Pentax Spotmatic F

The Pentax Spotmatic F is the last of the famous Spotmatic series.  It also was the first in the series to have open-aperture metering.  I found the one in the photo in an antique shop back in January for $17.  It is in great shape.  I am getting to where I am leaning toward only getting cameras that I see in person. While I have had good experiences most of the time getting cameras off places like Ebay, being able to examine the camera in person has increasing appeal for me. Also in a way it seems more fun to see what I can discover by chance rather than going online where I can find almost anything. I think that my finding of so many Pentax cameras locally in the past year has helped with this choice.

Other then the metering in usage the Spotmatic F is pretty much the same as the other Spotmatics. And to me at least the Spotmatic is one of the most pleasant cameras to handle and use.  I believe it is one of the cameras that anyone who is into photography should experience at least once.

 Details of the Pentax Spotmatic F
Pentax Spotmatic F SLR Completely Disassembled and Laid Out

Images with the SMC Takumar 1:1.8/55mm lens on HP5

Asahi Pentax K1000

Asahi Pentax K1000 with Sears Auto MC 1:1.7 lens. I found the camera body at one of the flea markets taking place during the Parke County, IN Covered Bridge Festival. So far I don't have the 50mm f/2 SMC Pentax that was standard with this camera.  Although I think the Sears lens is pretty good.









I didn't have high expectations when I went to this years CBF.  However right at the start I got lucky in finding a nice Yashica FX-3. After that it was a long run of dirty over-priced box cameras.  Then I came across this K1000 in excellent shape. It was marked $25 and I got the dealer to come down to $18.  From the serial number it looks like it was made sometime between 1976 to 1978.  The body almost looks new and the viewfinder is bright and clear.  After having run a roll of Kentmere 400 it also seems like the exposure meter is working well.

Eventually I would like to get some of the K lenses that Pentax made, however I think Sears f1.7 lens does a nice job.  I believer this len is a re-branded Rikoh Rikenon.




















The K1000 is famous for being a camera that has just the basics that you need and nothing more. For years it was the camera that students learned photography with.  And from my own experience I would say that it is a pleasure to shoot with.  There is just enough in this camera to be helpful, but nothing to distract from actual picture taking.  I can easily see why this camera has a fan base.

In reading about the K1000 I came across this article by Jason Schneider. Schneider used to write about camera collecting for Modern Photography.  Later he became Editor in Chief for Popular Photography.  If you like camera collecting his books on the subject are worth seeking out. Schneider was not a camera snob.  In his writings he covered both common and rare cameras.  Anyway I think his article on the Asahi Pentax K1000 covers the topic well.

Featured User Collectible Camera: The Pentax K1000 
 

 

Pentax H1a Super Takumar 55mm f/2

Took some images with the camera and lens from the title.  I used Artista.edu 100 developed in the one-shot Arista developer.

Here is the Super Takumar f/2 wide-open.

Another one at f/2.
























I used the M42 adapter to take some color images in digital.

With the 1.6 crop factor on my Canon digital the 55mm lens becomes 88mm.

It is amazing how green it has gotten around here after  few inches of rain gave a break from the drought.

A crop from the image above.

Seems like a decent lens to me.