Roger Hicks
Veteran
Dear Peter,
Quite. For me the SV is the ultimate. Still not as reliable as a Nikon F, though, even of it is sweeter, prettier and better handling.
Cheers,
R.
The Beautiful Spotmatics
- Thread starter p.giannakis
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Quite. For me the SV is the ultimate. Still not as reliable as a Nikon F, though, even of it is sweeter, prettier and better handling.
Cheers,
R.
rodt16s
Well-known
Are you sure it is an 8-element on the Black body, the Red IR line looks to be on the left of F4 as opposed to the right
Swift1
Veteran
raid
Dad Photographer
I just went through a camera bag with some Pentax 42 equipment. I found among other things these lenses that I had forgotten about:
Spiratone 20mm 2.8.
Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm 2.0T
Industrar 50-2 50mm 3.5
Super Takumar 55mm/1.8
I also found a Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic. My better stash of old Pentax equipment includes a Spotmatic F, 50/1.4 SMC, 85/1.8 SMC, 35/2 SMC 28/3.5.
Spiratone 20mm 2.8.
Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm 2.0T
Industrar 50-2 50mm 3.5
Super Takumar 55mm/1.8
I also found a Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic. My better stash of old Pentax equipment includes a Spotmatic F, 50/1.4 SMC, 85/1.8 SMC, 35/2 SMC 28/3.5.
bmattock
Veteran
I have a 'pre' Spotmatic as well, the SV, which I really like. I also have an SP 1000, which is a Spotmatic although it doesn't say that on it anywhere.
Of the two, I prefer the way the SV feels in my hand. I actually recently unearthed the SV after a move to a new home and I'm planning to go out and shoot with it again soon.
iphoenix
Well-known
Wasn't the early Pentax body designed to have a similar feel as the Leica rangefinders? Or was it the Asahiflex?
peterm1
Veteran
I pretty much agree. Though if I am to be totally honest my absolute favorite was the Asahi Pentax K which had the front dial for slow speeds just like the Leicas. I had one but eventually sold it due to my desire to buy something else with the money. As always I now regret doing so.............
The truth is there is little difference between this group of cameras. The S1, S1a, Sv etc were all very, very similar. But the SV was regarded as the top camera as it had a timer for selfies (or whatever they were called in the day).
The similarity between cameras is demonstrated by the fact that two cameras (I think it was the S1 and S1a) were effectively identical. Asahi Pentax wanted to release a cheaper camera to increase their overall market share by tapping a different demographic. The original camera had 1/1000th maximum speed so they issued a new camera with a maximum of 1/500th to provide an excuse to sell it more cheaply without destroying the market for the dearer camera. But in truth, the only thing that was changed was the top plate - the top speed marking was left off but the mechanics for the faster speed was still present in the cheaper camera and could be accessed simply by moving the shutter speed dial to the unmarked position beyond 1/500th. I know it is true because I owned both (I am just too lazy to get off my bum to check which were the models I am referring to 🙂 ) I like that story.
For some weird reason I also really like the little semi auto aperture lenses issued by Pentax with the early versions of these cameras. And not just because of their stellar performance - something to do with the quirky mechanics of old cameras and the need to invest some time and effort in making the images.
The Pentax K
shimokita
白黒
I purchased a black SPF from a very reputable dealer who said the meter didn't work... I cleaned the contacts, put in a new battery and it worked like a charm.
Have fun...
Casey
Arbitrarium
Well-known
Interesting... I've handled maybe 12 or so Spotmatics and out of those, all but 2 had shutter capping. I stopped looking for them in the end and went with a Miranda TM to mount my Takumar. Absolute babe of a camera.
Daryl J.
Well-known
Over the course of about 6 weeks I picked up well over a dozen Spotmatic variants at local thrift stores. Well over half of them the mirror locks up on, but a CLA fixes that. One by one that's being done and will become gifts to family.
Of that bunch, my favorite is a black one with amazing brassing. It's a bit dented and the covering is missing off the back. But put a 3.5/35 on it or a 3.5/28 on it and I can rival my Leicas when using B&W film.
They are great.
I love being able to shoot one photo with a Helios 44-2, the next with a 3.5/28, then next with a 2/55, the next with a 105mm, etc. etc. The variation in rendering is so amazing all for the cost of a decent Nikon F3 body including the CLA.
Of that bunch, my favorite is a black one with amazing brassing. It's a bit dented and the covering is missing off the back. But put a 3.5/35 on it or a 3.5/28 on it and I can rival my Leicas when using B&W film.
They are great.
I love being able to shoot one photo with a Helios 44-2, the next with a 3.5/28, then next with a 2/55, the next with a 105mm, etc. etc. The variation in rendering is so amazing all for the cost of a decent Nikon F3 body including the CLA.
ptpdprinter
Veteran
I really liked my SP500, but I sold it after a few years and bought into the OM system because Pentax did not offer the same range of lenses, particularly small fast lenses. Pentax lenses were either slow or big.
p.giannakis
Pan Giannakis
In what way does it rival? I am asking out of curiosity, I don't have any lens other than the LTM elmar.
Swift1
Veteran
This is true to an extent.
The S1 was part of the 2nd generation of the the original Pentax cameras, while the S1a was part of the 3rd generation. The main difference between the 2nd and 3rd generation was the automatically setting frame counter, and the film door latch is different.
The S3(H3) and S1(H1) were essentially identical cameras, but the S1(H1) lacks the markings for the 1/1000 shutter speed. Mechanically, the position is still there and useable, although I have read that from the factory this unmarked position was not adjusted to an accurate 1/1000 speed.
The S1a, SV, and S2 Super (originally only sold in Japan, and is marked S2) were the last of the S series bodies. The SV was the top model, the S2 Super was the same camera minus the self timer, and the S1a was basically an S2 Super minus the 1000 marking on the shutter speed dial.
Though I have never used one, I agree that the Pentax AP, S, and K are the best looking of all the Pentax bodies. Functionality wise, I think the SV is maybe a bit better just for the single (non rotating) shutter speed dial, it has (supposedly) a better focus screen, and it has the automatic frame counter.
I also like the diaphragm cocking lever on the early Auto Takumar lenses 🙂
Pioneer
Veteran
In my opinion Helen, the Takumar 35/3.5 is a must have lens. It is not as sexy fast as some of the other lenses that Pentax sold but it is the best 35 I can think of for your new Spottie. And that is coming from a dyed in the wool 50 fanatic.
It was built from 1959 on through the early K Mount period so there are several versions out there. It is a solid lens that produces amazingly good photos if you do your part, which of course you always do.
Dpingr1
Established
David Hughes
David Hughes
Quirky? I'd say that is one of the most sensible meters ever put in a camera. It beats a lot with flashing and sometimes wandering little lights.
Regards, David
Dpingr1
Established
Oh I agree about the meter itself. It’s that damn clunky switch that bugs me. But the meter itself is wonderful. I think it’s my most accurate meter on any of my cameras. If I could replace the lights on my ME Super with a needle, I’d be very happy.
charjohncarter
Veteran
I shot a thousand slides with my Spotmatic in the sixties and seventies, I used the meter on all of them. The only failures were with what you would expect: crazy backlighting, snow, bright reflection like off water.
ChrisPlatt
Thread Killer
The Spotmatic exposure meter works just fine when used wisely.
Chris
Chris
peterm1
Veteran
I always found the Spotmatic meter to be remarkably easy to use. Especially as it is all a fully manual camera. If there is any doubt about correct exposure due to backlighting etc it was simple to meter off a similarly lit item that was not backlit. Like a road surface for example which is close enough to a grey card to work OK. As I shot mainly print film it made it even easier of course as moderate errors could be fixed in printing.
The non metered Pentax pre Spotmatics were even easier. Here I mainly used the ambient light setting on a hand held meter. As I walked about for street shooting it was obvious that on any given day most shadows were similar to each other and most full sun readings were similar to each other unless of course the ambient lighting changed overall as time passed. So I just had to pick a suitable shutter speed and aperture as my "base" setting and as I moved from shadow to light or light to shadow, would shut down or open up the aperture to compensate by one or two stops. This became habit so I hardly had to think about it and it almost always worked fine. Nothing could be simpler and I found it very liberating.
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