In praise of older Spotmatics...

<p>Capital Q, Browning is on Lake Muskoka, just east of Cariquette Island, not too far from Bracebridge.</p>

<p>Tony: I think I must have boated past your cousins' cottage...</p>

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<p>But it's still Asahi's design which became the defacto standard.</p>

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<p>I suggest you look at the Praktiflex, the Contax S, Praktina, and the Praktica offerings from 1946-1959 before you settle too firmly in that opinion. Asahi has never been gracious about acknowledging their borrowings from the East including the mount itself (M42, the so-called Pentax mount!)) to the design of the camera.<br>

A Heiland Pentax H2 was my first serious camera, but I soon discovered that I could get very inexpensive backup cameras from the DDR. The Prakticas worked just as well and I love them both.</p>

<p>John Carter, your photograph of the flowers is particularly lovely and enjoyable to look at. A higher vantage point would have given you vertical verticals but you have a beautiful tonal range and crispness, which suits the subject. Well done.</p>

<p>JDM von W: No one here claimed Asahi created the innovations; but their design influence is unmistakable. The Praktiflex, Contax and Praktina with their rewind knobs, odd shutter speeds, body mounted shutter buttons, etc. look nothing like what became the 'standard' layout. My opinion remains settled.</p>

<p>Capital Q. Their place is right opposite , I think, Pride of Muskoka Marina. They have now moved from Toronto to Huntsville and put the cottage up for sale so sadly no more weekends there for me, although we are over in August, so if they haven't sold it by then I might just get a few more beers in by the lake!</p>

<p>I was rummaging through my equipment and found a Spotmatic in a camera bag. I have the normal lens, 24mm, 50mm Macro, 300mm, and a tele-extender. Anyone interested can email me. Are there 35mm film user out there?</p>

<p>Dan: I'd love to have your gear. How much are you asking for it? </p>

<p>We can split hairs about who invented what, but what I meant was that the Asahi Pentax Spotmatic was the mass market precursor. Starting in the late 50's and into the mid 60's, if you saw someone in the distance with a camera hanging around their neck that had the familiar peak at the top, it was most likely to be an Asahi Pentax. I was around then, and I never even heard of a Canon until the 1970's. Nikons were for professionals, and you just didn't see them as much as you did Pentax cameras. At that time, you saw the German makes even less, unless they were little 35mm folders or fixed lens cameras, with or without rangefinder.</p>

<p>Makes sense, Pierre. How about the Minolta SRT 101? Did you come across many of those? I've been told that this was also a huge commercial success.</p>

Capital- very fine Pentax collection and great photos. During the "open aperture vs stop down war" each side had its own

arguments. Supporters of stop-down claimed it eliminated exposure errors caused by a lens failing to stop down fully.

Open aperture claimed speed and convenience. In practical terms, most would have been hard-pressed to find a

difference in the results.

Had I been a little older during this time, I would have picked a Spotmatic over the external metering Minolta SR-7. If

buying when the SRT 101 came out I would have chosen it. However, if I'd bought the Spotmatic first I doubt I would've

traded in for a 101. Different matter now: they're all such good buys I can own as many as I want.

Again, Capital, thanks for sharing.

<p>Thanks, Mike. Great to get such perspectives and insights from you and Pierre and others on this Forum. I remember my engineer father telling me that having a Japanese SLR (and a few prime lenses) was a prized possession in the 60s -- only next in status to a house and car (and maybe perhaps an Akai hi-fi reel to reel). Now, as you said, I can buy as many of these fine instruments as my wife will permit...</p>

<p>Finally, given your comments about the SR-series, I think its time we had a tribute to Minolta....</p>

<p>I remember walking around the Expo 67 World's Fair in Montreal. I wasn't old enough or rich enough to afford a real camera until later, so I carried a Diana, believe it or not, and a Polaroid, but I sure admired all those 35mm cameras hanging from men's necks. By my estimation, the majority were Pentax, some Nikons/Nikkormats, some Minoltas, and anything else was enough in the minority that I don't remember them. But, cheap, plastic Polaroids were probably the most frequently seen family camera overall.</p>

<p>By the time I could afford to buy myself a real camera, there was no doubt that it would be a Pentax. However, if you looked back in the photo magazines of the early/mid 70's, the darling of the reviewers had become Olympus. They had the smallest size and the brightest viewfinders, and the Pentax's were hopelessly dim. There were no sensors to argue about back then, so reviewers seemed to focus a lot on viewfinder brightness -- even though the differences were probably less than the naked eye could detect.<br>

<br /> One thing about the Spotmatic that we sometimes forget nowadays was the simple and effective metering needle. Most ordinary people found that much more intuitive than the match needle systems.</p>

<p>Pierre: Funny that both the Spotmatic and the OM1 use the same needle system for the metering. Maybe the Spotmatic did influence Olympus after all...I think I prefer the match needle system in the Minoltas and Canons. But I can definitely opine that I prefer both of these systems to the terrible system employed by the Nikon F and F2 in their analog photomic prisms. </p>

<p>Difference of opinion. (Pentax Spotmatic 1000)<br>

<img src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa19/literiter/LarryMarion68.jpg" alt="" width="1023" height="848" /></p>

<p><strong>Capital Q</strong>, these are very nice shots from a very nice camera. You're absolutely right in describing the camera as you do. When I first got mine I was surprised by how compact it actually was and how elegant Pentax made such a potentially basic design seem. Great post...I really enjoy your pictures a lot.</p>

<p><strong>John, Paul</strong>--Nice shots from both of you guys as well.</p>

<p>Dan,do you still have the Pentax gear I am an avid collector and would give your equipment a loving home,thanks</p>