[Frosty66]

Regarding the Honeywell Spotmatic, what model is it if on the top next to the rewind lever it has only the serial number and nothing else, I mean where a regular Pentax Spotmatic would say SP or SPII or whatever. If it says nothing apart from the serial number is it the equivalent of a Pentax SP or something else and if so would that have been sold from 1964 rge same as the SP ?

[Ontarian50]

Well, both the Honeywell Spotmatics I have here don't have "SP" marked on the top cover. There's just the serial number. But they're obviously Honeywell marked versions of the original "SP" Asahi Spotmatics I have also.

SP II's are easy to spot with their hot shoes.

[sergysergy]

I think some spotmatics do not have any lettering on top:
Pentax Spotmatic - Wikipedia

[mlt]

The easiest way to tell the first generation is the by the width of the metering switch. This was changed to a slightly wider design after a year or so.

[Frosty66]

Well, both the Honeywell Spotmatics I have here don't have "SP" marked on the top cover. There's just the serial number. But they're obviously Honeywell marked versions of the original "SP" Asahi Spotmatics I have also.

SP II's are easy to spot with their hot shoes.

Ah yes of course I forgot about the shoes on top !

[noblepa]

The Honeywell Spotmatics have no model designation on top.

The SL has "SL" engraged on top. This is the meterless version of the Spotmatic.

The SP500 and SP1000 have "SP 500" or "SP 1000" engraved on top.

The Spotmatic II has SPII engraved on top.

The Spotmatic IIa (a Honeywell-only version, no Asahi version) has "SP IIa" on top; This was a special version to communicate with certain Honeywell Strobonar flash models. Since the Strobonars were made by Rollei in Germany, Asahi did not make a version for sale in Japan or other non-US countries.

I believe that the Electo-Spotmatic was not sold in the US, so there was no Honeywell version.

The Spotmatic ES and ES II had "ES" and "ES II" engraved on top.

The Spotmatic F had "SP F" on top.

As far as I know, all Honeywell Spotmatics had no identifier on top. This is the only Honeywell model that did not. Conversely, all Asahi Spotmatics had SP on top.

[Frosty66]

I have an SP II that I have found is completely fixable including the meter, but the actual plastic button for the meter switch is missing ! Most annoying !

[Ontarian50]

I believe that the Electo-Spotmatic was not sold in the US, so there was no Honeywell version.

The ES models were certainly sold around these parts, and sold well.

I dug through my parts bin and not only found an ES body, but it's marked Honeywell - so it was a US model (some of which made their way here to Canada). An ES-II body is marked Asahi, which could either mean it was sold in Canada - or that the re-branding of Asahi products as Honeywell had come to an end.

I know Canon dropped the Bell and Howell relationship around that time. Topcons lost the Beseler markings too.

[Frosty66]

Yes they do travel, you do see some Honeywell versions in the UK although of course most are not.

[John Poirier]

The ES models were certainly sold around these parts, and sold well.

According to Gerstad van Oosten (his book "The Ultimate Asahi Pentax Screwmount Guide") there was a small test run of an Electro Spotmatic in 1971, sold only in Japan. The ES was developed from that. From pictures in the book, it appears that there was a transitional version with Electro Spotmatic stamped on the front and ES stamped on the top.

I was loaned an ES when they first came out, which led to my ongoing use of Pentax gear.

[gofour3]

This website has the full list of Pentax body names in the three markets. (Japan, International & US)

AOHC - Asahi Optical Historical Club: Catalog

Phil.

[noblepa]

The ES models were certainly sold around these parts, and sold well.

I dug through my parts bin and not only found an ES body, but it's marked Honeywell - so it was a US model (some of which made their way here to Canada). An ES-II body is marked Asahi, which could either mean it was sold in Canada - or that the re-branding of Asahi products as Honeywell had come to an end.

I know Canon dropped the Bell and Howell relationship around that time. Topcons lost the Beseler markings too.

The Electro-Spotmatic is not the same as the ES.

pentax electro spotmatic - Google Search

The Electro-Spotmatic, as I understand it, was very problematic for Asahi. They redesigned the electronics for it and released the ES, which was sold in Japan as an Asahi and in the US as a Honeywell.