[LukeGraham95]

Hi,

I'm still new to the world of film cameras. I've been using my pentax p30n since December last year, and have been loving it. Recently, when I go to take photos, however, I have to fully extend the lever 3 times, before the shutter button will work!

I hope that makes sense! Would appreciate any help!

[LincolnR]

Are your batteries good? I own a P3 and I know the shutter will not fire with dead batteries, maybe yours are low and it's not firing consistently. Otherwise, I'd suspect a problem with the film transport or whatever senses that the frame has been advanced fully, since typically you can't advance the film multiple times without firing the shutter.

[Pioneer]

Like LincolnR says, always suspect batteries first on a P30n.

After batteries it will almost certainly be old lubricants. A CLA will be your friend here but, obviously, the cost of such service will exceed the resale value of the camera itself. If you value the camera over its replacement value then it will be worth it to you.

Otherwise...

[othar]

There is certainly something wrong, you shouldn't be able to advance the film more than once before using the shutter button (even with a dead battery you shouldn't be able to do that)

[AlwaysAl]

Hi,

I'm still new to the world of film cameras. I've been using my pentax p30n since December last year, and have been loving it. Recently, when I go to take photos, however, I have to fully extend the lever 3 times, before the shutter button will work!

I hope that makes sense! Would appreciate any help!

A bit of a flash back; it's been 20+ years but had a similar problem once. Can't specifically remember if it was the the P30, the P30N or my ME-F. At the time, the repair facility reported the issue was related to the screw retaining the advance lever to the mechanism which had come loose. Once it was tightened, everything went back to normal. I have in my recollections the repair was "gratis".
Just for reference, here's a link to a site that has Pentax manuals with some illustrations. The manual indicates the screw is a Left hand thread:
Pentax Manuals
Hope this helps.
Good luck

[twilhelm]

I have 2 P30n cameras and one of them has this issue. As mentioned in the previous comment it's likely the screw since yours was in use. With my other one, if I let it sit too long it will exhibit the same behavior for the first roll, then return to normal.