Pentaxians... Any out there?

moggi1964 said:
So I just bought two ME Super's and one Spotmatic SPII at auction. One includes a MEII winder and all come with cases.

Lenses included are the standard 50mm F/1.7 with one of the Super's and the other has an interesting Tamron Adaptall-2 35-70mm F/3.5 Model 17A. The Spotmatic has the SMC Takumar 50mm F/1.4

Of course, having to buy online rather than in person at the auction does throw up many possibilities in terms of what the true condition of the cameras is but I figured it was worth a go. I'll be in touch again when I get them.
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So I sent the two ME Super's off to a Pentax specialist to create the best one he could from the two provided. It arrived back a few days ago and look and works fabulously. I'll be running some film through it over the next week or so.

The Spotmatic will be going in for service next.

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20210312-135500.jpg
 
The first adjustable camera I ever used was a Pentax Spotmatic. A friend of mine had borrowed it to do portraits for sketches. I liked his charcoal sketches okay but I loved the look of those Tri-X drugstore prints he used for his drawings. It was my downfall into the rabbit hole of cameras and darkrooms...almost 50 years ago now.

Funny but I've never owned a Spotmatic. Sometimes I think about buying one just for display on a shelf but it seems a shame to not use a good camera and I have no intention of ever shooting film again. The Pentax I did own was the original 645. I had two of them with a selection of lenses. I might still have them around here somewhere although I remember selling most of the lenses years ago. It might be interesting to try out the current digital Pentax DSLRs. From what I've read they still make great lenses.
 
I just had Eric Hendrickson CLA my Spotmatic for the second time (which it probably didn't need). I have an f1.4 lens that I mostly use with it, I was given it new in 1968-9 (camera and f1.4 lens). And now it is the easiest camera (SLR) for me to focus (old eyes), so I'm going back to it.

By the way Dogman, I have a couple of digital Pentax cameras that take my old lenses. This is the pixel shift on my K-1 with a 35mm f2.0 lens:

Pentax 35mm f2.0 FA-AL by John Carter, on Flickr

And the wide open (f2.0) full frame image:

Pentax 35mm f2.0 FA-AL by John Carter, on Flickr
 
moggi1964 said:
So I sent the two ME Super's off to a Pentax specialist to create the best one he could from the two provided. It arrived back a few days ago and look and works fabulously. I'll be running some film through it over the next week or so.

The Spotmatic will be going in for service next.

20210312-135418.jpg

20210312-135500.jpg
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I have an ME Super and the Winder ME II....never have used the winder. How does it work/function? Is it actually a useful winder? Not a winder kind of guy....although some people say I 'm pretty wound up.
 
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Flickr
Spotmatic 50mm f1.4 wide open Tri-X print on Foma FB
 
Just received my SL back from Eric. He fully serviced the camera, replaced the rewind knob that somehow came off while I was shooting my test roll, and replaced the engraved bottom plate. I'm very pleased with his service. It's like I have a brand new 50 year old camera! He also serviced a couple of my Takumar lenses (including the 50 f/1.4 S-M-C Tak shown) and did a great job on those as well.



2021-05-17 Pentax SL by Aaron Alfano, on Flickr
 
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AAlfano said:
Just received my SL back from Eric. He fully serviced the camera, replaced the rewind knob that somehow came off while I was shooting my test roll, and replaced the engraved bottom plate. I'm very pleased with his service. It's like I have a brand new 50 year old camera! He also serviced a couple of my Takumar lenses (including the 50 f/1.4 S-M-C Tak shown) and did a great job on those as well.
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Eric does great work. And I like the old school communication process. Minimal emails!
 
AAlfano said:
Just received my SL back from Eric. He fully serviced the camera, replaced the rewind knob that somehow came off while I was shooting my test roll, and replaced the engraved bottom plate. I'm very pleased with his service. It's like I have a brand new 50 year old camera! He also serviced a couple of my Takumar lenses (including the 50 f/1.4 S-M-C Tak shown) and did a great job on those as well.



2021-05-17 Pentax SL by Aaron Alfano, on Flickr
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Eric, has two months ago CLA's my Spotmatic; it feels like new. I have not finished my first roll yet, but it is so nice.
 
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