Pro tip: I just found out how many parts are in a basic SLR shutter

I was fixing an old Pentax K1000 last week and looked up the service manual. It said the focal plane shutter has over 60 separate pieces! I always knew it was complex, but seeing that number really surprised me. Has anyone else been caught off guard by the part count in a common mechanism?

3 comments

3 Comments

lisa_carter312mo ago

Over 60 pieces just for the shutter? That's insane. I would have guessed maybe twenty at most.

spencermurphy2mo ago

My old camera repair attempts usually end with me having three leftover screws and a new paperweight. Sixty parts means I'd probably lose about fifty of them on the carpet. Guess that's why my "fixed" cameras always have that extra rattle, huh?

morgan.joseph1mo ago

That "sixty parts just for the shutter" line got me thinking. I read somewhere that old mechanical cameras are basically tiny clockwork machines with all those gears and springs. The part that really stuck with me is how those shutters have to open and close in a split second, every single time, for years. One tiny spring out of place and your whole exposure is shot. So yeah, losing fifty screws on the carpet is probably the least of your worries if you're in too deep.