Hi- None of the Spotmatics have particularly wonderful finders in my opinion. I have an F, a 1000, and an original. I love 'em anyhow.
You may want to take a look at Fujica ST701 and ST801 bodies. I haven't had my hands on either for many years, but owned both in the late seventies- used mainly with SMC Tak lenses. It seems to me that their finders were brighter than Pentax, and they were pretty solid mechanically speaking. The ST801 in particular is interesting because its meter technology was very advanced for the time. It used a silicon blue cell with an LED readout something like the MX. The ST701 was around for quite a while and I think evolved over the years, so there may be variations in finder brightness depending on when manufactured. Fuji also made the ST901, their answer to the ES, with a wildly innovative meter readout for the day- digitial numerical readout of shutter speed. Described as a gimmick that would never go anywhere by a contemporaneous Consumer Reports review. Nice chunk of gadgetry, but aperture priority only on auto and no meter on manual. Can't guess about reliablility. I owned one of those as well and enjoyed it. Good luck! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher Lillja" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: January 31, 2002 10:08 AM Subject: Spottie Questions (Enablement Needed) > As I have been building my Pentax system I have found some screw mount lenses to be great value for the money. I generally use them on a beat up ME with a M42/KM adapter. I'm thinking about getting a real M42 body, and of course a nice Spottie would probably fit the bill nicely. > > Here's the thing: which Pentax M42 camera has the best view finder/focusing aids? I've read all the major pages on the topic and little is mentioned about the various finders. I would happily trade TTL metering for a really good finder or perhaps a really small (ME like) chassis... > > I have a K1000 and I find the little tiny microprisim dot in the middle of the ground glass not much fun to use. I love the finder on the ME, and I could live with something in between those two. I'm happy with the viewfinder brightness of both cameras, BTW..... > > Now remain calm please, I have also looked at information on many M42 cameras, some (gulp) non-Pentax. If anyone has some suggestions along these lines, feel free to answer me off-list. > > Well, what I guess what I really want is an MX with an M42 lens mount. What the next best thing? > > Christopher Lillja > Publications Coordinator > The Pennington School > www.pennington.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 . - 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 .
