Advice please on MZ3

I recently got my MZ3 out of the cupboard as I found I still had a roll of film, the camera has not been used for maybe 10 years so I guess I'm asking a lot of it.

However before putting it in I decided to see if the camera seemed to operate OK. Sadly it does not. The film wind on works OK when you open and shut the back, AF works and bleeps OK but when I press the shutter all I hear is a kind of wine noise for a second or two and the mirror does not go up and the shutter does not fire.

I guess I'm really asking if this is likely to be expensive, even if you can still get Pentax or others to repair them now. Anyone any ideas?

Stuart

We can't really guess what is wrong, but a good start is to try new batteries. Sometimes if batteries are weak cameras will lock up.

Failing that, it's back to Asahi Photo, Harrow Technical or Newton Ellis and the like for a quote. JPS only do the digital cameras.

Sadly that was on a new set of batteries....

Stuart

SOunds to me like the mirror mechanism is jammed somewhere. I don't know if it will be possible to work it loose by manipulating it manually.

It is possibly the dreaded dodgy plastic cog problem that was the Achilles heel of the MZ series. It is possible to get it replaced with a good brass one but at a cost so it depends on how much you value the camera (rather than how much the camera is 'worth' commercially).

K.