[Tighelander]

I was zooming around a swap meet, and saw something new- a really old Pentax. It looked like a SLR, but the top had a complicated dial apparatus. Turning a dial at the side of the top turned a measurement dial where the viewfinder would be. I would have taken a picture of it, but I didn't have my phone with me.

[Racer X 69]

Why didn't you buy it?

[35mmfilmfan]

Sounds like a model with a separate light meter. BTW, there is no such thing as an 'ancient' Pentax - the word does not apply to any item made post-1950.

[Unregistered User 8]

Did it look a little like this?

Attached Images

 

[Tighelander]

A bit, but I think the meter was smaller, and there was a thin rod going from the dial to the meter display.

[mcgregni]

A fascinating glimpse into the past! It's not a TTL meter then? Looks like it has its own lens, and it appears to indicate the required aperture (which I guess is set manually on the lens).

I can see that the meter is attached to the shutter speed dial, so presumably takes that setting into account? But I can't see anything connecting to the ASA dial .... So how does it factor in the ASA of the film?

[Unregistered User 8]

A fascinating glimpse into the past! It's not a TTL meter then? Looks like it has its own lens, and it appears to indicate the required aperture (which I guess is set manually on the lens).

I can see that the meter is attached to the shutter speed dial, so presumably takes that setting into account? But I can't see anything connecting to the ASA dial .... So how does it factor in the ASA of the film?

I hope somebody can answer that soon Nigel. I was intrigued by the " twirly thing " and googled Pentax with attached light meter and this ( one of many ) image came up. Such an elegant solution to what must have been a complex issue for the day. Pentax engineers have always been ahead of the game.

[35mmfilmfan]

I can see that the meter is attached to the shutter speed dial, so presumably takes that setting into account? But I can't see anything connecting to the ASA dial .... So how does it factor in the ASA of the film?

The ASA setting dial is just below the shutter speed dial, if my memory serves. As there was no built in meter, the ASA dial below the rewind crank was simply an aide-memoire, not connected to anything.

[pathdoc]

he ASA setting dial is just below the shutter speed dial,

True, that. Below the shutter speed selection dial in the picture, you can see numbers from 200 to 1600 (it had others, but not all of them are showing). That was the ASA dial for the meter. None of the cameras this thing fitted on had their own internal meter, including the Spotmatic SL - the very last meterless 35mm SLR that Pentax ever made, and the only Spotmatic model not to be metered. The shutter speed dial on the cameras which took this meter had a slot that the meter dials engaged in, and none of the internally metered Pentax M42 cameras had that slot.

[honey bo bo]

The aperture setting is on the main wirly gig on the top how was it connected to the lens or is it?

[microlight]

No, not connected to the lens; the meter told you its recommended aperture and then you set it on the lens. A far cry from the split-second operation that we expect now!

[35mmfilmfan]

No, not connected to the lens; the meter told you its recommended aperture and then you set it on the lens.

Ah, the days of the Aperture Ring ! When instant meant getting your slides back in less than a fortnight. When, if you were lucky, surplus cash ran to one 36 exp roll of film per week. When, after you had carefully blacked out the kitchen for an evening's printing, your wife decided to take a bath, and the gas water heater suddenly roared into life, flooding the kitchen with blue light. When, after hanging your prints over the bath to dry, the occupants of the other flat pushed them all to one end of the line, turning them into one solid lump of expensive rubbish.

Nostalgia ? Don't get me started.

[Not a Number]

See also this thread:

Pentax clip-on meters - PentaxForums.com

I hope somebody can answer that soon Nigel. I was intrigued by the " twirly thing " and googled Pentax with attached light meter and this ( one of many ) image came up. Such an elegant solution to what must have been a complex issue for the day. Pentax engineers have always been ahead of the game.

But other companies (Topcon & Minolta) got their through/behind-the-lens models out on the market a couple of years or so before Asahi.

[TomB_tx]

When I bought my Pentax H1a in 1965 I passed on the clip-on meter as too expensive, but at that time clip on meters were very popular accessories, as most cameras didn't have built-in light meters: they were all mechanical. Here are a few clip on meters from my collection:

Besides the two Pentax models, there's a Nikon for the original meterless Nikon F (1959) to the right, a Canon clip on for the Canon FP to the left, a clip on for the original Canonflex (their first SLR in 1959). Then the next row has meters for the older Leica rangefinders, and models for the Leica M3 and M4, then a clip on for the Canon rangefinders (Canon P and VIT).
In front is a tiny Voigtlander clip on (still available new) from this century for old film cameras.

[pathdoc]

When I bought my Pentax H1a in 1965 I passed on the clip-on meter as too expensive

You appear to have quite adequately made up for lost time.

That Voigtlander is sort of cute - where does one find them?