Besides the light metering changes, the FP option for the hot shoe synchronization was dropped. Launched in , with Product Nr. The light meter operates only when the shutter button is pressed and only in auto mode and the meter needle now indicates the auto shutter speed. This camera is powered by one 4SR44 6. It was available in Chrome and Black. The power supply is now four modern 1. It was available in chrome and black versions, and a special MD version was available.
A few notes on maintenance: -Battery: These cameras were made to use now banned mercury batteries 1. From Camera-wiki. Jump to: navigation , search. Pentax Spotmatic image by stammi Image rights Pentax Spotmatic image by yashicasailorboy Image rights The Asahi Pentax Spotmatic is one of the early successful Japanese cameras, with over 4 million sold between and The definitive Asahi Pentax Collector's Guide. Focal Press, London. Navigation menu Personal tools Log in. Namespaces Page Discussion.
Views Read View source View history. External Donate! Blog Flickr Twitter Facebook. This page was last edited on 15 October , at Privacy policy About Camera-wiki. Pentax Spotmatic image by stammi Image rights. Pentax Spotmatic image by yashicasailorboy Image rights. Spotmatic focusing screen and lightmeter image by Pablo Coronel Image rights. They were great little cameras — a pleasure to use and reliable. Takumar lenses earned themselves a decent reputation with high mechanical and optical standards and featuring excellent, class leading multi-coating.
There are two distinct lines of Takumars from those m42 days. All are high quality, but the cheaper range aims for compactness and relatively modest speeds. In times when f2. The range was all there, with one of the largest varieties of standard lens focal lengths from any manufacturer. Mechanical quality in those Takumars is excellent. Even 50 years on, focusing movements are buttery smooth: they are a pleasure to use. The Spotmatic prototype was first shown at Photokina in — It was innovative in offering TTL through the lens spot metering.
The Spotmatics have elegance and class. There is an Art-Deco quality to the pentaprism front that reminds me of the Chrysler Building in Manhattan.
The film wind-on lever has no plastic tip, instead it is a wonderfully contoured, organic form, which manages in cast aluminium to be wonderfully comfortable to use, while the self-timer lever is almost sculptural. Even the typeface used for the body engraving was elegant. Budget models the SP and SP forsook the self timer. The Spotmatic II, added a hot shoe and a more sqauared-off pentaprism to the top model. The innovation of an electronic shutter along with lenses that were able to transmit aperture information to the camera body allowed two models, the ES Electro Spotmatic and ES II, with aperture priority automatic exposure.
It came out in , and just two years later the whole Spotmatic line would be superseded by a new range of K bayonet-mount cameras. The camera itself is fully mechanical apart from the meter and is quite basic.
It will meter wide open with SMC Takumar lenses — these have two tabs inside the mount — one is fixed and lets the camera tell how far the lens has screwed onto the thread — the other moves with the aperture ring — its position relative to the fixed tab tells the camera what the aperture setting is. This is a clever solution to a tricky problem if you want to use a screw mount for open aperture metering, but not a problem you encounter with a bayonet.
The Pentax Spotmatic F viewfinder is very spartan. You get a microprism to aid focusing and a meter needle to centre on the right.
The Pentax Spotmatic F retains the stop-down switch on the left of the lens mount for depth of field preview and for compatibility with earlier Takumars or third party lenses. Also on the right side of the Pentax Spotmatic F top plate is the shutter release with a lock surrounding it, and, just beside it a small window that indicates whether the shutter is cocked or not. The wind-on lever is capable of being operated with either a single stroke or a number of shorter movements.
The frame counter sits inside the hub of the wind-on lever. On the left of the top plate is the rewind crank, which releases the back when pulled up. This is surrounded by a purely informational dial that allows you to set a reminder of the film type and length you have loaded.
On the front of the Pentax Spotmatic F you have the self-timer, which you operate by pulling down to the side and then pressing the little button that is revealed.
Flash sockets for FP and X synch are over on the opposite side of the front. Underneath you have a centrally placed tripod thread, a broad rewind button with red dot to show film travel back into the cassette — stop rewinding as soon as it stops rotating and the leader will be left out of the cassette , and a battery chamber. The Pentax Spotmatic F uses a bigger battery than some of the earlier Spotmatics. Debate will, no doubt, continue. The bridge circuitry allows Spotmatics to take 1.
If in doubt, check the exposure, or use 1. The stop-down switch on the side of the mount can be a weakness on Spotmatics it is one control that gets a lot of use — if you are buying one used try to make sure it moves well and clicks easily into place.
While earlier Spotmatics only turned the meter on when the stop-down switch was in the upper position, and turned it off as soon as a shot was taken, the Pentax Spotmatic F needs to have the meter on when the lens is opened up — for this reason the battery will drain unless you keep the lens cap on — so it is much easier to accidentally drain the batteries of an SP F this may also be why the SP F was given a bigger battery than earlier Spotmatics.
Oops, yes. The other day I was debating whether to just slip the little XA2 into my pocket for a trip, or to pack the Contax G1. Then I started to fiddle with the Pentax Spotmatic F, which had been sitting against the skirting board in the lounge for a while.
I screwed one of my little Zenitar Fish-eyes on it and was amazed at how good it felt. It earned a fresh roll of film almost immediately. As a camera, the Pentax Spotmatic F is not dripping with controls and features, but it is a fantastic little picture-taking machine that does pretty much everything in an elegant and stripped-down manner. At the end of the day character matters. For more articles on 35mmc about the subject matter discussed here, please click one of the following tag links:.
Alternatively, please feel free to chuck a few pennies in the tip jar via Ko-fi:. Become a Patron! Learn about where your money goes here. Would like to write for 35mmc? Find out how here. This is an excellent article! I might have got through to him because when he did upgrade he got a good deal on a K2…. Thanks so much Bob, your article ticked all my boxes. My dad brought back a Spotmatic from Vietnam which is what I learned photography on in my youth. I picked up a Spotmatic F and some Takumars a few years back when I started collecting old cameras.
Sadly, it suddenly developed a few faults which either cannot be fixed or are too expensive based on advice from a US repairer and an Australian repairer. The end result is that the batteries continually drain and the mirror safety lockup when no lens attached and in Automatic mode no longer functions. So now it is still a usable mechanical shutter, meter-less body with a nice feel and bright spit image focus screen. When it was operating normally, the aperture priority Automatic mode worked perfectly giving accurate exposures with black and white and colour print film once I had determined that the ASA needed to be set 2 stops faster than actual.
There is no exposure lock via a button or with half press of shutter release. Use the super-multi-coated or SMC lenses and some late model Super Takumars for open aperture automatic metering. For older lenses without the aperture coupling, use the stop down metering switch. It is an impressively well made camera. The early electronics with 3 or 4 IC chips have done exceptionally well lasting about 45 years and it has served well past what would have been expected.
It was always comforting to know that there is the mechanical shutter as a fall back and it is still a nice camera to use for normal daytime, hand held photography with just the mechanical shutter and a hand held meter. Would I buy another one? Yes I would. I would take the punt that I may get another few years out of one of these.
Would try an ES body next time. If it had exposure lock, it would be perfect. Review Date: April 14, Handles well, accurate meter, reliable electronics, great in low-light, stepless shutter. Bulb is useful for many situations, but not all.
I'll update this as I get to use it and know it better. Review Date: March 18, Solid like it's early Spotmatic brothers. View finder blind. I won't repeat the excellent points Nestor made, but simply add another perspective. Since I prefer manual cameras, I did hesitate buying a Spotmatic later than the F model. If you love Spotmatics, you should likely love this one, the last of the line. Mine has only recently arrived, and is in very good nick, with only surface marks to indicate age.
The viewfinder was clear as well. I spent some time cleaning out the old light seals and mirror bumper, replacing them with strips of adhesive felt cut from a sheet. The camera is now loaded with Kodak for it's first run. About the camera itself, one can say it feels rock solid. The four 1. You will have to use sunny 16 or another light meter. When Automatic is selected, one just needs to select an appropriate aperture for the Camera to be able to select a speed for it.
There is a button to test the battery, on top, which drives the needle to centre if OK. This camera does open metering, so lenses should stay in "auto" and be unable to select manual by design as with the F model. You get your reading pushing the release button halfway. I found it hard to focus on the speed reading in the view finder, with glasses, so now have learned to judge the position of the needle. Five pictures have already been taken on my first test roll, and the results should confirm whether the light meter is over exposing or not.
If I have more information, I will add it later. Edit later: Exposures came out well although they may be just a little bit on the over side. Here is an untouched example with Kodak with the above lens. Review Date: May 4, Mine is mint, but overexposes for 2 stop.
May be CLA should be in order. The technological peak of Pentax's screwmount masterpieces, oddly less popular than either SPs or Fs. Build quality is no less solid than other spotties, electricity is not as fragile as earlier ES or Electro Spotmatic. Did I say this camera is solid?
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