Asahi Pentax Spotmeter V Repair

I recently picked up an Asahi Pantax Spotmeter V to compliment my growing collection of older film cameras. I bought the spotmeter advertised as used but in good working condition...I guess everyone has different standards. It was in working condition but the calculation dials were loose and there was spider web fungus on the optics and fresnel lens where the spotmeter indicator was. There were also a couple of cracks on the plastic housing and something rattling around inside. It worked but those things really bothered me so I took it apart and fixed it all up. If you are looking to repair your Spotmeter V then hopefully these photos will help you disassemble yours and not make the mistakes I did.

Here is the spotmeter mostly disassembled


The spotmeter housing has 1 screw behind the small serial number sticker plate on the grip that needs to be removed and then also the eyecup housing needs to be unscrewed to completely remove the outer housing. Typically in electronic items there are hidden screws behind stickers and name plates, I thought there were a couple more screws underneath the Pentax badge on top of the housing and removed that also but it turned out that the top of the housing is only a snap fit piece and I buggered up the badge getting it off. I told myself it was OK because I didn't pay much for the spotmeter.

Here is the screw that lives behind the serial# sticker badge, carefully pry the sticker off at the edges or corner with a sharp razor blade. You can glue this back on later with contact cement...yes, contact cement, it works perfect and is what was used way back when.


You will also need to unscrew the eyecup piece and then using a spanner wrench remove the locking ring, I guess I forgot to get a good picture of that part so take my word on it...just unscrew by hand the eyecup piece and when removed you will see the lock ring and the 2 indent holes for the spanner wrench, unscrew and remove that and you will see something like this


Then carefully pull the housing off, the top has a snap fit piece like this


The main front lens just unscrews as a whole unit, that will get you access to the spotmeter needle and fresnel/mirror chamber, that is where I used a q-tip to clean the fresnel area. The main glass element needs to be removed by using a spanner wrench to unscrew the holding lug inside the lens housing, it is a single piece of glass so it can easily be removed and cleaned of fungus or dust.

Here is looking down into the fresnel/mirror chamber with the main lens removed


This is the dial calculation assembly removed


On the inside of the plastic housing I used some locktite to secure the nuts holding the dial calculation wheels


Here is the whole mess apart on my table


I used some Gorilla Glue to repair the cracks in the housing and used a rubber band to clamp it together during the drying period.


Everything went back together good and now I have a nice working spotmeter!

A few more photos are here

I hope this is helpful to anyone else looking to repair their Pentax Spotmeter V


--

Wildflower Blooms 2015 - Anza Borrego Desert State Park

Wildflowers are beginning to bloom out in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, get out in the next couple of weeks before they are gone!
























--

Tintype Photography - A second try

Here are a few more shots with my tintype kit. I think the emulsion is too thick, I was able to put a more consistent and thinner coating on this batch of plates and it looks like they exposed better but something is still not right and the bubbles were a surprise as I was very careful to clean the plates with rubbing alcohol and did not touch either the plates or emulsion so not sure with that either. I am gonna try and pour some more plates this week, maybe the 3rd try will be the charm.

Rocky Bones my dog makes a great model


Except when he moves during a 3 second exposure


This one was underexposed for Rocky but the background seemed decent...


I have a lot of respect for old time photographers and their perseverance to keep trying new methods to get better results. If you have any experience with tintypes and the Rockland specific emulsions I would love to hear from you!


--