[poogene2001]

Hi all - thanks in advance for taking the time to read my question and provide some friendly advice!

I've been collecting and shooting film SLRs for a couple of years - but generally prefer full manual cameras (e.g. my little Spotmatic). This Super A is my first "semi electronic" camera.

Before anyone asks - I bought it off eBay - so it could well be bung - and that's OK too! Anyway here is the situation.

When I crank the film advance, it turns the spool just fine. However, after each crank it doesn't lock into position. i.e. it allows me to crank again and again and again. It does advance the film counter each time as expected.
When I press the shutter button - nothing happens.

Checklist of what I've checked:
- brand new 1.5v batteries inserted
- all shooting modes produce the same result
- the top LCD displays shutter speed and meter works (i.e. the metered speed changes with light conditions)
- Shutter curtain seems ok but I can't really inspect it as I can't get the camera to fire (even in Bulb mode)
- Lens contacts seem OK
- Buttons to change shutter speed work normally
- The display in the view finder does NOT display the aperture of the lens but it does register it because the metered shutter speed changes when I adjust the aperture
- exposure compensation adjuster works (as above)

I can only assume the camera doesn't understand it is cocked, hence why the shutter release won't fire the shutter.
So to my it seems like something with the film advance is the problem.

Any tips or ideas?

Thanks again

[Kevin B123]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
It's a common problem as I understand it due to age.
Pentax Camera Repair Specialists - Typical Faults - Harrow Technical

A CLA service is the best advice I can give, unless others have sucessfully fixed theirs. You want reliability and a CLA should give you that back while also removing most of the age related failure modes IMO.

Has your camera got the silver rewind button on the bottom?

[poogene2001]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
It's a common problem as I understand it due to age.
Pentax Camera Repair Specialists - Typical Faults - Harrow Technical

A CLA service is the best advice I can give, unless others have sucessfully fixed theirs. You want reliability and a CLA should give you that back while also removing most of the age related failure modes IMO.

Has your camera got the silver rewind button on the bottom?

Thanks for the welcome. It's got a black rewind button on the bottom. I didn't spot my problem on that list you provided. Perhaps closest one is:

"Wind on lever has to be operated more than once to load shutter." - however mine never loads the shutter.

Keen to hear if anyone else has experienced the symptoms I described!

[Pentaxis]

This link may be of some help: although it describes common problems with the Pentax ME Super I think the mechanism in the Pentax Super A will be similar, if not identical.

Favorite Classics > Pentax ME Super Ramblings > Three Common Failure Problems

[twilhelm]

The MG commonly develops this issue. I just had mine at the shop and the cost was higher than buying another, so it wasn’t done. It is essentially a lever in the mirror box which has worn out. The biggest problem is finding repair parts. As it was explained to me, the lever is thin and wears out over time.

[poogene2001]

Thanks for the tips guys. Should the first curtain move when I crank the film advance lever?
With all my older manual camera, the first curtain moves over when cranking the film advance - but with this Super A it just stays put. No movement.