The camera looks and feels as good as the Asahi Pentax Spotmatic F that I purchased in 1969 when I un-boxed that one. Haven't had a roll developed yet but I expect the negatives to come out fine, providing I haven't forgotten how to use the fully mechanical relic. ;-)
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
In 1985 I got my first SLR camera, a Canon AE1. Since then I have had several cameras, Canon F1 New, Nikons, Minoltas, etc. Always the best Equipment. My pictures did not qualify better than medium, perhaps. After 25 years I became interested i cameras again, and these days auction sites like ebay is the Place to get some gear. The internet is also a great place to learn from others. It is not the camera quality Pictures depend on, bt the photographer. The Pentax Spotmatic is one of the greatest photography Learning tool one can get. It is very dependable, easy to adjust settngs, and the shutter is most silent and comfortable. Film photography is easy to learn, you can use the sunny 16 rule as a starting point. The lightmeter in the Pentax Sptmatic will also help you to adjust settings. A note about battery, the old Mercury btteries are not in sale. In my Spotmatic I use hearing aid battery of Zink air type Panasonic PR312 (PR41), as this battery will fit nicely. Other hearing batteries are to large and the battery cover will not fit. The Super Takumar is a very Sharp lens, even if it is an oldtimer. A good camera like the Pentax Spotmatic and a high quality Takumar glass, some Learning, and you will take Professional photographs. Photography is all about composition and light, this is the key to create stunning images,not the gear. Images are not good because the are snapped With $1000 glass. Of course in the hands of the skilled photographer, any camera will do. Today I take a lot of better photographs than25 years ago, it is all about Learning and not gear. I am not a review man, but I had to Write some notes about this purchase from ebay.Read full review
Pentax spotmatic ......where to begin? I used these cameras in the 60s, I had at least two of them most of the time. One with a wideangle lens one with a longer lens. In the day I had optics ranging from 20mm on up to 200mm. I rarely used zooms, and made prints as large as 16X20 from these cameras. When I went professional in the 70s I went medium format and let my spotmatics go. Gave a few to family members in photography classes and stuff like that. Most of my lenses were sol or traded. That 20mm was kinda rare, it brought the most money by far. Well not that I have stopped shooting professionally I saw this spotmatic on E-bay cheap. Picked it up, looks new, works great, These are perfect cameras, they were small in the day. Meters are pretty close even for slide film. The optics are great, easy to change. I can think of no drawbacks, they have stopdown metering. Which means the lens stops down to the fstop when you meter, that allows you to see real depth of field of the photo. So say this is a drawback, it never was for me. Over all most of these cameras were produced in the 60s, so expect minor age related problems.......but the one I got has no problems at all I can find except a stickey self timer. Great camera, great optics, if you use the pentax optics on it, but there are tons of other screw mount optics out there.Read full review
If you're a fan of old-fashioned film photography where you're in total control, a fine camera - durable, fast shutter action and good quality. One of the few cameras to use screw-mount lenses, which can be good or bad -- if you have several already (as I did), it's a real find, and the rarity of screw-mount cameras makes these lenses often less expensive. But, if looking to use lenses from other companies, can be harder. Still, a great camera for folks looking to learn photography, or who simply want a camera that lets you do the thinking rather than the machine!
I'm very pleased with the product. I managed to find a battery and was please to see that the meter reacted properly and gave me a usable shutter speed. I can't wait to drive a roll of film through it and see the results. I'm a collector more than a user but at some point, I've used almost all my old cameras just to put them through their paces and I fully expect this one will behave most satisfactorily.
Verified purchase: Yes
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