I am using a pentax A3, film slr, which i am not familiar with. Im not sure how to make the shutter speed longer so that I can experiment with light trails at night.

Have the film come to the end of the roll and the camera will not fire, if so rewind the film. Sorry, a shutter is not a self service item. This should be sent in for a CLA.

Unless you have experience repairing cameras, this is not a DIY fix. Take your camera to a reputable camera shop and have a trained professional look at it.

The most common cause is that you didn't load the film correctly.

Hold the camera up to the light with the lens off and the back open. C0ck the shutter ready to fire and press the shutter release as you look through the camera towards a light source. If you see light briefly appear then the shutter is working and you would get some kind of image on the film, even if the shutter was wildly inaccurate. If there's no light, then repeat at all shutter speeds. If you see nothing then the shutter assembly is faulty and the camera effectively becomes a spare part donor as it's not a cost effective repair. If there is some sign of life then the camera probably just needs a good CLA service (Clean, Lubricate, Adjust). Again, not really cost effective, but you do end up with a solid and reliable camera for many more years.

Faulty film loading even catches out experienced photographers, we've all done it. In future, after you load and wind-on the film, check that the rewind crank turns counter clockwise each time you wind the film on to the next shot (you may have to turn the crank clockwise, gently, to take up any slack first).

The camera is almost totally battery dependent for operation. There is just one mechanical shutter speed (the 125X setting). On any other setting the camera needs battery power to fire the shutter. To check the batteries set the camera to M or Auto and halfway press the shutter whilst looking through the viewfinder. With good batteries one of the LED lamps will illuminate between 2000 and 4s continuously. With weak batteries, the LED's will flicker on and off. With dead batteries no lights at all will appear.

Blank film means that the film has not been exposed. If you're sure that the film is advancing correctly then it means that the shutter is probably not operating. To test it, open the camera back and hold the camera up to a bright light with the lens cap removed. Set the lens aperture to it's widest setting (i.e. lowest number) and fire the shutter. You should see at least some light briefly appearing. If not, set the camera to 125X and try again. If no light then you have a faulty shutter assembly. A faulty shutter really needs professional attention, but due to age and a lack of spares you'll find it difficult to find a camera technician who is willing to help unless you pay up front (don't expect much of a refund, if any, if the camera proves to be unrepairable). In any case, the repairs will exceed the camera's value, but given that the same may be said of almost all 35mm SLR's now it's a question of how much do you personally value your camera?

If you do get a professional repair, then take the chance to get the foam light seals and mirror buffer replaced at the same time if it hasn't already been done. The original material will be well into decomposing by now and modern replacement materials don't suffer the same fate, so it's a modest one-off investment. An ME super in good condition is scarce and collectable even though it's not worth much, and far more importantly it's a great camera to use. Shoot on transparencies and scan the results and you can achieve results which are comparable to the best digital SLR's. Unlike a digital SLR, your camera should last much longer if it can be repaired.

loading mechanism,gear system must be defective,so u r not able to load the film,while loading shutter gets charged,stops running,so the shutter mechnism also be chaqued.

F4shsk1

are you sure the camera is a Pentax K1000.
the K1000 is a manual 35mm film camera, the only electronics in it are for the light meter. plus a circuit for the flash connections.

Pentax ME Super was one of my favorite camera, small and clean shutter release. But it has been about 25 years since it was manufactured. They happen to use rubber break within shutter unit and as any rubbers, it started to deteriorate and melt between the shutter-blades. This prevents the complete cycle of the shutter and jams the winding. You may be able to unjam the winding but eventually you have to overhaul the shutter unit. Overhaul charge is around $100 in US repair market. -James

Ok, well are you using a lens that is compatible with the auto setting? Are the batteries new and fresh in the camera? If you are not sure about the lens, then what you can do is too look at the inside of the box of the film you are using (Kodak) has a setting and exposure guide printed on the box. Try using the required exposure for the light that you are in... say for bright sun try f 16 at 1/125th of a second. That setting is for Kodak Royal Gold 100. That is right off the Kodak exposure guide, which you can find on the web here

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/products/techInfo/e41/index.shtml#exposure

I'd stick to Kodak film if possible. Try that out, and if no dice, then take the camera to a repair shop and have it looked over. good luck!

Yes, on this camera you leave the aperture ring at f22 and use the camera's controls to set your f-stop. It won't work is you change the ring on the lens. You gain the control of the aperture in the 'M' and 'A' modes. The 'P' setting is for the camera to pick both speed and aperture for you. 'S' is shutter priority, etc

Push the small white button down and turn the select to B or Flash mode the shutter should fire at 1/60th sec. in flash mode. As long as you want in B mode. Turn select to A
put lens on and check shutter speed in finder. Rotate F stop on lens and bring shutter speed to over 1/100 sec. push shutter button, it should fire at the speed you selected.
If not check battery cap and contacts in bat. holder, clean with pencil eraser if needed. Be careful with contacts in holder.
If it still locks up remove lens and rotate to F/16 push metal pin in and check operation of diaphragm, it should be smooth and pin return quickly.
If the shutter still locks in auto that's about it---- no parts are available