The Pentax Spotmatic SP was introduced by Asahi Pentax at the beginning of the 1960's, as one of the first cameras to offer through the lens (TTL) metering. It achieved its meter reading by stopping down the aperture in the lens and providing a light reading. This process requires the photographer to first compose the image, focus, and then flip a switch near the lens mount, that would stop down the lens and activate the meter. The camera has a mechanical shutter with speeds ranging from one second to 1/1,000th, as well as bulb mode. One 387s 1.55 volt battery powers the light meter, which uses a simple plus and minus scale with a black needle that moves up or down to indicate over or under exposure. The Spotmatic uses the somewhat universal M42 thread mount lenses, meaning you can choose from the incredible line of Pentax Takumar lenses, as well as many other lenses made by other manufacturers from all corners of the world.
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The Pentax Spotmatic with 17mm f4 Fisheye-Takumar
The Pentax Spotmatic is a wonderful camera to use, but it gets even better when mounted with the 17mm f4 Fisheye-Takumar lens. This incredibly compact lens features a 180° field of view and has a built-in filter turret. Staff member Gabriel Binder took it out for a spin using a roll of Ilford Delta 3200 and produced this sampling of images.