Opted for a brass gear over a plastic one in a vintage Pentax

Had a Pentax Spotmatic come in last week with a stripped wind gear. I replaced it with a brass one from a donor body instead of the original plastic, cost me about 15 bucks for the donor camera. That plastic one was just begging to fail again after 50 years. Has anyone else found brass parts hold up way better in these older SLRs?

3 comments

3 Comments

felix_williams7124d ago

Got a beat up Spotmatic myself and swapped that same plastic gear for brass, runs like a dream now. Those old Pentaxes really do better with the metal parts, they just don't give out the same way.

riley_miller2524d ago

My 1972 Spotmatic still has the original plastic gear and it's been going strong for over 12 years of regular use. I've heard the brass swap thing a lot but honestly, the plastic gear failing seems way overblown online. Most of the time when a Spotmatic locks up, it's the shutter curtain issue or a dried out lubricant problem, not the gear itself. I'm pretty careful with mine though, I don't let it sit for years without firing it. Maybe the plastic gears get brittle from age and sitting unused more than from actual use. Your mileage may vary.

hannahm3924d ago

Ha! I had a buddy who swore by his all-original Spotmatic for years, then one day at a photoshoot it just locked up mid-roll. He sent it to a repair guy who pulled out this crumbly plastic gear that basically disintegrated when he touched it. The guy said it wasn't the gear's fault though - it was the old lubricant that had gummed up and grabbed the gear, and the plastic just couldn't take the stress like brass would've. So maybe it's a combo problem, you know? Plastic gear plus dried out lube equals eventual death.