Had a week where every Pentax K1000 I touched just worked perfectly

Last Tuesday alone I had three K1000s come in with dead meters and sticky shutters, and each one only needed a clean and fresh batteries to get shooting again. Is it just me or do those old things sometimes just decide to cooperate for no good reason?

3 comments

3 Comments

wells.olivia5d ago

Took a gamble on a beat-up K1000 at a flea market last year, cleaned the battery contacts with a pencil eraser, and it worked flawlessly for three straight rolls. Sometimes those old meters just need a little corrosion scraped off the terminals and they snap right back to life. Also found that working the shutter through all speeds a few times without film helped unstick a sluggish one in about five minutes.

lee_reed5d ago

Did you ever run into one where the slow speeds stayed sluggish even after working them dry for a while, or does that five minute trick usually fix all of them in your experience?

eric_knight75d ago

Hey that eraser trick is a lifesaver, I've seen it bring back way more meters than you'd expect! Did you notice if the sticky shutters always freed up after a few dry fires or did some of them need a more thorough cleaning under the mirror box? I'm curious if the slower speeds ever stayed sluggish after that five minute workout.