At last, my latest purchase arrived.

[John Farrell]

The holidays meant that it was a few days late - I expected it last Friday.

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At the left is the Pentamatic I've had for years, with the newly arrived lens on it, next is the "new" camera - with a sluggish shutter and mirror permanently up, and at the right is the Pentax lens I've been using on my Pentamatic, with the M42 to Pentamatic bayonet adapter - this is a home made piece that I bought some years ago.

[John Farrell]

The Pentamatic standard lens - 5.5cm f1.8 - has a semiautomatic diaphragm. The actuator opens the diaphragm when the camera is cocked, and allows it to stop down when the shutter is fired.
I have one other lens in Pentamatic mount - a preset 13.5cm f3.5.

[John Farrell]

I started exploratory surgery on the latest Pentamatic. It has all the ills of a 60 year old camera - dried out lubricant, dirt, rotted foam light seals...also, the mirror doesn't drop when the second shutter curtain reaches the end of its travel. I think this is caused by wear on a plastic block, which a stud on a wheel driven by the shutter pushes to drop the mirror. At least the lens is good, and works well on my original Pentamatic.
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