem to work. I´m pretty sure that I had already moved the self timer while I was messing with it after it got stuck. So I guess there are two things stuck.

Jon

PS. some of those pics on your website are really amazing

[the_jclguru]

I still have my ME Super (and manual). Got it for a high school graduation gift back in 1983. I'll keep that thing

til I die.

The ME Super lever is kind of double jointed (thats the best way I can describe it). Basically, its easy to only

advance the level 3/4 of the way and think its fully cranked (it even returns back to its normal starting position).

So make sure the lever is pushed all the way.

Geez, this is hard to describe in an email.

I'm at work now, but when I get home I'll try and see if I can replicate your problem and get back with you.

Doug

[MaxxumBob]

You could probably find one in perfect condition for a lot less than the cost of having it repaired. Your best bet would be to return it and get your money back if it's not too late.

If you're stuck with it, you might want to consider trying to fix it yourself -- what have you got to lose? There are a few Web sources for DIY camera repair information and a couple of books on the subject, but nothing really all that comprehensive. Thomas Tomosy's book Camera Maintenance & Repair (which became volume I when volume II was issued) has very little specifically about the ME Super, but he does say this about the very similar ME: "If the camera is locked up or the winding mechanism is binding, the wind-lock lever may be bent at the bottom. Easy to straighten." You'd need to find the book to put that in context. Tomosy does go into much greater detail about specific cameras and may have more about the ME series in volume II (which I don't have). You should be able to find Tomosy's books at your local library or get them through interlibrary loan.

Message Edited by MaxxumBob on 03-10-200704:50 PM

[barnacIe]

So i recently started trying to get one of these ME supers up and going (mine seems to not want to wind to first frame) when i came acroos this site that detail the disassemby and service of an me http://www.mypentax.com/PentaxMeSuper.html if you feel fairly mechanacly minded you might like to try your hand at it.

[drh681]

If the batteries are dead, the shutter will not work.

there is a setting for a manual shutter speed for this situation
set the control dial to the 125 setting and see if that clears the problem.

if nothing, works then you need to decide if you want to send it for repairs.

one other thing that may come up, Pentax lenses are notorious for gumming up in the diaphragm when the have been in storage for a while (years actually) it's one reason I dont use my Pentax stuff.
You have to remember most of these cameras were made before 1980.
mechanical stuff needs regular service over that span of time.