[Tim Murphy]

Dear Board,

I won, or overbid for a $ 34.00 with shipping Spotmatic F and Takumar 50mm f1.8.

I have a perfectly usable Yashica TL Electro ITS with a Yashinon 50mm f1.4. I know the lenses are not directly compatible, what with the Takumar pin tor the wide-open metering.

I want to shoot more film and i want to develop at home and scan with either a flatbed scanner or a DSLR. It's a dream of mine to be 40 years younger and doing things for myself once again.

With all that in mind, I'd appreciate any thoughts about the Spotmatic F that anyone cares to share.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA

[FozzFoster]

The Spotmatic F is my most favourite of the series.
A truly top of the line camera for it's era. One of the best selling, fully featured.
Batteries are easily accessible via Wein Cells or Alkaline with slight EV compensations.
I wish the battery didn't drain when taking off the lens cap.
$34 is an exceptional deal, especially if the light meter works and the seals are good. Well done!

[Bonner04]

I did a road trip almost coast to coast with the "F" and Tak 35mm f/3.5 and every shot came out fine.
I was very pleased with the quality, and it was fun to use. In case you are wondering, I accidently
left my digital camera in the Rocky Mountain National Park motel room in Colorado and did not realize
it until we were in Abilene, Kansas!

[tonyzoc]

I like the Spotmatic F and I have a few, but its becoming hard to find one with a usable light meter. Don't be surprised if the one you get has no meter, or, if it is responding to light, it may be 2-3 stops off. If yours works perfectly consider yourself lucky. That said, you really don't need the meter. Either use a hand held meter, a shoe mount meter or the sunny 16 rule. For me, not having a functioning meter on the SPF makes it no more functional than a Spotmatic SP or Spotmatic II. I like the looks of the Spotmatic SP best even though there's no hot shoe, which is fine for me. The SPF, with a working meter, is nice with SMC and Super-Mulit-Coated Takumars because of the open aperture metering.

[Aaron28]

haven't had any luck with a working F on 2 attempts......to me no meter defeats the purpose of having it.........
do have 2 working ES what a joy to shoot with....love the AE n stepless shutter.......
not sure bout my own pursuit in developing at this point plus not that they make big bucks from me but prefer spending the money at the local shop to develop

[SilverDog]

That Takumar is worth the price of admission on that deal. Those are some great lenses. Does it say "Super Multi Coated" or Just Takumar?

From camera-wiki.org:
The light meter was modified by the addition of a 3rd cell, which acts as a switch when there is no light. The meter is constantly on but there when the light is at EV2 or less it switches off, so it is important to keep the lens cap on when the camera is not in use, in order to conserve the battery.

I have two Spotmatics, SPII and SP 500 and I love them for the M42 Takumar lenses that you can use with them.

[ChrisPlatt]

Eric Hendrickson repaired the non-functional meter on my SP-F.
Later I sold that one to another forum member.

Chris

[Tim Murphy]

That Takumar is worth the price of admission on that deal. Those are some great lenses. Does it say "Super Multi Coated" or Just Takumar?

From camera-wiki.org:
The light meter was modified by the addition of a 3rd cell, which acts as a switch when there is no light. The meter is constantly on but there when the light is at EV2 or less it switches off, so it is important to keep the lens cap on when the camera is not in use, in order to conserve the battery.

I have two Spotmatics, SPII and SP 500 and I love them for the M42 Takumar lenses that you can use with them.

Dear SilverDog,

I haven't received the camera, but the lens is marked SMC Takumar 1:1.8/55 serial number 7333936. Is it safe to assume that the SMC designates Super Multi-Coated? I really know next to nothing about Pentax cameras and lenses. I'd like to one day get a 28, 35, 135 and 200mm lenses for this camera. But first I need to find out if it works!

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA :-)

[SilverDog]

SMC = Super Multi Coated. Nice!

[Tim Murphy]

haven't had any luck with a working F on 2 attempts......to me no meter defeats the purpose of having it.........
do have 2 working ES what a joy to shoot with....love the AE n stepless shutter.......
not sure bout my own pursuit in developing at this point plus not that they make big bucks from me but prefer spending the money at the local shop to develop

Dear Aaron,

Be glad you have a local shop that can develop film for you. I live in the State capital of Pennsylvania, and I can't even buy film locally unless I luck out at Wal-Mart or Target. When I moved here 20 plus years ago, I had the oldest continually operating camera store in the US around the corner from my work. Lett's Camera was their name and they sold supplies to Matthew Brady during the Civil War.

Across the street from them was Estep's Camera repair. He refurbished my grandfather's Nikon F and an F2 for me, for less than $ 200.00 for both, and they both needed the meters rewired and recalibrated along with light seals and mirror bumpers.

Sadly, both places are long gone. We do have an actual camera store that is somewhat local to me, but they are only open during the week and there is no way I can get there on a workday.

That's why I want to shoot some B&W and develop it myself. Whether I actually go that route remains to be seen. I have high hopes though!

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA

[Aaron28]

Be glad you have a local shop that can develop film for you.

yes i am very fortunate to have a brick n mortar store to go to !!

[titrisol]

Tim,
Takumar lenses went through a series of iterations, SMC is the last of them before moving to the bayonet mount (~1973). These series of lenses and the Super-Multi-Coated series allow for metering without having to close the aperture down. The grip is rubberized, but construction and optics are on par with the previous ones. Lens coatings are improved.

I haven't received the camera, but the lens is marked SMC Takumar 1:1.8/55 serial number 7333936. Is it safe to assume that the SMC designates Super Multi-Coated?

If you dont have a manual for the camera, you'll find one in pentax-manuals.com and in other places.
Please remember to always cap the lens when you aren't using the camera, this way you dont drain the battery.

Developing BW yourself is relatively easy and highly addictive, just keep in mind that you WILL screw p once or twice and dont be discouraged

[Tim Murphy]

Dear Board,

It was in need of some cleaning, so I spent some time on that. The lens is in good shape, it stops down properly to each aperture. The shutter seems to fire fine all shutter speeds. I had a good PX625 battery, and I installed it. I checked the meter against known good cameras at different film speeds and apertures and everything checked out close enough to load with film.

Time will tell how well it works, but I'll be surprised if it doesn't work pretty well.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA