Pros | Build quality, ergonomics, fully manual, no batteries, no meter. Kit-lens optics (super-Tak f1.8/55mm). |
Cons | no meter, necessity to overhaul. |
Rating | 8 |
Price (U.S. Dollars) | 20 |
Years Owned | <1 |
I can recommend this camera: Yes
Value, Features, Performance & Size
see above
Camera Review
This is the Spotmatic reduced to its basics. There are no batteries, no light meter, no ISO setting (just a reminder dial). You load the film, remember the rules of exposure, eyeball the light, set the shutter, focus, set the aperture, stop down, check depth of field, adjust if necessary -- and press the button. As a camera to do all that and no more than that, with TTL composition, this is unsurpassed, for ergonomics, and for ease of layout and smoothness of controls.
Extras: There are plugs for X and FP flash, but no hotshoe. A tripod screw hole. A self-timer. That's about all. Lighter than a Spottie or a K1000, but same size -- ultra-simple to grip, after being used to MX a little big but can still be operated with the fingertips.
I got mine as-is, with a f1.8/55mm Super-Takumar lens that had a broken focussing ring but was optically clean. This particular camera was quite dirty and with lots and lots of minor scuffs and scratches -- but no dents, no gashes, and no unaligned seams. All the mechanical controls functioned smoothly. Only the mirror locked up a little at first, but exercising the shutter at all speeds for about twenty minutes -- in two rounds of ten minutes a day apart -- seemed to relieve that problem. It has not come back. The winding, diaphragm, and shutter seemed to function without hangup. The sound of the release is a little different for someone used to the MX action: it is deeper, a little quieter (at least on my example) and somehow more "conclusive" when it goes.
I shot a roll of B&W before I put the camera in for an overhaul. I was blown away by the sharpness of focus and the look of the background blur. Hard to say if I was just plain lucky in judging or systematically misjudging exposures, but all seventeen exposed shots were usable and more or less correctly exposed. The conclusion is that the mechanics of my SL have apparently survived their four and a half decades well. (I will still send the camera in for overhaul.)
It's hard to imagine anyone using this for serious or even hobbyist work in 2011, but if you want to remind yourself what photography is about, shoot a roll with one of these. Just don't cheat. Figure out the exposure youself. It'll be worth it.