Pentax – Foxes Den

What the listing stated:

Pentax P30 35mm SLR Film Camera Body – Spares/ Repairs

The camera appears to be unresponsive upon testing.

EBay

Here’s a little bit about this camera:

The Pentax P3 (US), P30 elsewhere, is a 35mm film SLR released by Pentax in 1985. The plastic body was a departure of the lineage that produced the ME and Super A; with a more amateurish camera. The P3 was a departure of the P5/50 as it returned to a speed dial instead of buttons.

It uses the KA-mount bayonet to convey aperture information and have P mode (Av when M or K series lenses are used) and can use any manual focus lens up to the FA series.

Viewfinder covers 92% of image with 0.82x magnification. Split-image matte focusing screen (horizontal)

The P3/30 uses a classic manual film advance lever with 130° throw.

It has program, manual, X and B exposure modes on a dial with speeds of 1 to 1/1000 sec. However on P mode exposures up to 8s have been observed. The X mode provides automation with some Pentax flashes. No exposure compensation is available, but the camera has an Exposure Lock button.

The meter is a center-weighted type with a range of 1 to 18 EV. A scale of speeds is shown in the viewfinder and LEDs show the selected and recommended (blinking) speeds.

Film speeds can’t be set manually, the P3/30 uses DX Encoding film with a ISOrange of 25 to 1600. There is a plastic window in the film door.

Self timer is in the main power switch for ~12s.

DOF Preview lever is located above the bayonet lock.

It uses two 1.5v SR44 or LR44 button batteries.

The US version is all black, while in the rest of the world it was dark gray

There are two revisions of the body, early versions can’t use a cable remote release, while late versions can.

A similar improved Pentax P30n/P3n/P30t became available three years later. This camera incorporated Aperture Priority exposure, and a diagonal focusing screen (P30t)

Camera-wiki.org

Another camera from the 80s – this one was 1985 when the manufacturers went plastic and the styling of the earlier cameras was starting to decline. Cameras were starting to look decidedly cheap and nasty, and this is probably the one that single-handedly punished Pentax, with a totally amateur looking camera, horrendous feedback at the time, and previously happy photographers were deserting Pentax for other manufacturers, who were offering better packages and capabilities at the time.

However this camera did have its fan base, and a lot of amateurs learnt their trade on these units due to their cost, and relatively low price for associated add ons such as lenses and flashes.

I never had one until now. I suspect the guy I usually buy from threw this in my direction, due to knowing he’d probably have issues selling it on. I’ve paid a total of £3:75GBP for this one. I think it’s worth it.

It’s the second “K” mount camera I’ve brought in two days. And guess what? I don’t have one of those lenses. Looks like I’m going to have to purchase one for my collection and for testing purposes.

Anyway, let’s await its arrival so we can assess its issues.

Assessment:

First things first, I’ve printed out a body cap on the 3D printer for when i complete the clean, allowing me to protect the mirror, shutter and lens chamber area.

A new body cap printed to protect the lens chamber

Overall the camera looks used, it’s in one piece meaning that everything is there that needs to be there but it does show signs of being a little bruised, battered and dirty.

All seals appear ok, the mirror bumper felt is in a good condition as well, and the film chamber is clean. Shutter appears to be operating just as it should.

The only real issue I can see is a build up of dust and dirt behind the viewing lens, though this won’t affect any pictures being taken, a clean would help the photographer get a clearer view of what they are focusing on.

Repair:

The description has stated that the camera is unresponsive. Well I’ve put batteries in place, switched the camera on and it is dead. But I can see an issue. The battery cap appears tarnished. A quick attack of the tarnishing with the grinding pen and a good wipe over with a cotton bud soaked in IPA soon sees to the tarnished battery cap. Hey presto, life is restored when batteries are put back into place. The meter inside is fine, and showing lights and indicating as it should, the light that flashes when the self timer operates is also ok. To me everything is indicating just fine. That’s all that was causing the unresponsiveness, the dirty contacts.

The next step didn’t really need to be done, however me being me I just couldn’t let it go. There is quite a bit of build up of dirt behind the viewing glass and I will have to get into the camera to access this. There is no other way.

Removal of the top of the camera requires the removal of six screws, the winder handle and a couple of securing bolts, you can then carefully lift the top clear being careful not to damage the two hot-shoe cables in the prism area.

With the top off, a couple of more screws holding the viewer in place require removing to detach the viewer from the prism area. This then reveals a very dirty filtered triangular prism that has collected over forty years of airborne detritus. A simple clean with a swab is sufficient, followed by a good air blast to finish off. The small viewing lens has a similar clean and then the camera can be reassembled.

I’ve printed an eye cup to cover up that damages around the eyepiece, again it’s not really needed but just tidies the area up a bit.

Just print a hotshoe cover for the top and that’s it all done.

Finally it’s time for a good cleanup.

Result:

For an outlay of £3:75GBP this is a period and usable camera. Will I use it though? Probably not, I’ll probably pass this on to the hospice to get some money from, as to be quite honest I doubt I’ll be able to sell it on.

It’s a nice little learning camera, looks smart after a clean up, and has now had its life expectancy extended due to the easiest of repairs. I’ve said it before, how many similar units have just been disposed of due to only requiring a quick clean? Scandalous really.

Anyway, this one lives on. Someone will have a nice little camera what with the resurgence of film stock currently enjoying a second coming.

One more saved from landfill, small goals, small results.

Thanks for passing by, as always it is always very much appreciated.

What the listing stated:

Job lot of 5 slr film camera bodies

Canon ae-1 program, Olympus om10 x 2, Pentax me super, Fujica stx-1

Sold as spares and repairs only, all have some sort of fault

Please see photos for condition

EBay

I’ve just purchased a job lot of old cameras all requiring repair, god knows what the real issue with them is, however they all do seem to have all knobs and buttons available which in many cases is quite a rarity. I’ve paid a grand total of £40:00GBP so if you break it down to a total of £8:00GBP per camera then I’m quite happy with that. Even at this price, i get some good spares, should that be all they are useful for.

My intentions here are thus. The AE1 program is the only Canon camera I need to complete my “A” series collection so my main focus will be on that. The two Olympus OM10s I will be looking at repairing then selling on as I already have a good example of this camera. The Fujica and the Pentax I will possibly look at adding to my collection as I do not have either of these.

I have my fingers crossed that there’s nothing seriously wrong with this purchase, and i will be featuring their respective repairs over the coming weeks. Firstly I’m going to carry out a very basic assessment on their arrival, just to see whether or not I have purchased a collection of proverbial Christmas Turkeys.

Quick assessment:

Canon AE1- Program:

This is the one I’m most excited about as it could possibly be my last piece of the puzzle for my Canon “A” series collection. Cosmetically it’s ok, it’s grubby, it has a broken battery door and a missing winder cover from the base. All dials, buttons and levers are working as they should, and when a battery is installed everything is as it should be. The battery check audio is fine, all indications in the viewfinder illuminate as they should, the camera fires (with a little camera cough) but other than that all seems well. The mirror and prism need cleaning and there is possibly some ingrained marks on the prism but this will not affect picture quality. All light seals need replacing and a good CLA is required.

Is it a Turkey 🦃 no it isn’t. I’m convinced this camera will soon be back in good working order.

Olympus OM10 – No:1:

In really good condition, battery terminals have a slight corrosion due to old batteries being in place. However new batteries work fine and shutter fires and viewfinder is clean. To be honest, this camera is in a better cosmetic condition than the one I currently have. This is an excellent camera that requires little attention.

Is it a Turkey 🦃 ? Most definitely not.

Olympus OM10- No:2:

As with the first OM10 this is cosmetically a nice camera just a little more grubby, and missing the battery cover on the base. But it has a nice Nikon neck strap – strange. The battery chamber looks as if it has had some minor battery leakage but nothing too serious. Using the battery cover from No: 1 camera I’m able to test all the electricals, and there is no issues here, with the camera displaying the exposure in the viewfinder correctly, and the self timer and battery check all as they should be. Again a good CLA of the camera should have it back and working in no time at all.

Is it a Turkey 🦃 it most definitely isn’t. This is a good camera just needing some TLC.

Pentax ME-Super:

Again, cosmetically in good condition but missing the battery cover on the base. I was able to overcome this and load some batteries and had movement in the metering via the viewfinder. It’s quite dirty and the function dial on the top is jammed, I couldn’t get the shutter to fire. I suspect it needs a good CLA, and will make a good little project .

Is it a Turkey 🦃 ? I’d say not at this stage. It needs attention on the bench. It’s promising.

Fujica STX-1:

The batteries were dead but the chamber was free of any contaminants. New batteries in place and the light meter in the viewfinder is working fine. Everything works, the shutter fires and winder operates without issue. This camera is in a good but grubby condition. Will require new light seals and a good CLA, but nothing beyond that.

Is it a Turkey 🦃? Absolutely not, this is a good sturdy camera just itching to get back to taking photographs again.

Conclusion:

So out of five cameras, I’m exceptionally pleased that every single one of them can be brought back to a working condition, with very little intervention. every single one of them will need a Clean, lubrication and adjustment (CLA) and also new light seals as the majority of them have turned to a dusty residue that gets everywhere. I need to buy some replacement parts, so I will get on with sourcing those items, and then I will also get some body caps to protect the cameras when I’m finished.

I will create individual posts to cover these repairs, and they will be delivered here on this site over the coming month or two. I’m in no real rush and to be honest, time is a rare commodity at the moment as I will be working as one of the “Orange army” (It’s a railway term) over the Christmas and New year periods, and on top of that we may also still be moving home, fingers crossed 🤞 in early January 2026.

Thanks for passing by. It’s most appreciated.

Tag: Pentax