sears ksx super - help appreciated!

hi everyone - i've been browsing this forum for quite a while and have found tons of

helpful information, so i'm finally posting for the first time and hoping that this is

the right spot for this particular question! if not please feel free to direct me

elsewhere. :)

 

so this is the situation: i just purchased a like-new sears ksx super and, in my

excitement, when i loaded the first roll of film i left the lens cap on. the mirror is

now locked up and no amount of fiddling seems to be helping. i also tried to

remove the bottom plate to look around but the screws are too tight am i'm too

amateur to attempt any extreme measures. i think i actually made the same

mistake with another older slr and there was some combination of dial-

turning/button-pushing/chanting that unlocked the mirror and am hoping to be that

lucky here! if anyone has any advice i would be SO appreciative - i feel really

dumb right now and am anxious to actually use this camera w/out breaking it

again. thanks!

oh, and the batteries are fine - checked the meter while holding up the mirror so that doesn't seem to be a problem. thanks again!

Did you try to fire the shutter yet? I don't know what you did that would have put the mirror in the locked up position. On my Chinon CS, the mirror locks up when the self timer is set and the shutter is released. I wouldn't worry about wasting any film just yet. Is there a separate mirror lock up lever or switch? Do you have a manual for this camera?

<www.butkus.org/chinon/ricoh/ksx-p/ksx-p.htm> Please check this site and obtain the manual. You can download it. I believe that the Sears ksx is a clone of the Ricoh-Chinon. Good luck.

Try to press the rewind button and then gently move the wind lever as for winding.

Hi, I just checked the manual. It says it can happen if you load the batteries in an "improper" manner! [Whatever that means]. It also suggest a remedy "set the shutter speed to "X" or "B" and it will release the mirror". Try that! I hope it works. According to the manual, If you have a long threaded lens that could also cause the problem by pushing back into the cavity and blocking the mirror from coming down. Good luck!

thanks for the advice, everyone. so i took a look at the manual and it mentions that there can be up to a 30-second delay if you load/wind with the lens cap on (they didn't put that into the manual that came with the camera!), but unfortunately doesn't go any further than that. in answer to your question, rob, there's no separate mirror lock up but i did try the self-timer and also julio's suggestion re: the rewind and nothing seems to be working. i'm beginning to think that the camera gods have it out for me!

Look at the manual on "the mirror locking up problem". I have copied it just above your posting!

ok... so there is no 'X' setting on this camera but i tried 'B' and 1/125 with and without the lens, took the batteries in and out (hopefully in a 'proper' manner, ha!)... it's just not responding at all. does it sound like a lost cause? not sure it's worth it to get repairs, though it is otherwise in really good condition. don't want to give up just yet!

Look inside the mirror chamber and to your left there will be a lever holding up the the mirror. Try, gently, manipulating it. According to Tomosy's book that should work. It might release the mirror. Please, don't give up. Mirror sticking up is a simple problem usually. Does the shutter fire at all?

The mirror sticking up is usually due to a weak spring or increased friction in the levers. The spring therein works more like the one in a toggle switch. Sometimes you can bring the mirror down by gently pushing it down. Try these very gently, so you don't jam up any thing. If none of these works then put it away for a day or so and try again, before going in for a repair shop. Good luck!

Rhianne, if the electronic shutter is stuck then you could try a cable release. Matt's cameras reports such a remedy for a stuck shutter.

ahhh... i think i see the problem. the spring looks like it's come loose on the bottom end, isn't even connected anymore. that isn't good, is it? man!

Now you have the diagnosis. That is half the job done! Congratulations!

Try and fix it gently. Use some firm pincers to set the spring back. Your camera may need some Cleaning and lubrication. You need not do it all at once. You can do it step by step, one part at a time, after studying it. All the best!

thank you so so much for your help, i've got some studying to do! this will be the first time attempting any sort of repair, but figuring this thing out has gotten my courage up! :)

 

thanks again!

Also make sure the mirror box foam seals haven't deteriorated and gone all sticky. I had a Nikon EM that did that, the mirror would stick to the foam.

I think I have one of these somewhere. This was made by Ricoh. It has the same problem which afflicts Minolta X-700, X-570, X-370 and XG series cameras. A resistor with a limited lifespan poops out and the shutter freezes with the mirror up. Most repair places will charge about $100 to fix this and will include a general overhaul including new foam seals and mirror foam. Is it worth fixing for that price? If you have a lot of K mount lenses and like the camera then the answer is yes. It doesn't matter that a "working" used camera can be bought for very little on eBay. It might only work for a few days. If this problem appeared on one of my Minolta X-700 bodies I would have it repaired because the X-700 has interchangeable focusing screens, TTL flash and a bright viewfinder. If it happened on a Sears or Ricoh K mount camera I think I would just buy a used Vivitar V4000 or V4000S for $10-$20.

ah, so it's good to know that this is a common problem so that i can hopefully avoid it when ebaying in the future! i still don't know whether to get it repaired or not because i didn't get the chance to actually run film through it before it locked up on me. but it looks like it's in really good shape in terms of foam, etc., so... i don't know. and the spring that i previously thought was an issue actually, upon closer inspection, looks ok. whichever way i go i did at least get a decent lens and a few filters out of the deal! thanks again for all of the help. :)

You know this is funny.I just went through this.I bought a Sears KSX from eBay with the normal 50 & a 135 & a Sears flash & manual.The guy sold the camera 'as is'..said he "didn't know" if it worked or NOT..(which usually means,"I know it doesn't work but I don't want to say so!") I figured if the camera doesn't work at least the lenses should.I paid a total of $20.00 with shipping for it.

Sure enough,The camera didn't work..mirror locked up.I grabbed the manual & went to the trouble shooting section.There it said sure enough turn the shutter dial to 'X' or 'b' to drop the mirror,it worked.Tryed the camera on 'X' it worked,tryed the camera on 'B',it worked (only two mechanical speeds)None of the other speeds did... try them & the mirror stayed up & the shutter never fired.

I cleaned the contacts & put new batteries in..nothing.I tryed two more batteries (why I don't know..just because they were there) including one that had a noticeable bulge (like it might burst) and to my surprise it worked perfectly.I thought,the contacts must have cleaned up when I changed the batteries.So,I put 2 more brand new batteries in & nothing the camera didn't work except for the mechanical speeds.What the hell?

Then I thought what what's the difference between these old batteries & these new ones?It's the buldge!... the buldge!You see there is a little spring steel projection in the bottom of the battery compartment that over the years had lost some of it's 'spring' & as a result didn't make contact with brand new batteries.The 'old' buldged battery was just thick enough that it made contact & caused the camera to work.I pryed up the little projection in battery compartment,installed new batteries &....it works perfectly!Amen,I know the guy sold it thinking it was trash that didn't work,but I got a mint/perfectly functional camera with 2 lenses for a song.I'm definitely gonna leave the guy good feedback..even though he probably thinks he 'took' me!! I'm such a 'sucker' yea..Right!

I just found one of these in a box of junk cameras. It seemed to be OK. I put new batteries in it, the meter worked, shutter tripped and what sounded like good speeds. But the winder is kaput, as I found when I tried to load it. And for awhile the shutter and mirror were locked. The shutter seems OK now (I poked gently at it and it shifted back to a relaxed posture) but the mirror is still locked up. And the winder is still hosed.

 

Not really worth spending $$ on, as I have just one Kmount lens and have no plans to acquire more. Any tips on disassembly in case I wanted to go the DIY route? Or should I just try to offload it as a parts donor?

Oh, as I see now, I left out that the shutter doesn't fire at all. The self-timer counts down, but nothing happens.

Gah, I just solved part of this by accident. Something was binding under the bottom cover. I somehow pressed on

it in such a way as to flex it and release the bound part. So the shutter and mirror are working fine. Still no

winder. The bits that turn and reset on the bottom of the camera seem to be working fine, so I suspect it's

something under the winder lever itself. Disassembly clues welcome ;-) Do I just pry it off?