My Pentax

In the early 80’s my father gave his old Spotmatic SP500 to me, which became my first camera. Unfortunately the light meter switch got lost and the repair would have been more expensive than buying another used Spotmatic, so I got an SPII which served me well for a couple of years. Since I often wanted to switch between color and b/w films, I bought a used ESII, liked the aperture priority and bought another ESII… The beginning of a camera collection. I used Pentax M42 cameras until I could afford a used LX in the late 90’s.

In 1964 Asahi Optical introduced its first camera with a built in TTL exposure meter: The Pentax Spotmatic.
All SP models used working aperture metering until 1973 when the Spotmatic F with full aperture metering was introduced.
A Spotmatic was my first camera and I still like its simplicity but also its perfection.

1971 Asahi Optical introduced the Pentax Electro Spotmatic, a model with an electric shutter, full aperture metering and an aperture priority program mode. The Electro Spotmatic is identical to the ES. In 1973 the improved ESII was introduced. All ES models provide full aperture metering. Shutter speeds from 1/60 to 1/1000 sec. work even without battery power.