Modification of Pentax PC35AF to kill the beeping

I’m on the look out for another Pentax PC35af at the moment, as the one featured in this article, along with two others I have has a dicky AF. It seems failing AF is a fairly regular issue with this cameras, but that’s not the only complaint people have. Perhaps one of the most common points of contention with it is the annoying beeping noise it makes when flash is required. As if the orange light in the viewfinder isn’t enough?! Thankfully, there is a fairly easy solution to this later issue, and it’s that solution which is the subject of this article.

There are two screws to remove, one of which you can see in shot here; on the back near the shutter button. The other is on the left hand side above the back door hinge.

The back part of the top come of like so. You can see the piezoelectric buzzer; it’s the little brass thing facing the top of the camera.

Here you can see the buzzer removed, but still attached. There is a little metal clamp holding it in, that just clips out.

The buzzer can come off completely.

No more beeping! Happy days!

Once I get my hands on one a fully working one I will definitely be applying the same modification. It’s a major improvement I think!

Just finally, I should credit Bob Delaney on flickr. I’ve thought a few times that this camera would be much improved if it didn’t make that damned noise. Just the other day whilst reading about the camera again I read about the beeping, and nearly decided not to buy one again because of it. Then had the flash of inspiration that I could pull apart one of my duff ones and see if I could snip out the buzzer… “I wonder if anyone else has done it” I thought, quick search, and up pops Bob’s photos on flickr. I very nearly didn’t bother writing this post, but in the end decided I couldn’t legitimately take apart a 35mm compact and not document it. One way or another, Bob did it first, hence the credit! 🙂

Cheers for reading

Hamish

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