Pentaxians... Any out there?

I don't recall what brought me to Pentax in 1964, when I switched from a PetriFlex V to an early Heiland H3v. I was working in a camera shop about that time so had plenty of opportunity to get familiar with other brands. Later, the H3v and H1a mirrors were changed slightly so as not to hit the rear element of the 50mm f/1.4 introduced with the Spotmatic.

I traded the H3v in on a new Spotmatic, then bought a newer H3v as a second body, my first step into multiple Pentaxes... Now I have 29 of them, from a 1958 model K to a K-3 bought last month, in all formats and lens mounts except the Q. They seem to run in pairs of the same or similar model, since if one is good, having two is better, right? 🙂
 
I got a Spotmatic outfit at Goodwill last week and am now hooked.

I preferred Nikon F and F2 cameras for their bayonet mount when I had a newspaper job, but always liked the the lenses and the sold feel of the Pentax.

I just got an SV in the post today and think I like it even better than the Spotmatic. The bad news is that it is acting flaky already (mirror locking up without the shutter tripping); the good news is that it came in an old Brady Aerial bag, something I always wanted.

Now I want to find a screw mount Super Multicoated of SMC 50 1.4. Mine came with a Super Takumar and I had the impression that I liked my friends M 50 1.4 (on his MX) a little better.

Anyway, lots of fun on little funds. I'm off to the darkroom now to run a few rolls from the cameras.
 
Mark C said:
I got a Spotmatic outfit at Goodwill last week and am now hooked.

I preferred Nikon F and F2 cameras for their bayonet mount when I had a newspaper job, but always liked the the lenses and the sold feel of the Pentax.

I just got an SV in the post today and think I like it even better than the Spotmatic. The bad news is that it is acting flaky already (mirror locking up without the shutter tripping); the good news is that it came in an old Brady Aerial bag, something I always wanted.

Now I want to find a screw mount Super Multicoated of SMC 50 1.4. Mine came with a Super Takumar and I had the impression that I liked my friends M 50 1.4 (on his MX) a little better.

Anyway, lots of fun on little funds. I'm off to the darkroom now to run a few rolls from the cameras.
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I have been a long time Pentax shooter and although I now pretty well always shoot digital I still use my collection of M 42 Takumar lenses with adapters on M 4/3 cameras. And some like the 50mm f1.4 are superb. Truth be told, many are.

I agree that the SV is a nicer camera than the Spotmatic. To me, in the hand it feels very like a Leica screw mount camera but of course with a penta-prism. (This especially applies to the very early 1957 camera which has its slow speeds on the front of the camera - just like a Leica LTM camera).

Yes, your camera may need a service - don't forget the SV came out, when? I think it was 1962 so over 50 years ago. I am pretty confident that your problem is nothing more than a service issue and I have experienced it with one of my old pre Spotmatic cameras (interestingly and SV also I seem to recall). These early Pentax cameras can be picked up dirt cheaply so it may not be worth spending lots on a service and you may find it easier and cheaper to pick up one that is still working OK. They quite often are notwithstanding what I said above. The Takumar lenses incidentally also have a common problem - the aperture becomes sticky and slow to shut down. Again, it's a service issue that is fixed by cleaning up the aperture blades.

For those interested in this breed of camera the following site is good which covers off the extremely early Asahi Pentax cameras and lens as well as the later screw mount ones. It makes an excellent read.

http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/Pentax_Main.html

And in case someone has not already psoted the link the following ones are user reports on Pentax lenses.

http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/

Early Takumars specifically

http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/Pentax-Takumar-M42-Screwmount-Lenses-i3.html
 
Thanks Peter,

The SV actually seems to be working fine again. I think it may have just needed a bit of exercise. Of course, if it starts wasting film, or losing shots, I'll deal with it, probably by seeing what I can do on my own. This seems like a nice simple camera to work on compared to most.

I do have one lens with an aperture issue, but don't expect that will be hard to deal with. It seems like a much more robust mechanism than in many others.

I was hoping that the lack of meter allowed for a little higher percentage view than the SP, but it seems identical. Oddly, the 55 f2 focuses nicer on the SV screen than the SP. I can't try the other way since my SV is too early for the 1.4 lens.

The film is drying and looks good; maybe even a couple pictures there.
 
Mark C said:
Thanks Peter,

The SV actually seems to be working fine again. I think it may have just needed a bit of exercise. Of course, if it starts wasting film, or losing shots, I'll deal with it, probably by seeing what I can do on my own. This seems like a nice simple camera to work on compared to most.

I do have one lens with an aperture issue, but don't expect that will be hard to deal with. It seems like a much more robust mechanism than in many others.

I was hoping that the lack of meter allowed for a little higher percentage view than the SP, but it seems identical. Oddly, the 55 f2 focuses nicer on the SV screen than the SP. I can't try the other way since my SV is too early for the 1.4 lens.

The film is drying and looks good; maybe even a couple pictures there.
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That can happen. A camera that has not been used for a long time can lock up. A bit of exercise can loosen them up. But eventually you are likely to need a CLA for it. Good luck. As I said I do seriously like these models of Pentax. I think I even like the old S1 and S1a (lower specc'ed models) even more for some reason.
 
Well I did it again. I bought a Spotamatic with a 50/1.4 and 35/3.5. Both lenses are Super Mulit-Coated Takumars. I just hope they are both clean as a whistle. I have to pick them. If not they are not clean both are easy to open clean if need be!
 
I think every photography enthusiast interested in the history of cameras needs to have a Spotmatic, as one of the milestones of camera development in the 20th century. There are others, of course, that belong in such a collection, as well. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: Canon AE-1, Nikon F and F2, Leica M, Hasselblad 500 series, Minolta SRT-101, Olympus OM-1, etc. The Spottie is a real classic.
 
I don't know that I'm a Pentaxian, but my first SLR was an ME-Super back in 1989. I shoot mostly Canon now, but I've always had some kind of Pentax in my arsenal. Everything from the Spotmatic SP, Spotmatic 500, K1000 (several), LX, KX, ME, MX...in fact, a couple of weeks ago I bought a K2 off of eBay for $25! I thought that it might've needed repair of some kind but it's in perfect working order and looks great. I added an SMC Pentax-M 28-50mm to play with and have decided that I really like the camera a lot. Yesterday I bought another KX for $40 that also seems to be in pretty good order, s we'll see how it pans out once it arrives. Maybe I'm a bit of a Pentaxian after all...

Andy
 
johannielscom said:
My kit since yesterday. And also a Tokina 2.8/24mm PK mount with it.

Found an ME cheap, it had the 1.4/50mm lens on it. EUR 7,50 thrift store find! Loved it, but it is chrome.
Found a black MX with 1.7/50mm lens, bought it for EUR 45, switched lenses.
Donated the ME and 1.7/50mm to my son who loves it as well.

Now I own a black MX, with a 2.8/24mm and a 1.4/50mm.😎
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Truly a superb camera Johan. Maybe not quite as much cachet as your Leica but definitely a fine camera to own and use.
 
johannielscom said:
...Now I own a black MX, with a 2.8/24mm and a 1.4/50mm.😎
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Congrats on the black MX, very sweet little camera. I found one on the 'bay in "mint" condition, and when it arrived there was a dent in the top plate hidden behind the wind lever but enough to buckle the top surface slightly. So I found a "perfect" black MX top plate for $6 that turned out to have a dent in the prism housing area. What luck! 🙄

Saved by my local autobody shop owner, who deftly pounded out the easier prism dent and sprayed it matching black. No charge!
 
I've loved my silver MX since the mid 80's. Still works beautifully with the 50 1.4 I bought it with and the 85 1.4 FA* that was my first dream lens. I had a PZ1 but it died after a fairly long time. The 645n is a wonderful camera as well. I only have an adapted 67 105 2.3 lens with it.
 
I bought a K1000 in 1976, then an ME Super in the early 80's. My wife bought an SF-1 in 87, and I got an SF-10 the next year. Much later I replaced the ME Super with another when it stopped working and got an MX at the same time. Oddly the SF-1 has become a recent favourite, but it locks up and shows "Err" sometimes so I've splurged at KEH and bought another body for all of $23 at KEH! The FA-50/1.4 has lovely rendering for portraits. I have to confess to having a 645N on the way, with a 75 and 120 lenses.

Chris
 
The only thing I did not like about the MX was how fragile it was in the body. I loved mine with a passion but one day it received a very very minor bump which distorted the pentaprism housing a bit. The metal in the shell was like foil compared with the more robust Spotmatics. Never the less it was a superb little camera and its 50mm lens was a cracker.
 
FWIW an important reason I've stuck with Pentax the last 15 years has been Pentax repair expert Eric Hendrickson.
Thanks to his work I've had numerous Pentax cameras and lenses restored to operate like new at very modest cost.

Chris
 
kshapero said:
Looking from the outside, I love Pentax gear.
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Outside? 😉 Akiva, I believe we both have new Pentaxes to enjoy! I got a K-3 in May...

Regarding the sweet little MX model, I found a chrome one (incl. 50mm f/1.7) for $56 from eBay that was in good working order except the seller did note that the light meter wasn't working, though he'd not put in fresh batteries to check.

It did indeed look and work fine, but when my local repair guy looked into it to see what was up with the meter, he found the whole inside of the bottom cover was corroded including the circuit board and the bottom of the lens mount. He opined it had sat with salt water pooled in the base for some time. Replacing some parts, he got it back up and running. Satisfying to pull one back from the edge!
 
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