[John Poirier]

I have about eight K mount bodies. With a KX and KM, tell me why I should buy a Spotmatic version.

Because you can.

[LesDMess]

I have about eight K mount bodies. With a KX and KM, tell me why I should buy a Spotmatic version.

Tell us how it makes sense for you to have eight K mount bodies then perhaps we can help you make sense to add Spotmatics too.

[pathdoc]

The following need to be borne in mind:

1) Until the advent of the Spotmatic II, Spotties did not have a built-in flash hotshoe. So you will need the clip-on shoe (admittedly many Spotties are sold with this, as the previous owners obtained them at some stage), and then you will need either a flash that can directly accept the old PC sync cable or some sort of PC sync to hotshoe rig that you then attach to the camera's own clip-on adapter.

2) Metering is like using the green button on DSLRs, except you then have to adjust the shutter speed and aperture yourself; the camera does not do it for you. It's unlike anything before (meterless; need sunny sixteen or an external meter) or since (unless you get an ES series or Spotmatic F).

3) Lens changes are, naturally, slower.

4) In size and weight terms, they are really no different from a K body. The Spotmatics and K series represent a period when Asahi Optical Co. was into progressive improvement, not radical evolutionary jumps. Sure, the bayonet mount was something new and sparkly for Pentax shooters when it arrived, but the open-aperture metering had already been around for a few years on the Spotty F and the ES cameras, so even the K2 wasn't a radical change when it first emerged.

The major change was the miniaturisation that came with the M series, which was also the last time a Pentax camera offered all shutter speeds independent of battery power.

[monochrome]

Tell us how it makes sense for you to have eight K mount bodies then perhaps we can help you make sense to add Spotmatics too.

Hahahahahahahahahaha.

[D1N0]

So you can take a picture of your entire collection of K-mount camera's in one shot.

[Nuno Almeida]

....Why not?

[ismaelg]

Only eight K mount bodies?
And you call yourself a K-mount fan?
SHAME ON YOU!
Get the Spotmatic so you can START with the screwmount family tree branch!
And don't be slacker! Get on it!

[arnold]

Here is why; Because they are a delight to own, I have a K, two H2, S3, S1, two SVs, three S1as, an SP, SP1000, SP500, SP11, Four SPFs, and a SP ES.
And you have none, that is why.

[Nuno Almeida]

I love my spotmatic f, a beautiful machine, the only thing that bothers me is the film advance lever when shooting vertical.. and the lack of a split screen...

[jtkratzer]

If you buy a Spotmatic then you have reason to buy screwmount lenses. What better reason than to increase your LBA?

Don't need that. I feel like have too many lenses that don't get the attention they need. The source of that is I have made a few purchases of kits to get one item out of it the seller refused to break up, so I end up with a full camera bag of stuff I really didn't want, but my have little resale value.

I have both. Actually, I have about 5 Spotmatics that a friend is having me sell for him, they aren't actually mine. I do have an SV and a K though and a bunch of K and M bodies. In my opinion, there is no reason to get a Spottie if you are happy with the K mount bodies that you have. The K is in a class by itself though. It can't really be compared to anything of the Spotmatic or later era. First, it has no meter and therefore no batteries to have corroded inside the body. Second, it has such a crispness and precision of feel in use that you just can't imagine until you have used one. I think that only the AP would be similar. I have a mint, Pentaxs serviced SV that I love too but it's not a K.

If you like the K1000, KX, KM, K2, MX, etc, they are as sound and robust as the Spotmatic series but they use more convenient batteries and can use both K mount and screw mount (with adapter) lenses so unless for nostalgia, sentiment, or collector reasons, the Spotmatics may not be the best choice. Keep in mind though, for practicality, there is no real reason to shoot film either unless for reasons of nostalgia, sentiment, etc so do what makes you happy. That's why we are here.

I'll save the debate about the practicality of film for another day, but I'm at the point where I'm almost ready to sell all of my digital SLR stuff and APS-C lenses except my MX-1.

Because you're wreckless and bored?
Because they're cheap and angular?
To pull out of a rut?
To annoy your partner?
Because you have too many straps?

I picked up at 645n recently. I'm good on the annoy my spouse part.

Because Spotmatics (and pre-Spotmatics) look cooler than the K bodies!

I'll have to look at some side-by-side comparisons, but off the top of my head, doesn't seem to be that much difference between the KM/KX and the Spotties.

Tell us how it makes sense for you to have eight K mount bodies then perhaps we can help you make sense to add Spotmatics too.

Never intended to have this many and it wasn't some sort of defect or buying disease. ZX-30 was my first camera before a trip abroad back in the late 90s. That was my only film camera for almost 15 years. I went through college, used a P&S digital and bought a K-5 right before my second child was born. My inlaws recognized the Pentax name and gave me their ME Super they bought to take baby pictures of my wife when she was born. The K-5 and ME Super brought me here and you jerks are responsible for the rest. Eventually grabbed an LX (seller threw in a ZX-5 at no charge and didn't know it was coming until I opened the box). Wanted a KM or KX and threw bids on two auctions on eBay. Figures...I won both. I stopped in a local print/framing shop and chatted with the owner about film as he used to have a camera shop and film processing lab before converting to printing/framing. He tossed me an ME with a K28/3.5 attached to it. ME is rough, but the lens is perfectly usable. So, it's actually seven 35mm film bodies, not eight, but I have the K-5iis and 645n. Out of the seven 35mm bodies, I didn't pay for four of them (ZX-30, ZX-5, ME Super, and ME). Going to Morocco and living in the brown baby powder for three weeks was the first rolls of film the ZX bodies have seen in years. No idea on the ZX-5 - first roll I put through it since it showed up at my door.

Most of the cameras I'm willing to let go have little to no resale value. Am I really bothered with the space they take up to get a $20 bill? Probably not. Also, my daughter has a growing interest in photography, but I'm not ready to spend the money on film with her. She's only seven and doesn't understand exposure yet and isn't ready to use a log for the exposure settings. I'm just happy to have her along with me filling up a tiny memory card with 22 RAW images on her *ist DL. She can shoot one of the manual bodies when she's a bit older and ready to learn exposure. For now, it's just fun and daddy-daughter time.

[AquaDome]

A good M42 body gives you access to all the Soviet lenses with their weird swirly bokeh and color saturation. I've tried a bunch of M42 bodies. The Spotmatic SPII is the sweetest one I've found so far. Its action is smoother than any of my K bodies.

[dsmithhfx]

I have about eight K mount bodies. With a KX and KM, tell me why I should buy a Spotmatic version.

No reason at all. Let me know if you see a good one.

[Xmas]

Allows you to use old Pentax lenses in native mode. Pre SMC gives lower contrast pastel colours flashed shadows...

[ChrisPlatt]

Over time production economies cheapened cameras and Pentax is no exception.
Mechanical precision and smoothness of operation noticeably diminished over time.
This is especially noticeable as electronic features became more and more important.

IMO the K series cameras are the best-made bayonet-mount Pentax cameras.
However you will notice that any Pentax M42 camera has a more substantial feel.

Chris

[pathdoc]

However you will notice that any Pentax M42 camera has a more substantial feel.

My Spotmatic F feels like the biggest and heaviest camera I own. (The K-1 is objectively heavier but the ergonomics are better.) By the time it gets back from Eric (light meter issues), the weather should be good enough to take it out a little more often than hitherto, and then we will see just how good the last generation of Pentax M42 cameras was when fitted with the open-metering lenses designed for it.