Originally posted by Swift1 I'm gonna throw in my vote for the Spotmatic F. For feel, I would say it is the best I have used from Pentax. The leatherette on mine is nicer than all my other cameras IMO. I love the metal wind lever, and it winds very smoothly. The shutter is super smooth, it makes my SV feel rough (and the SV is quite smooth to begin with). The shutter button is also very smooth and the shutter button lock is much nicer than what's on the K2 and MX. I think thee KX and SP-F have the same shutter button locck.
My only issue with the SP-F if that the meter doesn't switch of so you always need to have a lens cap on the keep it from wearing out.
As a second I would vote for the SV. A very nicely put together camera that is a joy to use.
this is a great example of why judging such things on used cameras is never a good thing. because one example ends up being the ‘idea’ of that perticular model. I have an SV and it was professionally serviced by a nice old man in Japan, and it has the best and smoothest operation of any camera ive ever used, including my Leica M3. far superior to any Spotmatic vie ever used. but what we are looking at here are used cameras that will in no way reflect what these were like when new. so the speculation, assumptions an opinions could all be way off base.
having said all that, I stand behind the SV as being one of the best constructed, best designed and greatest overall SLR’s ever. yea its mechanical, no it has no meter, or need for batteries, no it doesn’t have the brightest screen or fancy automatic controls. but neither does the Leica M3 and its still regarded as one of the greatest Leica designs.