This is a review of the Pentax Spotmatic SP. I base this review on the three months period I spent with this camera and the two test films I shot.
The first Spotmatics reached the store shelves somewhere in 1964 and it was a step ahead from the previous Pentax SLR's, the H3v. The Spotmatics were very well received and gave the M42 mount a real boost. They were well made, quite elegant in appearance and very reliable. The Takumars lenses made for them were, in a word, outstanding. Not only for the build and performance standards of that time but even by today's standards. The Spotmatics placed Pentax firmly in the top 5 camera manufacturers and even with the introduction, almost a decade later, of the K-mount, the first line of the K-series were more Spotmatics than anything else.
This camera has been a charity shop find; people thought that it was broken as it appeared to have been jammed. Always read the manual, it clearly says that when stopping down to take a meter reading ALWAYS REMEMBER to push the switch off otherwise the mirror gets stuck on the up position. And this is what has happened - in this case you push the button down and press the shutter button and everything works well again. So yes, even for a simple camera like the Spotmatic, always read the manual. The camera is in overall good condition for its age and the lens is clear and bright. I'll come back to the lens later on.
Fit and finish is superb and everything has a nice quality feeling to it. The viewfinder is reasonably bright and big, considering that we are talking about a 1960's camera and the shutter button is very responsive. I also like the small window next to the wind on level that turns red when you have winded up the shutter. All well so far. The only annoying thing is the stop-down metering, unfortunately this is a 1960's thing, full open TTL metering came later on. The light meter reacts slowly so give it some time for the needle to settle. Noise and vibration levels are relatively high but they never go to the annoying levels of Prakticas of that period. Of course, time had deteriorated all light seals that had turned into sticky goo, I removed them and i replaced them with self-adhesive felt bought from Hobbycraft. It seems to be working well. Interestingly enough, a lot of resources on the internet state that the Spotmatic SP uses LR44 type batteries. It does NOT. It uses AG10 or equivalent, still 1.5v but it gives accurate exposures. You can get these button cells in every poundshop, I got mine in Poundland. Actually, in terms of accuracy, metering off the wall, the Spotmatic gives identical reading with my Nikon F4s, so it seems that the Spotmatic has a bridged circuit that compensates for the difference in voltage. Much newer cameras (i.e. Olympus OM-1n) don't do that so it is definitely a thumbs up for Pentax!
The camera came with the semi-legendary (or full-legendary to others) Super Takumar 50 f/1.4. This lens is no stranger to me, i have used another copy in the past and it is excellent. This seems to be the newer 7 elements version (the older ones had 8 elements) and it uses Thoriated glass so it is subjected to the usual yellowing but i have found that with black and white film, it works well. If you are into scaring others with
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| Hm... what is this on the aperture?... |
radio-active lenses, this is the one to have. Apparently you can clean the yellowing by placing a UV lamp above the lens and leave it for a day or two. The yellowing will be gone. There seems to be some sort of marks on one of the aperture blades, not sure what this is but it does not affect the functioning of the lens. It can't be oil because it wouldn't have been limited only on one blade but i can't think of what else it might be. Anyway, it doesn't give me any problems so I don't mind. Contrast and sharpness of this lens is excellent and on a par with modern lenses like the Canon EF 50 f/1.8 although the Takumar has its own signature.
Any complaints? Sure, no camera is perfect and neither this one is. First of all, using a camera from the mid-sixties requires time to get familiar with, especially if you are used to newer AF-SLR's that you press
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| Super Takumar @ 1.4 |
one button and the camera does it all. With the Spotmatic SP you need to slow down first. Stop down metering is not exactly second nature to me although I did use it a lot with my Zenit. I find it annoying that the camera, in a way locks if you press the shutter button with the stop-down switch on, i might be asking too much but surely it could have been better thought. Another thing that I don't like is the lack of some sort of a lock switch for the shutter button, I attempted to pick the camera from the bag and I accidentally pressed the shutter button and of course I wasted a frame. Having said that, my beloved Olympus OM-1n does not have one either so....
I think, that is where the criticism ends with the Spotmatic. It is very well made and the fact that those cameras keep working after all these decades speaks volumes about the build quality of these amazing photographic machines.
ConclusionOk, obviously, the Spotmatic SP is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I am not planning to keep this camera for the plain reason of having sold all my M42 equipment and i am investing on Olympuses and Nikons. Those who buy it need to keep in mind that they are buying a 1960's camera so expect ergonomics from that era. Who are the potential buyers of these cameras? I would say two different groups. The ones who buy them for the lens, who put the Takumars on digital cameras - I would just say, if you want to see the full potential of the lens, leave it on the Spotmatic, shoot a Kodak Tri-X with it and develop it on HC-110 - No digital sensor will ever give you this beautiful tonality.
The other potential buyer group is the odd-ball M42 lover, who has a collection of lovely lenses and is looking for a reliable M42 body to use them on. And i know that there are loads of good cameras out there that you can use your M42 lenses on, but none is a Spotmatic. Quite simply, the Spotmatic is the M42 benchmark.