[CHARGERSANCHEZ]

Hi Guy's,

I am a big Pentax Film SLR Buff in particular Spotmatic's and K Series, I have a really clean Black Spotmatic SP I just bought
and ran some Ilford XP2 400 through it on the weekend, Half the roll turned out brilliant however the other half all of the pictures
had half a good picture and the other half completely black "this isn't my photo but an example of what I mean"

I did a bit of research and seems the second shutter curtain could be firing to quick, I think I shot most of the good shots at 1/1000th
and the ones with issue where at slower speeds towards the end of the roll. Any guru's able to give me some pointers on anything I
can try do to fix it? the mirror foam has been replaced, it meters brilliant, no light leaks, exposures are spot on when it works and I
gave the camera a basic service removing the bottom plate and very sparingly oiling moving parts and I found a tiny bit of film and other
gunk under the mirror cocking lever "Could possibly be issue?" I went through all speeds many times after this and never noticed
any issues but in saying that this issue is probably impossible to detect without seeing it on film, have loaded it again and will shoot another
roll and see what happens with this one anyway.

Cheers Lee.

[MysteryOnion]

...bottom plate and very sparingly oiling moving parts...

Which oil did you use and actually where was in put?

Also...

You did verify it is not a slow 1st curtain.

...shot most of the good shots at 1/1000th...

So, speeds from 125 to 1000 seem fine?

[CHARGERSANCHEZ]

I sprayed some inox into a cup then dipped a fine screwdriver in and just dropped minutely onto most shafts under the bottom plate.

Well after looking at the photos it's random as a few shots I shot early in the roll were slow at 125th and under and are fine
It seems like really the last half of the film is randomly effected no matter what shutter

Haven't verified anything with curtains, just read a thread on Flickr about the same problem

[MysteryOnion]

In B, with an empty camera... listen to see if the curtain squeaks.
The upper pivot of the curtain roller could be dry too.

Just as an example...





In this old S1a the curtain spindles can be observed. The removal of the mount plate makes it easy to dot some oil on the pivots.

[CHARGERSANCHEZ]

Thanks for that.......

Well I bit the Bullet, after some research I found someone kind of local who can still service these, after a couple of emails and a phone call I feel very confident in sending the camera off for a full rebuild.

For anyone on the Gold Coast or in Brisbane Australia this is him F16 Camera Service his name is Alan has been servicing cameras for 50 Years and seems to really know his stuff especially with Spotmatics so for me the fact someone like this still exists and has all that knowledge was enough for me to not risk buggering my lovely black SP up and give it the loving it deserves so I can shoot with it for many more years to come.

Below are details of the service and price, he said he likes to take approx 2 weeks to do this kind of service as after rebuild the camera needs to sit for a bit and then be re adjusted and so fourth.

"Total strip-down. Replacement of seals, buffers, defective wiring, conversion to 1.5v battery with smd device to reduce silver oxide 1.5 volt battery to 1.25v supply for which the camera was designed. Refurbishment of shutter & transport, Cleaning of all components, replacement bushes as required. recalibration of shutter & light-meter. This brings the camera back to factory specifications & operation. The cost without lens would be $165.00 to $175.00, and the camera would be calibrated to standard 50/2."