[SergioSousa]

Hi there!

I know of the usual Pentax LX problems... sticky mirror, bad battery contacts, dirty contacts, etc

I bought recently an LX with a different and intriguing problem:

Shutter doesnt work in Manual mode!

It fires but keeps open with mirror up from 1/2000 to 1/125 and X, and fires "normally" at a speed that sounds like 1/125 from 1/60 to 4s.
When the mirror and shutter stay open on the higher speeds, I need to rotate the shutter speed selector to "Automatic" or to the slower speeds and it gets the mirror down and shuts the shutter. The meter shows correct speed.

This is quite odd and the opposite of what I had noticed on a previous LX that had electric problems.

If I test the camera on automatic, everything works fine: both slower and faster speeds work fine.


Has anyone had this problem? What can I do to repair it? I am not afraid of opening the LX (I replaced mirror bumpers and cleaned the ASA dial contacts on my other LX...

Any help would be really appreciated

Cheers from Portugal!

[gofour3]

Those shutter speeds with the issue are the mechanical ones that do not require a battery.

Just curious if this also happens you are using a lens with the cap off, do you get a proper meter reading that changes when you move the lens aperture ring?

Phil.

[SergioSousa]

Those shutter speeds with the issue are the mechanical ones that do not require a battery.

Just curious if this also happens you are using a lens with the cap off, do you get a proper meter reading that changes when you move the lens aperture ring?

Phil.

Hi Phil,

both the mechanical and the eletronic speeds do not work on Manual mode: the mechanical speeds keep the shutter open and mirror up, the electronic speeds shoot all at the same speed (about 1/125).

The shutter must be fine, or else, it would not shoot fine at all speed when using Aperture priority mode (automatic mode).

This is puzzling me... could it be a miss-aligned speed selector gear?

[gofour3]

This is puzzling me... could it be a miss-aligned speed selector gear?

It could be, one my K2DMD had this problem with the matching blue needle. What showed in the viewfinder was not what the shutter speed dial indicated.

Eric fixed it for me, you could contact him and see what he thinks.

here is his website with contact info:

Pentax Repairs

Phil.

PS Welcome to the forum!!

[SergioSousa]

Hi there!

I took the bottom cover to discover one spring was loose on one of its end. After re-attaching it, all has gone perfect!

Hurray!

I am sorry that I took no pictures of it for future reference...

[gofour3]

Hi there!

I took the bottom cover to discover one spring was loose on one of its end. After re-attaching it, all has gone perfect!

Hurray!

I am sorry that I took no pictures of it for future reference...

Great news and happy shooting!

Post some pictures in the film section.

Phil.

[j0n4hpk]

I have a similar problem which started while shooting in very frigid winter weather and will revisit the bottom of my LX to look for springs. Thanks SergioSousa.

---

Last edited by j0n4hpk; 03-24-2021 at 07:30 PM.

[j0n4hpk]

Good evening, SergioSousa and friends in this thread. I have a photo of the bottom of my LX camera that I want to share with you. Does it reminds you of the location of the reinstalled spring or where (top center or bottom of photo) in the camera bottom is it. Your feedback will be immensely appreciated.