I was excited when I read that Pentax was coming out with a TTL metering system in the Spotmatic. I had a Honeywell Pentax H3 (still have it) and was looking forward to this new technology. I have stayed with Pentax over the years. I acquired a lot of SMC Takumars that I am happy to still be using with the newer Pentax SLR's I now own - LX, SF1n, and PZ1-P. I don't know if I could do it had I gone with Nikon back in the early 60's.
Jim A. > From: Frank Theriault <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 17:32:49 -0400 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: Bizarro PDML! (Re: The REAL reason the Pentax MX rules!) > > dick graham wrote: > >> A few months ago Phototechnique or 35mm Photo ( one of those magazines) >> listed their version of the top 25 cameras of all time. Included in the 25 >> was the Pentax Spotmatic. Why you may ask did they include it. Because, >> they said, it was the life support system for those marvelous Super Takumar >> lenses of the 60's and early 70's that could stand up to the best Germany >> had to offer. > > True enough, dick, > > I can think of a couple of other reasons. > > Firstly, the Spotmatic is a historically significant camera, being the first > with ttl metering (yes, Topcon came to market with a ttl 35 mm slr a few > months > earlier, but it was cumbersome, as you had to dial in the speed of each lens > that you attached - and theirs was not commercially successful) > > Secondly, Pentax sold a ton of them! Millions, in fact. In the mid-to-late > 60's, the Spotmatic outsold slr's made by Nikon, Canon, Minolta and the other > Japanese manufacturers - combined. The most popular slr in the world, and the > second most popular among pros (after the Nikon F series), they truly had an > incredible line of accessories, and as you said, those lovely Takumar lenses. > > If you consider the fact that K1000's were basically a bayonet mount > Spotmatic, > and that K1000 knock-offs are still being made by some of the factories from > which Pentax sourced K1000's in China at the end of its run (Mingca still > makes > them in China, I think), the Spotmatic and its direct descendants have had a > 37 > year run - which is still going. > > I think it's fair to say that the Spotmatic was the first "modern" ttl metered > 35mm slr and certainly popularized the breed among pros and amateurs alike. > I'd say it belongs on a list of historically significant cameras. > > regards, > frank > >> >> > > -- > "The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist > fears it is true." -J. Robert > Oppenheimer > - > This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, > go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to > visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org . - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
