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10-01-2020, 10:02 AM   #1
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Just bagged an SP500 but.......

I just bagged an SP500 but its in very poor condition, camera winds and fites ok so it may be saved by some TLC. Question though.....

The chrome finish around the lens mount, not the actual M42 mount but the chrome/silver square case around the mount is loose. I cant see any obvious fixings and cant believe its under leatherette. Any ideas anyone ?

Also in the bag was a Chinese made K1000.....which is nastie, the whole thing is made of plastic and not a patch on the MIJ one I have. Its truly horrid, like seeing a dear friend having botched surgery.
I doubt I will be spending much love on this one.

10-01-2020, 10:21 AM   #2
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QuoteOriginally posted by Astro-Baby Quote
The chrome finish around the lens mount, not the actual M42 mount but the chrome/silver square case around the mount is loose. I cant see any obvious fixings and cant believe its under leatherette. Any ideas anyone ?
I've never had one apart, but based on the diagram in the parts manual, I believe it is held in place by the mount itself, the top cover, and perhaps some cement.


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10-02-2020, 05:08 AM - 1 Like   #3
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I am declaring it a write off, mirror box is loose, lens mount totally gaffed, leatherette full of mould, lightmeter knackered. As you can get a minty one cheap its hardly worth spending out for spares on a camera that has basically reached EoW.

Ditto for the China made K1000, its absolutely horrid and would have been on the day it was made. Dont let anyone kid you they are somehow a good thing as they were later manufacture etc. Its completely plastic and frankly the only resemblance between it and a Japanese one is the logo on the front.
10-02-2020, 05:57 AM   #4
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That is unfortunate!

There maybe some people interested in the parts

10-02-2020, 06:53 AM - 1 Like   #5
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Re the K1000...... I'm not saying that your Chinese model isn't poor quality but it wrong to think that only the Japanese ones are any good. I think the bulk of the K1000s were made in Hong Kong and they are pretty solid.
10-02-2020, 01:28 PM   #6
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There's also Chinese-made K1000s that were sold by Pentax and Chinese-made K1000s that were made by other companies after Pentax sold off the tooling.

The latter are not well-regarded in terms of quality... the former, while not as well-regarded, should be pretty good out of the box (though could certainly be shredded by now...)

-Eric
10-02-2020, 02:21 PM   #7
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Hi Eric, I can only assume mine is one of the very late ones. Its only superficially like my MIJ version. Almost nothing seems to be made of metal. Its very cheap and nasty in feel. None of the fittings are similar especiallybthe rewind crank parts. Top plate fitting is different.

Its kind of workable, meter runs, shutter seems ok. Finish is very poor and lens is badly marked up from scratches. I am going to clean her up and eBay it cheap. Might make someone happy at a low price.

The spotty is more problematic, I cant bear to chuck stuff away so I may brace myself and see what can be done. It has a Chinon 50mm and I have restored a few of these, tho this one is in terrible shape. Will be interesting ro see what I can make of it. This time round I must get before and after pics.

10-02-2020, 03:04 PM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by Astro-Baby Quote
The spotty is more problematic, I cant bear to chuck stuff away so I may brace myself and see what can be done. It has a Chinon 50mm and I have restored a few of these, tho this one is in terrible shape.
I suggestion evisceration for salvageable parts and exposure to the elements for the remainder. The lens barrel might make for a nice pencil holder.


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10-18-2020, 07:39 AM   #9
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Hello,

Just found this thread. The whole mount housing on the Spotmatic is attached by 5 screws to the body under the leatherette. Four corners and a fifth smaller one slightly to the right of the top left one. I'd guess the SP500 is similar. There are usually washer shims in each screw location. I guess it was some sort of "calibration" to make sure the mount is properly aligned.
How did it go with the chinese K1000? I've seen many on ebay with desilvering issue.

Thanks,
10-18-2020, 11:35 PM   #10
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Well I decided to hold the Spotty and see what can be done to sort it out. They dont fetch much money even when fully working so a busted one is worth zip. It will be a learning experience.

The Chinese K1000 is dreadful, it has more common DNA with a Kodak instamatic than it does to a Pentax K series. Everything is plastic, light seals and mirror bumper were glued in with something like epoxy so bloody hard to remove. She has been cleaned up, lens as clean as it can be made. The exterior finish is prone to chipping and whats underneath is a shiny silver coating, chrome in appearance which covers a white plastic moulded top cover. I have tried various paints to patch it up but absolutely nothing will stick to the silver undercoat. I have tried roughening it up and it still wont stick.

I’ll try and post some pics later of the Chinese horror.
10-19-2020, 05:47 AM   #11
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Hello,

Kodak Instamatics may be offended by that remark

Interested to see those pics.
That sounds like it could be plastic vacuum metallizer plating underneath. In my other hobby, I remove that from plastic parts with Easy-Off spray oven cleaner. Pretty nasty stuff. Need to wear a respirator, gloves and of course outside as far as possible from any living thing (especially if you are married to that living thing and want to avoid a confrontation with a 100% chance of loosing)

Thanks,
10-19-2020, 11:24 AM   #12
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Hi Ismael, like you I spend far too much time repairing these things. I even have a Praktica BX20 on the bench at the moment. My head tells me to stop wasting time on it but my heart says....go on, she only needs a little more work and she will run again.

Once I get the things going 9 times out of 10 I just get bored with them and sell them on for little profit which always seems to end up being spent on more junk cameras to fix. I blame you Ismael for this seriously though seeing you pull a few back from death to life kind of inspired me to just get stuck in.
10-19-2020, 11:58 AM   #13
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Heres some pics of the Chinese K1000 alongside my genuine MiJ K1000. Spot the difference....

MiJ version is almost all metal, Chinese versions is almost entirely plastic. Just about the only metal component on the top plate is the winder lever. The film rewind is entirely plastic, even the firm rewind spool lower part (the bit that locks the film) is entirely plastic. The rewind capstan sits atop a moulded plastic top to the case where the MiJ one has a plastic base thats screwed in. under the Chinese ones rewind spool there is a sprung clip which holds it in place. The Chinese one also has screws either side of the front of the prism housing.

As far as I can see the only external similarities are the Pentax and K1000 logo, the winder and the leatherette which is oddly the same but not cut accurately leaving a few gaps at the top.

The base plate is entirely different (if your wondering what the yellow mark is under the MiJ one its a bit of low tack tape to stop the MiJ label getting worn away).

Both of these were refurbed by me, the MiJ one was in a pile of junk in a charity shop. It was totally filthy when I got it but thankfully had no fungus. The original lens had delamination/balsam separation issues so it was swapped with a lens I bagged in a different charity shop for £5 and although it looked grubby it just needed a clean.
The Chinese one was absolutely full of crud, light seals had turned into powder pretty much but the glue residue left behind was something awful to get rid of - flamethrower and an angle grinder type job. The focus screen survived and is quite tough as I had to gamble and clean it with a cotton bud and it didn't mark it at all. Battery chamber was corroded to hell but thats all clean now and the 'A’ series lens had fungus. Fungal blooms, the fungus is now deader than disco thanks to Peroxide and UV but sadly its marked the rear element almost dead centre.

Shutter seems intact and ok but my oh my its a noisy old thing, sounds like those clackers that kids used to have when you fire it, there seems a terrible mirror bounce as it returns as well.

On the whole its come up quite clean, I can match the paint finish but cant get the paint to stick. The shiny silver finish underneath is like the chrome finish on plastic models. I am going to film test it and see what happens. Might use it as a banger cam. Anyway as Ismael wanted to see some pics the pics and they may be useful for reference - here ya go.
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Last edited by Astro-Baby; 10-19-2020 at 02:14 PM.
10-19-2020, 01:08 PM   #14
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Despite being a plastic piece of crap you sure got that Chinese K1000 to look good.
10-19-2020, 01:49 PM   #15
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Interesting: Your MIJ doesn't have the serial number on the top plate and it doesn't have the little hump for the KX button. Is the serial number at the bottom?

Thanks,
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