Pentax ME-F: mirror problem?

Hi,

I picked up a 2nd-hand Pentax ME-F in a shop the other day.

I paid almost nothing for it which is just as well as it seems to have
the following problem:

when I depress the shutter-button there's a delay before it fires. The
mirror slowly rises up - taking about 1 or 2 seconds and then the
shutter fires.

It doesn't seem to be sticky foam as the mirror returns more or less as
I'd expect.

The meter on the camera works fine and as far as I can tell the rest of
the electronics are OK - although I might be wrong.

Matt

 

Hello Matt.

I've seen a slow mirror, like the one you describe, once before.
It was on a Canon A1 or AE1 and the owner had "lubricated" the mirror
mechanism with WD-40.
I saw this sad body in a dealer specialising in Canon. The dealer said that
the camera "had been a nice body until the WD-40 got into it".

Hope this isn't the case with your camera body - but have a look carefully
for stains.

Regards,
Ian.