Pentax Spotmatic F repair

Title says it all really.

Uploaded January 1st 2025

So I went on a bit a of an ebay film rampage. I ended up buying... what's 12 plus 7 again? I hate odd numbers. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19? Yeah... 19 rolls of film. All expired, but I don't care since they were cheaper than anything new. In addition I ended up finding a "used" Pentax SLR for $30. It didn't have much of a description, but it looked fine enough. I figured that if it was broken I could try my hand at fixing it.

When it arrived I found that it's mirror was stuck upwards. I searched online for a fix and found a youtube video which looked promising. The problem with the camera was that it needed lubrication on some of its gears. I ordered some lube, but when I applied it it didn't do much. I tried applying the same amount shown in the video, but nothing changed. I decided to keep adding more lube, and it eventually worked on all shutter speeds. I figured it would be best to wait a day to let the lube settle to see if anything would change.

I did that and... well... the mirror would only return at speeds quicker than 1/60th. I thought it must be something else so I continued to look online. Someone had mentioned that it might help to take out some of the parts so that you could move them higher or lower. I did that for the spring shown in the picture (which was really difficult, I even bent it a little), as well as removing some of the excess lube (there was a lot).

2 days after I've done that, the mirror is properly returning. I think I'd consider that a success. Assuming everything else on the camera works properly, I've at least doubled the value of it. I don't intend on selling it, but I feel quite proud of that.

I did specifically say "assuming" there. I can't seem to get the built-in light meter to function. I believe I have the correct battery for it, but it doesn't do anything to indicate it's working. It's possible I don't know how to use it, but I'm pretty sure it's just broken. Either way I have a separate light meter I can use so it doesn't really affect me.