pentax asahi spotmatic

[erol_abaka]

Dear All

I'm about to purchase a Pentax asahi spotmatic from a secondhand dealer for a good price. In

upcoming weeks I will start a beginner class in film photography. My question is whether this camera

is suitable for a beginner in a phot course.

Cheers

[conrad_ohnuki]

Spotmatics are perfect for beginners, they force you to learn the basics of photography since they're completely manual. Wise choice not going straight to an automatic plastic blob (like the eos3000 everyone here -in australia- seems to buy when they decide to start photography). My first camera was a Spotmatic with a 50mm super takumar, i still keep it around with a roll of black and white in it when i feel like getting back to basics. A wonderful, simple tool.

[Jochen_S]

Don't worry. Although I didn't give mine a testing yet it's surely a good camera. The stop down metering makes it even better than the beginner course workhorse K1000, which forces the unexperienced to guess DOF.

Only imaginable drawbacks: You'll need strong nerves and a relaxed mood. - Sometimes under stress I had problems changing even k-mount lenses due to shivering hands and screw mount might be a bit worse.

 

The Spotmatic has no accessory shoe for flash, but many reasonable folks use flashbrackets anyhow.

[markku_ylilammi]

Although a revolutionary product when introduced the Spotmatics are now old. Be prepared for costly maintenance (and it can be difficult because Pentax does not supply spare parts anymore). So don't pay too much.

 

I think SP has a screw mount. These lenses are not very convenient in present K bayonet cameras. So it is not very wise to collect many screw mount lenses.

 

My recommendation is to buy a K or M series camera (ME, KX etc.) These are also aged but the lenses are more compatible.

[stemked]

Hi Erol.

 

While you didn't note which Spotmatic you were talking about this is an excellent cluster of cameras with a few limitations.

 

1) The battery for the meter can be hard to locate, especially if you need one one the fly. The good news is that since the battery lasts a long time as long as you have purchased a couple you should be ok. Alternatively you could pick up a cheap Weston Master III, IV or V hand meter.

 

2) This is a minor weakness in the Spotmatics. Like the K1000 these cameras meter the whole sceen. You need to be mindful of this or else you will consistantly have exposure problems. For example a person facing you with a bright sceen behind him/her will consistantly come out underexposed. You need only move the camera close enough to meter only the person, and then back off to correct for this.

 

3) Pentax of course no longer makes new lenses for this camera. Not a big deal as there are tons of cheap lenses out there. If you want quality look for Takumars, especially SMC. Tamron adaptol lenses are another excellent option and frankly there are some decent cheap (and fun) Russian lenses out there, such as the Jupitor 9 and some of the Russian/Ukranine fisheyes.

 

If you can get the camera calibrated (which may cost more than the camera itself) you have an excellent tool though.

[rvalois]

Hi Erol ...

 

Most definitely suitable. The Spotmatic was my very first SLR and purchased brand new back in in early 70's. It came in a very nice leather camera case. I still have it and it still works except for the light meter.

 

I have a few other rather more exotic cameras including MF and digital but the Spotmatic retains its charm for some reason. I use it once in a while long with my Sekonic light meter to set aperture and speed. I don't use it for any professional work but it certainly one of my backup cameras should all else fall apart.

 

Oh and by the way, it sports a Super Takumar 50mm/1.4 lens !!

 

ENJOY !!!

 

Ray

[titrisol]

Erol, an excellent camera, simple sturdy and as it had been pointed out a very basic camera.

 

The meter most probably works, luckily Asahi got ir right and they used a bridge circuit so a Silver Oxdie battery can be used (you have to put ib bakcwards though. If you want I can email you pics on how to do it

 

The Lenses are very good,and sharp, and because they are "old" thy are pretty cheap.

If it comes with a 50/1.4 or a 55/1.8 keep it and use that lens while you learn. The 55/1.8 is an extremely good lens.

 

If maintenance is needed there are still a few qualified repairpeople around, pentaxrepairs@aol.com is the one I have used and recommend dearly.

 

You can find free manuals at pentaxmanuals.com

 

Good luck!!!

[paul_noble]

The Spotmatic is an excellent choice. It is built like a tank, so durability is not a problem.

 

As long as the meter works, its great. The 400 Mercury battery is no longer available, for environmental reasons, but Wein makes a Zinc-Air direct replacement. You should be able to get one at any good camera store. I recommend keeping a spare in your camera bag.

 

As others have said, the fact that it is completely manual means that you must learn and truely understand the relationship between shutter speed, film speed and aperture setting.

 

Once you get the hang of it, it is easy to quickly adjust for lighting conditions that can fool the meter, such as backlighting, or deep shadows. I just center the meter's needle, and then open up a stop or two, or close down. Experience will tell you what you need. Modern, automatic cameras have exposure compensation dials, which essentially change the film speed setting temporarily. I have a Pentax ME Super with this feature. It is very inconvient to use, compared to my Spotmatics.

 

Pentax screw mount lenses are readily available and still compare very favorably to modern lenses, in terms of image sharpness. Plus, they're relatively inexpensive.

 

With my Spotmatics, I can switch between shutter priority and aperture priority on the fly. While everything is manual, if I want lots of dof, I set a small aperture, then adjust the shutter speed while I'm focusing. If I want to stop action, I set a high shutter speed and adjust the aperture while focusing. This can be done from one picture to the next, without even taking the camera from your eye. Let's see you do that with a modern camera. If you can do it at all, you probably can't do it as fast. Plus, all the time I'm doing this, I can combine it with the "exposure compensation" technique described above.

 

Paul Noble

[gib]

take Pablo's advice, about the battery, it is how I run mine.

 

the screwmount lenses are no problem to handle, mount or unmount. there quality is exceptional. zoom lenses from that era are not so great.

 

although slow, a 35mm f3.5 Super Takumar lens is excellent.

[stephen_kruft]

The other answers are very good and have mentioned all the issues - I would say you have one of the greatest cameras ever made, so yes, fine for beginner class. As someone said, remember that old zoom lenses are not of the same quality as new ones. Some are very bad.

 

I have a different opinion on with just two things: (1) that it is very easy to change screwmount lenses. It can be done well enough though. (2) that repairs are expensive or any problem. There are millions of these cameras in existence to supply parts, and you can send one to be serviced for about $75.

[glenn_holden]

I have an old Spotmatic. Got it in high school. Great camera, I don't know how many 1000's of pictures it's taken, it's usually in my travel bag loaded with B & W. Been everywhere, beat up, dropped, in a car roll over, and still works ok.

 

The only probem with them (other than the batteries), is that the curtain is fabric. Eventually it will dry out and develop pin holes in it. Replacement is expensive, make sure your's is light tight before you buy. Also the seals around the back go, but so will any camera.

 

I think the K and M series were the first Pentax with a metal shutter.

 

LGH

[dan_snelson]

I have several M42 mount Pentax bodies, they are all very good, and the lenses are as good or better than most of the Kmounts. [you can get an adapter for almost ANY camrea to use the M42 screw mount lenses]

 

Eric at Pentaxrepairs@aol.com has Cleaned, lubed and adjusted 6 of my screw mount Pentax and 3 ME Supers, always at a good price. ANY camera as old as these should get a nice cleaning. and they will keep taking pictures.

 

As with the others, I also agree the camera is a good choice to learn photography [as opposed to point and shoot...]