juanjo_viagran Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Hi, I just bought a MINT HoneyWell PENTAX SPOTMATIC camera with few Super-Takumar lenses but: Here are the questions.. What battery this camera uses (there is no battery on it right now) ? And the camera no matter what speed I put opens for a second, is that an easy fix.? is just because need a battery ? Thanks. Juanjo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zach_abubeker Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 im pretty sure the battery only powers the light meter. if all your exposures are 1 second i would say thats a bigger problem than the battery, might want to get it checkd out. there is a guy eric i believe his name is and i think his email pentax27@aol.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael R Freeman Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 The original battery was a PX400 1.35V mercury cell, but a 1.5V alkaline or silver oxide can be used as a replacement without meter calibration. Look for a S400PX (or 387S), which is basically a small 1.55V silver oxide button cell with a plastic collar around the outside. Zinc Air 1.35V batteries (Z400PX) will also work. http://i22.ebayimg.com/02/i/01/d9/42/1b_1.JPG The camera uses the battery for the meter only. The shutter is entirely mechanical and works without batteries. Sounds like yours has problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_russell4 Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Nice purchase :) The battery for the Spotmatic is just a small one that powers the meter.Its under a little screw top door on the bottom. As for the shutter speed question, that sounds like a fault or hopefully just needs cleaning . good luck ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juanjo_viagran Posted July 23, 2007 Author Share Posted July 23, 2007 Thanks a lot for the quick reply... I'll buy the right battery (now that I know which one is it) and make sure that the metering works, if it does I'll go ahead and contact Eric.. ;) Thanks again. <a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c41/EastCoastHucker/bs/DSC_00011.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_lai Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Hi Juan, did you buy the camera on an auction site? If so and the camera was described as "mint," you might want to have a little talk with the seller. It could be the lighting, but it looks to me like there's a dent on the front of the pentaprism housing, at the top by the "H" logo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juanjo_viagran Posted July 23, 2007 Author Share Posted July 23, 2007 Jam, I bought the camera out of that site. Beside that "dent" the camera and lenses I got with it are MINT. anyway, at this point look is not the problem, just hope I can make it work. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyinca Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Your shutter has problem. I would get that resolve first. New battery won't help your shutter. Pentax spotmatic function as a camera without any battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyinca Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Hate to break you more bad news but that dent is where the view finder prism is. It could effect more then look. The alighment there is critical. If it is off, the image on the view finder may be sharp but the film plane could be off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvalois Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Hi Juanjo ... Tommy's right, a new battery won't help your shutter. I have the Asahi Pentax Spotmatic from way back and the battery does not work. Using a handheld light meter, I recently tested this old but reliable camera that had not shot a roll of film on over 20 years !!! I took my light readings with the handheld meter, I shot a roll of film under various openings and shutter speeds and the results were spot on. Ray http://raymondvaloisphotograph.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_lai Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 LOL<p>Sorry, Juan<b>jo</b>! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stefantveye Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 For repair check out the website http://www.pentaxs.com/ this might be the same Eric that was refered to earlier. This guy specializes in Pentax cameras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 Although the original battery for this was 1.35 volts and ,being mercury, is no longer available, I have it on very good authority that the modern 1.55 volt replacement silver batter works fine as the Pentax circuit is not sensitive to the difference in voltage due to the way it measures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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