Please help to identify this Pentax Spotmatic SP

rico_gustav · Feb 12, 2011

Hi,

I'm embarras to say this, but I'm very new to 35mm film cameras despite I am being a semi-professional photographer that is currently earning quite okay from taking pictures with DSLRs.

However, I went out to a market here in Bangkok and found a working Pentax Spotmatic camera and just fell in love with it for some reason. I bought it and got home and research the camera.

It seems like the camera is a Pentax Spotmatic SP camera (it got SP marked besides my left thumb). However, I found something very different than anything that I found in the internet: it got no light meter (the SW switch on the left front side besides the lens mount)

Here are the pictures. I will be really grateful if someone can help me identify this camera. Thank you so much!

Zathras · Feb 12, 2011

Hi,

Pentax made a meterless camera called the Pentax SL. It appears that you have a model SL that has had the original top piece replaced with one from a Spotmatic.

Bill Burk · Feb 12, 2011

I think you have a (desirable) Pentax SL with the top deck replaced with the SP cover.

mopar_guy · Feb 12, 2011

Welcome to APUG.

rico_gustav · Feb 12, 2011

Ah okay. Thanks a lot guys. I think it might be a replaced top part. I checked the connection between bottom part and top part and I couldn't find any indications of replacement process. However, again, I am really not familiar of what the SL model is supposed to look like.

I was actually day dreaming that maybe the camera will be a limited edition or a prototype that never been released to the market and worth thousands of dollars oh well...

Nevertheless, the camera works great and loving it!

And Dave, thanks for welcoming me!

Tony-S · Feb 12, 2011

I'm curious what lens it has.

2F/2F · Feb 12, 2011

It could also be a transitional model of some sort, made just as it is by Asahi.

rico_gustav · Feb 12, 2011

Tony-S said:
I'm curious what lens it has.

The lens is Super-Takumar 55mm f/1.8, which; from what I read, is a really nice camera. There is an auto aperture mode built into the lens, but I don't really see how it's working without a light meter to measure the light.

It is a very nice camera with strong built quality (I know nothing about it, but when I hold it, I can feel the robust metal body and it is quite heavy. I don't know how much does it cost when it got released in the 60s, but it may be a safe guess to say that this was not a cheap camera.

lxdude · Feb 12, 2011

Auto aperture means that the aperture diaphragm will not close to what you set on the aperture ring (like 5.6 or something), until you take the picture.
When you press the release to take the picture, the lens closes the aperture to what you set, at the same time that the mirror is going up. When the mirror is up, the diaphragm is at the setting you selected, and the shutter opens. After the shutter closes, the mirror goes down and the lens diaphragm opens back up to full aperture. So the aperture closes and opens automatically. You still determine exposure and set the lens aperture ring where you want. It's not the same as automatic exposure aperture control where the camera sets the aperture for you. The Auto/Manual switch on the lens allows you to choose between auto aperture or fully manual aperture, where the diaphragm is continuously at whatever is set on the ring while the switch is on M.

mabman · Feb 14, 2011

Looks like a nice camera. Practice exposure with Sunny 16 and you're all set

Diapositivo · Feb 14, 2011

You should check the serial number, especially if it is in the top piece. Maybe on the web you can find some information about pre-production copies.

It is not likely, but maybe not impossible, that this is a prototype of the SP. For instance, [if all the SL have been made after the first SP, and the serial numbers of SL bodies are known, and your camera has a serial number which is below the "minimum" serial number for a SL, FORGET THIS] then maybe it really is a SP prototype. In that case you must check serial numbers for SP prototypes. You might find that you have one of those prototypes.

I suppose prototypes all have a real serial number, and that numbers outside "official" serial numbers are prototypes.

I would enquiry further... one never knows

Fabrizio

EDIT forget the italic. The only thing to check is serial numbers of SP prototype copies. If they coincide, you have a real prototype with its own top. Otherwise you have an SL with the top of an SP.

Zathras · Feb 14, 2011

Diapositivo said:
You should check the serial number, especially if it is in the top piece. Maybe on the web you can find some information about pre-production copies.

It is not likely, but maybe not impossible, that this is a prototype of the SP. For instance, [if all the SL have been made after the first SP, and the serial numbers of SL bodies are known, and your camera has a serial number which is below the "minimum" serial number for a SL, FORGET THIS] then maybe it really is a SP prototype. In that case you must check serial numbers for SP prototypes. You might find that you have one of those prototypes.

I suppose prototypes all have a real serial number, and that numbers outside "official" serial numbers are prototypes.

I would enquiry further... one never knows

Fabrizio

EDIT forget the italic. The only thing to check is serial numbers of SP prototype copies. If they coincide, you have a real prototype with its own top. Otherwise you have an SL with the top of an SP.

I have a Spotmatic SP and an SL in front of me as I'm writing this. I'm convvinced that your camera is the SL model with a Spotmatic top cover replacing the original SL cover.

If you look at the shutter speed dial, you'll notice that the "B" setting is closer to the center of the dial than the rest of the slow speed number. This is because there is a groove in the top of the dial( not visible in the photo) that allows the camera to connect to a special top mounted meter. The dial also lacks the outer ring to set the film speed for the internal meter. As far as I know, ALL Spotmatics had an internal meter, this camera clearly does not. There is no battery compartment on the bottom of the SL.

One last thing to look for, the model number is engraved on the back of the camera. This engraving is located at the bottom right-hand corner on the base plate. You'll need a magnifier to read it. If the number is 23012, you have a Spotmatic SP. If it is 23105, you have a Pentax SL.

Hope this helps,

Mike

Zathras · Feb 15, 2011

Zathras said:
...If the number is 23012, you have a Spotmatic SP. If it is 23105, you have a Pentax SL.

Hope this helps,

Mike

I made a boo-boo in the above post. The model number for the Spotmatic is 23102, NOT 23012. The model number for the Pentax SL is correct.

PentaxBronica · Mar 14, 2011

Pentax made a clip-on light meter for these which couples to the shutter speed dial mechanically, similar to those on the SV/S1a and similar earlier bodies (it may be the same meter). There should be a notch in the shutter speed dial where the spring-loaded pin on the meter's dial engages.

I'm wondering if this is a case of someone combining a good SP top plate with the rest of an SL to make one working camera from two? There are a few K1000s out there with DOF preview and self timers (made by replacing a battered KM top plate with that from a K1000).

rico_gustav · Mar 14, 2011

Zathras said:
I made a boo-boo in the above post. The model number for the Spotmatic is 23102, NOT 23012. The model number for the Pentax SL is correct.

Hi, the model number is 23105. And I assume this make the camera is an SL with SP top. Thanks all!

David Lyga · Mar 16, 2011

Four years of R&D it took (1960 - 1964) before Pentax was bold enough to release the Spotmatics series. (Maybe the SL is actually worth more than the metered versions due to the low 'mintage'.)

After doing minor repairs on about 200 + diverse cameras I can unqualifiedly say that the Spotmatic series combines engineering simplicity with profound build reliablilty. I have had Spotmatics totally immersed in water and by taking off the top and bottom and prism area, have completely dried their innards with completely successful results. The previous H series is my favorite aesthetically and almost is as good as the Spotmatic. The Minolta SRT also comes close. The Canon mechanicals are really over-engineered and more prone to fail (although they, also, are excellent). - David Lyga

aoresteen · Mar 17, 2011

It is indeed an SL. I have two. In 1981 I dropped my black SL in a train station in Munich Germany. When it was in for repair I asked about a replacement top plate. None were available but an SP top plate could be installed. I elected to keep the orginial top.

I had a lot of mods done to my black SL over the years. It has a Nikon P screen, Ritz rugerized covering, Leica screw over cable release, and Penatax LX lugs on the lower front.

The chrome body is mostly stock with a Pentax K1000 rubber tipped advance lever. It is shown with the clip on flash shoe.

At one point I had 12 Spotmatic bodies including the motor drive model with two 250 exp backs and lenses from 17mm to 500mm. Now I'm down to these two SL bodies, the 28mm SMC, 50mm f/1.4 ST, and the 105mm SMC lenses.

Please help to identify this Pentax Spotmatic SP

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