Pentax Spotmatic SP

[icog]

<p>Over a year ago now I wrote asking for a recommendation for a M42 mount camera. I was planning to use lenses in this mount on a Canon 30D and thought it would be nice to have something that didn't need batteries that could also use the lenses that I picked up. I received a lot of responses and a lot of different recommendations and finally ended up with a $10 estate find. Engraved by it's previous owner it was obviously treasured and well cared for. Since I use my cameras the engraving didn't bother me and I snatched it up. I replaced the seals and the battery and took it out for a test drive. First the porn.</p><div></div>

[icog]

<p>Looks like I'm not talented enough to add several pictures at once.</p><div></div>

[icog]

<p>I find it funny that I still use this body yet the 30D I bought has since passed to a new owner.</p><div></div>

[icog]

<p>And now the results. A quick walkabout to confirm the meter was registering after the new battery. A sand pile from the Highway repaving project in front of the house. </p><div></div>

[icog]

<p>A visit to my now exgirlfriend (I'm sensing a trend) brought about a visit to a second hand store in Niles.</p><div></div>

[icog]

<p>Next we visited a WWII reenactment at what I believe is the history village in San Jose.</p><div></div>

[icog]

<p>I used the 21mm extensively that weekend.</p><div></div>

[icog]

<p>A couple more from the back yard. I love fresh salsa and when I finish the container while outside I' usually dump the remaining juices and seeds out in the yard. I don't know why this little fellow was such a surprise to me.</p><div></div>

[icog]

<p>A shot with a 1.8 55mm.</p><div></div>

[icog]

<p>Well thank you all for looking and I hope it wasn't too painful. I really do appreciate the help I receive here on P.net and from this forum in particular. </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Been waiting, worth the wait.</p>

<p>My first serious professional camera was a <a href="../classic-cameras-forum/00Y3Rk">Pentax H-2</a> and I still think that <em>form</em> (including the Spotmatics) is among the most <a href="00MgL8">beautiful</a> 35mm SLRs ever made.</p>

<p>Congratulations on your camera and post.</p>

<p> </p>

[craigd]

<p>Not painful at all. The doll shot, in particular, is rather nice. Thanks for posting!</p>

[Rob_the_waste]

<p>Very nice series. What battery did you use with the spotty? I know the original battery for them is a mercury cell. I have a Chinon CS that is designed for a mercury cell but works with a 625 alkaline cell if I lower the ASA dial by one speed. Then, I have a Minolta SRT201 that works fine with a 625 cell as is. That Rikenon lens looks interesting.<br>

As far as posting multiple pictures, when you find out how to do it, let me know. I haven't got it either.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>I think, that like the Prakticas, the Pentax has bridge circuitry, so that a 1.5 volt battery should work without adaptation.</p>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>Nice series. Reminds me that I must give my Spotmatic some exercise. </p>

[rod_larson]

<p>Congratulations on your find. Those Rikenon lens are very good. They also made lenses for Sears in M42<br>

mount. Great quality.</p>

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>Nice camera and nice pictures. I like the simple manual configuration of the Spotmatics. Though I do not own one I have a number of similar Prakticas. I believe that the family resemblance is not just accidental! :)) sp.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>I wish Olympus had omitted that useless accessory hotshoe from the OM-1. That's the one cosmetic flaw that kept it from rivaling the Spotmatic SP in clean, simple, elegant lines.</p>

[rick_drawbridge]

<p>Ah, the good ol' Spotty. Examples with working meters are getting harder to find, which is a pity since they're so nice to handle when all systems are go. There's a quiet quality about the Spotmatics that's hard to beat. Nice results, <strong>Lionel</strong>; beautiful smooth background in the thistle pic.</p>

[john_tran14]

<p>The engraving is something very common in those Pentax SLR including SP, SPII, ES, ESII, K1000, KX, MX. Somehow I don't see the engraving on other brands. Maybe it should be considered as something special for the Pentax</p>

[Lou_Meluso]

<p>It's always nice to see Spotmatic's in use. You're getting good results with it. Thanks for the post.</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>Spotmatic definitely uses a bridge circuit. Meter has two coils. One is in series with the CdS cell. The other is in series with the variable resistor that tells it the shutter speed/ASA combination in use. They are wired to push in opposite directions, when they push the same amount the meter needle is centered, and your exposure is consistent with the light coming through the stopped-down lens. So the exact battery voltage is quite non-critical, you just have to send the same voltage down each resistance leg to be accurate.</p>

 

[frank_scheitrowsky1]

Lex Jenkins , Jun 24, 2012; 11:53 p.m.

I wish Olympus had omitted that useless accessory hotshoe from the OM-1. That's the one cosmetic flaw that kept it from

rivaling the Spotmatic SP in clean, simple, elegant lines.

 

It can be unscrewed and removed, right?

[steve m smith]

<blockquote>

<p>Spotmatic definitely uses a bridge circuit. Meter has two coils. </p>

</blockquote>

<p>I thought that only the F had the two coils circuit with the rest of the Spotmatics using the more conventional bridge circuit.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Yup, Frank, the shoe can be removed, but it leaves a useless and unsightly hole in the prism that mars the otherwise clean appearance of the OM-1.</p>

<p>Turned out the shoe "FIX" on the early OM hotshoes meant "20 years from now will need to be fixed repeatedly." The plastic deteriorated badly. By the late 1990s my OM accessory shoes were made of 90% superglue and epoxy.</p>