Repair of 90mm Leaf Shutter lens?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Pentax 67 SLR : One Thread

I have a 90mm leaf shutter lens on which the PC connection is dead. It will not fire a strobe. This makes the lens almost useless! Pentax no longer works on this lens. Any ideas where I could send it? Thanks.

-- Terry Dent (dentkimterry@cs.com), October 31, 2000

Answers

Terry, I bought a 90LS not long ago that had a similar problem. When the dealer attached his PC cord to the 90LS the flash would always fire, but when I attached mine the flash wouldn't fire. Some PC cords have bigger center holes than others, and mine was larger than his, thus not making good contact with the small PC pin on the 90LS. I found that if I put sideways pressure on the PC connector with my finger and trip the shutter, then the flash would fire. I decided to gently bend the PC pin on the lens sideways with a small screwdriver. Now the pin makes contact with the PC cord and it has worked ever since. I hope yours turns out to be this simple. Bob

-- Bobby Mahaffey (mahajen@prodigy.net), November 01, 2000.

It is very likely a problem with the connection. Either the PC socket on the lens has an enlarged hole due to usage or the PC cable pin is too thin. It is likely to be the enlarged hole but there's a possibility its the PC cord, try a different one. I have a brand new PC cord that does not work with the P67II's PC connector because the pin is too thin. As already suggested try bending the pin slightly. Also I read somewhere on the Pentax website that the only thing that is not serviceable on the 90LS is the shutter but everything else is still serviceable.

-- M.B. (mbarroca@americasm01.nt.com), November 01, 2000.

I need to make a correction to my earlier comment. I should have said some PC cords have bigger 'pins' than others, not 'holes'. The center pin that you push sideways is on the PC cord, not on the lens.

-- Bobby Mahaffey (mahajen@prodigy.net), November 01, 2000.

Thanks for your answers guys. I tried different PC cords and wiggling and bending them...........no luck. It might just be a bad connection inside the lens, not needing any parts. I may try to take it apart myself. Anyone ever disassemble a 6X7 lens?

-- Terry Dent (dentkimterry@cs.com), November 01, 2000.

Before you proceed try another test to ensure both your flash and PC cord is OK. Turn on your flash and connect the PC cord to it. At the other end of the PC cord short the center pin to the outer metal sleeve using maybe a paper clip. Your flash should fire. If it does then its the lens. I too have though of opening my 90LS to inspect the shutter and remove dust but taking apart lenses scares the hell out of me. Good luck...let us known how it turned out.

-- M.B. (mbarroca@americasm01.nt.com), November 02, 2000.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ