Previously written; What I need to know is what STEPS *I* have to go through to take a picture.
I point the camera at something, I manually focus, I set the aperture, I set the shutter speed, and the meter says, okay, go ahead. Then I take the picture. That is what I was used to on the K-1000. It seems that the Spotmatics are more complicated. And some only work with some lenses. Or maybe all work only with some lenses. With the pre-F series spotmatics the only additional thing you would need to do is lift the meter switch on the LH side to get a meter reading. This would stop down the lens (the viewfinder would get dark) and give you a meter reading with a match needle similar to the K-1000. The F added full aperture open metering with SMCT lenses. That means that the camera is metering correctly even though the lens isn't stopping down before taking the picture, you would set shutter speed and aperture you wanted and when you took the picture the lens would automatically stop down to the set aperture. If you use the F with a Super Takumar lens (pre SMCT) you would again have to push up the meter switch to get a meter reading by stopping down the lens. The ES and ESII add some automation to it but would behave like the F series body. I can't help with the Tak 100 macro other then I have the M100/4 and like it. I don't know if they are the same design or not. Butch Each man had only one genuine vocation - to find the way to himself. Hermann Hesse (Demian)
