67 problem

[seandepuydt]

Ok, I'm stuck. I searched for an answer and wasn't sure if I found

what I needed. I just purchased a 67 with TTL meter. On my first

outing things went smoothly. I placed a new batter into the camera,

meter worked fine. After shooting I packed the camera away after

turning off the switches for the meter and shutter release. A few

days later I went to shoot again and the battery was drained. I

figured that the MLU had been triggered as the mirror was in the up

position. So I replaced the battery and started shooting. While I was

packing things away I took the battery out of the camera to make sure

the MLU wasn't triggered. A week + has elapsed and I'm going to shoot

this morning and find the mirror in the up position. The shutter

release doesn't trip and the advance lever will not advance. I'm not

sure what I should do. Buy a new battery is on the list but the

battery I have is new. Is there something that I'm missing? Is the

battery type causing this problem? How did the MLU trigger without

the battery in the camera? If I buy a special battery, will the

mirror release to the down position? Any help is appreciated.

[trooper]

I'm not sure why your mirror is releasing and left in the up position but if you don't have the manual, you may not be aware of the small black safety release button on the front of the body, just below the shutter release button area. This will free up the mechanism. If you put the battery in when the mirror is locked up, the manual says that the battery will be drained.

[seandepuydt]

Craig, thank you. I didn't realize that button was there and it did the trick.

[dan_k2]

hmmm..... Without the battery in, either the MLU or the shutter button will put the mirror in the halfway, stop down the aperture, and lock the camera. I think the only way to totally prevent this is to put the camera away with the battery out and the shutter uncocked. BTW, Pentax has the owner's manual up on their site... http://www.pentax.com/docstore/index.cfm?show=6 ... Hope this helps..

 

Dan

[trooper]

Dan's response reminded me.... I used to have strange behaviors on my bodies (lock-ups, etc) with the alkaline battery vs the original version. There is a very slight voltage difference and my bodies seemed to be sensitive to this factor. This occurred on 3 bodies and made me think it could be very common.

[dan_k2]

Craig.... occasional lockups?? Takes a rap on the baseplate with the heel of your hand to clear??? I've been wondering about that!! I'm using the lithium, and it's doing it on that too.... If I switch it out for a silver oxide, should be better??

 

Thanks... Dan

[trooper]

My own experience has shown that I don't have the problem when using the silver-oxides.... Funny timing though, as today, I was taking some shots of my son's school ski team and one of my cameras ended up sitting outside on the tripod for longer than I expected after getting 17 high schoolers rounded up and ready the mirror locked up and the little button release wouldn't let it loose. In a moment of frustration, I rapped tha camera with my hand and it let down again. I then took 7 or 8 frames without incident. The battery has been in that body for awhile and I think it was simply going flat. I had been using another body on a monopod with the remote battery hook-up and that functioned well all day. It was 1 degree F at the start of the morning races and I didn't have any camera grief all day until I took the second body out for the group shots on a tripod. The tripod I was using doesn't work with the remote rig and it had a chance to get thoroughly chilled before I used it and then acted up for me. I was about 100 yards away from my bags and spare batteries, etc so I was lucky it resumed working.

[dan_k2]

Craig... the word "prophetic" comes to mind, doesn't it?? I used to carry a spare in my pocket until it shorted out on some pocket change....(kept me a little too warm.... :) Still do, but now it's in a 35mm film canister....

 

Dan