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Won a Pentax Spotmatic on ebay
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:17 am    Post subject: Won a Pentax Spotmatic on ebay Reply with quote
Comes with 3 lenses and total is $67.44 with shipping:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSAA:US:12&Item=290143149558

This of course, is not as grand as Orio's recent purchase, but I'm happy
to get the lenses, too!

Bill


PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hey ! This is THE deal! Congratulation for this great buy! This price good enough for one lens only not for three+camera.


PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks, Attila! I'm hoping the light meter doesn't work because it just
needs a new battery. Yeah that 50/1.4 goes for that price over here
quite regularly.

Bill


PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
What a deal!!!

Any detail about the lenses?


PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Orio wrote:
What a deal!!!

Any detail about the lenses?


Not really detailed, 135 tele, 35 wide, and did manage to state
50/1.4 normal lens. That's supposed to be a pretty good one, if
I'm not mistaken.


PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Wow! Great deal!
I have been watching German Spotmatic auctions lately and they went for such a price only for the cam sometimes!


PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 10:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Super buy Bill! I paid over twice that for a similar package. I'm excited you've joined the Spottie club, I hope you'll enjoy using it.

The build quality of the Takumar lenses is superb, however the optical quality is not quite as good as some of the Russian and German M42 lenses in my experience. However, the 1.4/50 is a fantastic lens. You could well find it has yellowed due to being kept in the dark in the camera case with the lens cap on. But don't worry, light passing through the lens will clear it, albeit fairly slowly, so patience is the word. Mine was really badly yellowed last November, but it's perfectly clear now. I'm storing it in the clear plastic box meant for the Mir-1B.

I'm interested to hear what you're planning to do about batteries. I bought some 1.35v Wein cell batteries for mine, they work OK but they're expensive and only last a short while. I've also had a few minor problems with electrical contact inside the camera, as they're smaller than the original MRB400 mercury cells it was designed for. I understand you can use modern alkaline 1.5v cells but I don't know what type yet. I am going to try them when the Wein cells have expired.

When my dark bag arrives soon I will be developing my first B&W roll with the Spotmatic, then I will (hopefully) be posting some pictures.

There's tons of information about old Asahi/Pentax cameras and lenses on this great site http://www.aohc.it/index.htm.


PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hope you find one at a reasonable price, Carsten!

Peter, yes, I'm looking forward to this camera, and may be the first to
have it recovered in leather! The battery I have is the Wein cell, too.
If the light meter works with battery, a friend of mine knows how to
adjust it to where it takes the PX625 1.55V battery (which I have a blister
pack of 10).

Thanks for the link, Peter! Smile


PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 3:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks, Bill, but it is not really important or urgent or something. It's just a playful idea... Wink


PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Sure, Carsten, I was thinking at the time this couldn't be that big a
priority for you, with all the cameras/lenses you already own! Laughing

I'm almost done with camera bodies, now to use them, select which I
like, and get rid of the rest!


PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 1:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
If those 3 lenses are all original takumars, you made quite a deal here! congrats!


PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 2:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
TDN wrote:
If those 3 lenses are all original takumars, you made quite a deal here! congrats!


Thanks, Tom, I'll post pics of the lenses when they arrive.

Bill


PostPosted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 1:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Here's my first pics with the Helios 44-2:









That's a 49mm Canon circular polarizer in one of the pics. Everything is
used, but in good shape!

I know these Helios' pics aren't as nice as Bob's flower pics, but hey,
the lens is pretty nice!

Bill


PostPosted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Katastrofo wrote:
Here's my first pics with the Helios 44-2


That was a fantastic bargain, Bill! It's interesting to see the camera is engraved "Asahi" - weren't all the Spotmatics sold in USA Honeywell branded? Maybe yours was bought abroad.

How's the 1.4/50 lens, is it yellowed? The serial number of yours seems much later than mine (2014767), so maybe it doesn't have the radioactive element. If you can tell me the Part No. stamped on the camera side of the A-M switch we can check.


PostPosted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 12:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hey , what a luck! You got all of them for a single lens price ! I look forward how they are perform on Olympus.


PostPosted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 1:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks, Attila!

Peter, will check on this later today, have to go to dentist, now. Rolling Eyes


PostPosted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 8:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Peter, the lens has an amber yellow cast to the outside front element.
I guess it is not immune to the malady. Here's my first effort, shot
wide open, damn cat, of course:



This is uncropped, amazed at its close-focusing capabilities.

Bill


PostPosted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 11:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
my god, those 3 lenses for 67$... one hell of a bargain Smile

Tom


PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 1:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
TDN wrote:
my god, those 3 lenses for 67$... one hell of a bargain Smile

Tom


Plus the camera, case, and polarizer. Wink Yep, I'm a happy camper!

Bill


PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 2:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I saw one Takumar 1.4/50 went above $70..


PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 3:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Attila wrote:
I saw one Takumar 1.4/50 went above $70..


Wow, a European-based sale?

I've changed my mind about Takumars. They are certainly worthwhile
keepers. I probably will sell one of the Super-Tak 135s as I have two of
them now. I need to place the 50/1.4 using tin foil over the front
element with the back cap off and facing a sunny window for a few weeks.

Bill


PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 3:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It was USA sale Smile Takumars are great lenses I never seen bad copy from them, but I like more East German lenses and Nikkors.


PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 4:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Oh yes, I like my Nikkors and Russian lenses! But finding any kind of
quality fast lens (f1.4) will run some money, except for these Taks.


PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 5:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Don't forget old Non-Ai Nikkors Smile


PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 7:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Katastrofo wrote:
Peter, the lens has an amber yellow cast to the outside front element. I guess it is not immune to the malady.


Sorry to be a while coming back Bill, I've been busy today.

You didn't give me the part number on the A-M switch. If it's 37800, 37801 or 37802 then you have the version with the thorium glass that yellows. There are two other ways to check as well - the affected lenses have a metal rim round the protruding part of the rear lens and the tiny red infrared focus mark on the DOF scale is between f4 and f8. On the non-affected lenses there is no lens rim and the IR mark is between f4 and infinity. Looking at your pic of the camera, I think I can see the mark between f4 and f8.

There is only one element that yellows and it's near the back lens. The coating on the front lens reflects an amber colour, but light passing throught it is unaffected. The test is to look through the lens at a sheet of white paper, in white light if possible. Obviously the paper should look virtually white but it's difficult to judge sometimes. It helps look through another non-thorium lens to compare.

Looking at the cat picture it does look pretty yellow! Very Happy
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