The technical stuff: Type: Single Lens Reflex Lens: Asahi Super Takumar f1.7 55mm Shutter: Focal Plane Cloth Blind 1sec - 1/1000

An original Asahi Pentax pre-Spotmatic manual camera with accessory clip on light meter.

Such excitement when I spotted this in a charity shop window for £10. Sadly when I checked it out, apart from needing a major clean, the shutter was sticking. The first blind fired ok but the closure blind sauntered across the gap as if it had all the time in the world. I pointed out the fault to the staff in the shop who said they would withdraw it until the manager had a look. Anyway, 2 days later I look in the window and it's back but reduced to only £5. Naturally I snapped it up straight away and took it home for some tlc. After a little encouragement the shutter woke up and the rest of the camera was given a good clean. By now I had become a bit suspicious about the lens but decided to go ahead and try it out.

Just north of Banbury is a small village called Cropredy with the Oxfordshire Canal running through it and it looked like a good target for some shooting. I was right on that count it was a beautiful little village and very photogenic. Unfortunately my suspicions about the lens were founded, it appears to have spots on one of the inner elements and produces numerous small white blobs on the pictures. However with a bit of cropping and some post processing I have managed to produce some decent images. I'm now on the lookout for a replacement Takumar lens, meanwhile I have others including the wide angle Hoya used here.

Stop press:

It's not the lens after all. I have now used other lenses with it and have had the same effect, this is strangely random. I have now moved to the possibility of stray light bouncing around inside the chamber, the kick down lever is a bit polished and shiny and there were one or two scratches in the paint. So I have blacked everything and am ready to try again. I have isolated the problem, it turns out to be a perforated shutter blind. I have treated the offending blind and, hopefully, now I will get better results.