Help!! I think I broke my me super!!

Ok so before everyone laughs at me for doing something stupid, I'll admit that

I'm a longtime Canon user and am not used to Pentax cameras and their nuances.

 

So I just bought an ME Super off of a friend of mine for dirt cheap and when I

was playing around with it, I accidently wound the camera up while the back

door was slightly open. To make matters worse, after not being able to press

the shutter down, I used the timer to cause the camera to fire. All this did

was raise the mirror up and now it wont come down.

 

So here is my camera as it stands.

 

The mirror is locked in the up position and wont come down, unless I use the

little leaver beside it. (The foam is perfect)

 

The film advance leaver swings loosely

 

The shutter button will move but doesnt fire anything

 

so

help

For what it's worth, I doubt that having the door open alone caused the problem--I don't think there is any mechanical or electronic linkage to the door other than the latch itself. I'm pretty sure I've armed and fired a few older Pentax cameras like Super Program and P3N with the film door open without incident.

Remove and replace the battery. Clean contacts. Replace the battery.

 

If it is a mechanically timed shutter, something is wrong, but you did not do it.

Ok I've tried cleaning the battary contacts, but have had no luck there. The battaries seem fine. The light meter was working great earlier, as was the shutter.

 

It definatly occured while the camera was in aperture priority mode, so I can pretty much rule out the 125 mechanical speed as the culprut.

 

Thinking back, I think I did this same thing to my friends ME Super during our senior prom like forever ago... and I know he fixed his with no real issue, I just cant remember what he did.

Jeff,

 

I think you you've got one of those good new/bad news situations. The good news is that you got a really good MF camera (that would be manual focus) for really cheap. The bad news is that it probably just needs a good CLA - cleaning, lube and adjustment. Take it to a camera shop or there is a guy on ebay that others will mention who does excellent work also. Probably cost 40-70 bucks depending on if it needs foam replacement. When you get it back, it will be good as new and will probably be good for another 20 years of reliable service.

 

Mel

winding the self-timer was a very bad idea, unfortunately it's a rather typical reaction. Is the self-timer lever also swinging loose now or did did it return to it's normal position? (the point is thatit could be jamming the shutter). You say that the mirror is up, did the second curtain complete its travel? Open the back and look at the curtain, do you see a little round rivet just above the lower edge of the frame or do you see two little rivets?

Thanks for the help guys, at the end of the day I just took it in to the local camera shop and said fix it. I figure even if I drop like $100-120 or so into the camera, its still cheaper than I would get off of e-bay after shipping.

 

While I still have peoples attention, what lenses should I be looking for? I just picked up a 28mm 1:2.8 Takumar for doing landscapes. I want to get a good portrait lens (I'm thinking of a Takumar 135 1:2.5) and a good general purpose walk around lens and I'm VERY open to suggestions.

 

I also need a flash as the one I have for my XT is wayyyyyy too new

A good general purpose walk around lens. I shot with the ME Super fopr years. Perhaps the most physically beautiful designs ever. Chrome inlay and trim on a very petite metal body.

 

Matching that petite quality perfectly, I found the M40mm f/2.8 "pancake" lens to be marvelous on that camera. I have seen some in good shape reasonable on ebay. Very good optical quality especially from about f/5.6-11. Can slip camera into large jacket pocket with this llens.

there's one on eBay right now, bids are up to $81 and change with a day to go.

here's the url:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Asahi-SMC-Pentax-M-40mm-f-2-8-Prime-Lens-for-K-Mount_W0QQitemZ300167870857QQihZ020QQcategoryZ4688QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Sweet lens... and its only $75 cdn... and I just got paid... this has good news written all over it.

 

wow I never thought I'd get to say that in my lifetime (its ONLY $75 cdn)

By chance does that camera have an Automatic setting on the shutter dial? My LX had it and use to occasionally fire and leave the mirror up when using the timer. It had to do with the metering and a fresh battery fixed the problem.

Turn the camera upside down and give the palm of the opposing hand a good whack with

the pentaprism. If done properly the mirror will drop, all will return to normal, and you

won't notice that you broke your hand because you are too happy that your camera is

fixed! Seriously, having the camera upside down is the critical part, if you break your

hand, you're a wimp. I've seen this often with cameras that have sat for a long time, and

usually a good bump while upside down will free the binding in the mechinism. Typically,

the camera will be good as long as you continue to use it. Sometimes I do have to pull the

bottom off and wiggle the linkages. I do it so rarely I can't tell you which one, but if you

are mechanically inclined, just follow the levers around and make sure everything wiggles

in the directions they look like they should wiggle. If it was just the mirror release, that's a

little harder to get to, but what you are describing is a jam in the film/shutter advance

system. The mirror is only stuck because you didn't let the system do its job before

forcing a partial release.