Shoutout to the thrift store that sold me a broken Pentax K1000

Picked up a Pentax K1000 at a Goodwill in Denver last Saturday for $15. Got home, loaded some Kodak Gold 200, and the shutter just stuck halfway through the first roll. The mirror jammed up and wouldn't come back down. I tried tapping it gently like I saw on YouTube but that did nothing. Ended up having to take the lens off and carefully pop the mirror back with a toothpick. The roll was a loss but at least I saved the camera. Anyone else ever rescue a broken film camera from a thrift store and manage to fix it with stuff from around the house?

2 comments

2 Comments

noah9171mo ago

My buddy Mark found a beat up Canon AE-1 at a flea market in Phoenix for like 8 bucks. Same thing happened, the shutter curtain was all stuck and the mirror was flopping around. He used a pair of tweezers and a q-tip with some lighter fluid to clean the old gummy grease off the rails. Took him three tries over a week but he finally got it working again and that camera takes amazing photos now. The only thing he ever had to buy was a new light seal kit off Amazon for 12 bucks. It's funny how a little patience and some household junk can bring these old cameras back to life.

lisar141mo ago

Wait, he used LIGHTER FLUID? On a camera? That's wild. @noah917, I'm honestly shocked that didn't just ruin the whole thing. Glad it worked out for your buddy though, a working AE-1 for $20 total is still a steal.