Old timer told me to never use a heat gun on Pentax shutters. I did anyway.

Guy at a swap meet in Phoenix, must have been 70, warned me off using heat guns on Pentax Spotmatic shutters. Said the curtain material gets brittle. I thought he was just being old school. Last month I grabbed a Spotmatic with sticky shutter blades, got impatient, and hit it with a low setting for maybe 30 seconds. The curtain literally crinkled up and tore on the next cock. Ruined the whole repair. Cost me a $40 parts camera to fix my mistake. Now I wait overnight with a hair dryer on the lowest setting. Anyone else had a quick heat method backfire on them?

3 comments

3 Comments

beth_reed3d ago

Hate to hear that, these old cameras need a gentle touch for sure.

adamr143d ago

Yeah, "gentle touch" is key, @beth_reed, but that soft release is mostly about keeping your BREATH steady, not the camera shake. Think the real trick is learning to squeeze the shutter like you're pulling a trigger, not pressing a button.

ray1363d ago

Camera shake is way bigger than people want to admit with these old bodies, a stiff breeze off your finger can ruin an entire roll. The breath steadying is fine, but if you're gripping the camera at all wrong it's gonna show up as blur every time. Dismissing the physical handling of the gear is just ignoring half the problem.