>> Was it a production model or a one off?
I understood it to be a one off concept camera.
Actually, strictly speaking it is modeled on the 1957 Asahi Pentax AP which, though it resembles a Spotmatic, is much more elemental. That was the camera that ushered in the pentaprism, and in fact the "peak" of the pentaprism on the concept camera is nice and narrow like the Original "AP." Indeed, the model name of the original "AP" was "Pentax." It was so bloody successful in the year/~20,000 units that it was produced that the company ended up taking Pentax as their name and the camera became known in collecting circles as the Asahi Pentax or "AP."
Look at the Model designation on the right side of the concept camera... "AP." I agree that the hot shoe should be deleted (and a sync port added
)
The family resemblance between the Spotmatic and the AP is certainly there, though the form factor on the Spotmatic is noticeably bigger. Think of this as the *istD of the original SLR line... the first and perhaps smallest of the SLRs. This basic model gave rise to everything up to the Spotmatic which really was a redesign. So that's AP, S, K, H2 (S2), H3 (S3), H1 (S1), H1a (S1a), SV (S3v) ... what did I forget??? Oh yes, some odd ones like the Store Demonstrator variant and a couple of other far out ones... Asahiflex?
Anyway, here's a 1957 AP. I shoot this one regularly.
For 2008 they should actually place the concept in production, call it a "K" (1958) and also produce a matching "Zebra" prime in say 55mm. At that point price would not be an object for me. Heh...
woof!