[Hepcat]

That's wild... I wonder if there was some variant of the regular shutter it was swapped with?
Or maybe they just offset the dial a bit and 1 s is Bulb

Could have been a custom job back in the day...

-Eric

It's a custom job. There is an address tag taped to the bottom plate for a man in Marquette, MI. I just did a search on him. What a fascinating man! I had hoped to find him and try to contact him to get the story of the body. Unfortunately I found his obituary, and he passed away in July of 2021 so that story is lost to history. Interestingly, this from his obituary:

"Rod’s life and travels are all documented by his love of photography. He was rarely without his camera, capturing and preserving as many moments as he could to be able to share with others."

I've been exercising the shutter and there's something in the stopdown/meter linkage that is causing the mirror to hang. I'll end up taking it to my "local" repair shop in Rock Island, IL and let my repair guy sort it out. I'll be interested to hear what he thinks once he has an opportunity to get into the works.

[stevebrot]

The old 6x7/67 had an unmarked "time" shutter speed, which you selected by moving the dial between X and 1/000. This would keep the shutter open until you moved the dial to a regular shutter speed.

Phil

My SV has a marked "T" position on the shutter dial that operates in the same manner.


Steve

[Hepcat]

I neglected to mention that it also has a focusing screen I've never seen on any camera... with an X in the center circle composed of three lines in each leg of the X that disappear when focus is achieved. That's a new one on me. It's not quite as effective for my eyes as a 45º split-image prism, but it does better than just a micro prism screen.

[Jonathan Mac]

Very intriguing indeed. I've never heard of this X focusing screen.

There are machines that measure shutter times, I believe they use a laser to exactly measure the time the shutter is open, but mostly only pros would have one to hand.

[womble]

Fascinating stuff. I'd assumed it was some sort of fake/scam but looks like it is a genuine custom job.

K.

[17dew]

There are machines that measure shutter times, I believe they use a laser to exactly measure the time the shutter is open, but mostly only pros would have one to hand.

Maybe @ismaelg could help with the shutter speeds,as he had just gotten a shutter test machine.

[Hepcat]

Very intriguing indeed. I've never heard of this X focusing screen.

There are machines that measure shutter times, I believe they use a laser to exactly measure the time the shutter is open, but mostly only pros would have one to hand.

I've been around photography in various capacities since 1971 and I've never seen a focusing screen such as this one either.

There is a device available for iPads and iPhones that is a fairly accurate shutter speed tester as well. But I'll let my camera repairman worry about that. He's got the test equipment required and the ability to dial it into spec.

---------- Post added 03-15-22 at 07:57 AM ----------

Fascinating stuff. I'd assumed it was some sort of fake/scam but looks like it is a genuine custom job.

K.

For what he was asking, I couldn't NOT buy it and find out. I'll probably have more in it with the overhaul than it's worth at that point... but someone may want it for their collection of Pentax unicorns.

[womble]

For what he was asking, I couldn't NOT buy it and find out. I'll probably have more in it with the overhaul than it's worth at that point... but someone may want it for their collection of Pentax unicorns.

A non-functional camera is worthless to me, so I only consider if I can afford the repair, rather than what the re-sale value might be. Hopefully your tech will have some interesting insights.

K.

[MikeStnly]

A non-functional camera is worthless to me, so I only consider if I can afford the repair, rather than what the re-sale value might be. Hopefully your tech will have some interesting insights.

K.

I don't mind picking up old Pentax cameras at flea markets if they look in good shape and I don't have that model. Some are pretty cheap and usually come with a lens. I don't think I will shoot film, but they look good in the glass cabinet I got to store them. I have 13 bodies so far, including the K5, K-3ii and K-3iii that I use everyday.

[titrisol]

I neglected to mention that it also has a focusing screen I've never seen on any camera... with an X in the center circle composed of three lines in each leg of the X that disappear when focus is achieved. That's a new one on me. It's not quite as effective for my eyes as a 45º split-image prism, but it does better than just a micro prism screen.

COOL! you have a unique Spotmatic turbo
Please take a picture of that screen!
I had seen those screens (cross split image) in cameras we used to take pictures of microbiological plates back in the late 80s (Minolta or Olympus)
That screen checked not only for focusing but also for perpendicularity so you could see if one side was higher than the other in each "step" of the X

[Hepcat]

COOL! you have a unique Spotmatic turbo
Please take a picture of that screen!
I had seen those screens (cross split image) in cameras we used to take pictures of microbiological plates back in the late 80s (Minolta or Olympus)
That screen checked not only for focusing but also for perpendicularity so you could see if one side was higher than the other in each "step" of the X

Well thanks for that tidbit of info! As the original owner's obituary said that he was a PhD and had worked at some point for Abbot Laboratories in Chicago, that may well be where he became acquainted with that focusing screen.

A quick internet search has turned up nothing on that focusing screen... so I appreciate your post! I'll get some photos posted here in the next day or so.

[TwoUptons]

A non-functional camera is worthless to me, so I only consider if I can afford the repair, rather than what the re-sale value might be. Hopefully your tech will have some interesting insights.

K.

And this is exactly why I don't have a LX

But I have several ZX-Ls... some of which even work... but when a working camera is cheaper than the roll of film you put in it, it's probably cheap enough to be worth it...

And Spotmatic Turbo is exactly what this thing should be called...

-Eric

[titrisol]

Agree, it is hard to find a similar picture;
Maybe one of these from Nikon (M or P) Nikon F and F2 Screens

or


or from Minolta type S The Rokkor Files - X-Series Screens

[Hepcat]

Agree, it is hard to find a similar picture;
Maybe one of these from Nikon (M or P) Nikon F and F2 Screens

or


or from Minolta type S The Rokkor Files - X-Series Screens

The closest to this would be the Minolta H screen... but as you can see, it's not quite the same.

[Hepcat]

Ok... photos have arrived of the Spotmatic Turbo, the shutter speed dial, and the unique focusing screen!