asahi Pentax sp500

[jessicac...@gmail.com]

Is my asahi pentax sp 500 a 35mm camera?
This number is on it: 3219071
I believe the lens is 55mm but I don't know if that's what the camera is... any info is appreciated..

[jessicac...@gmail.com]

I would also like to know what the difference is between a 35mm camera and a 50mm camera. Camera, not lens.

[philo]

On 01/10/2014 02:47 PM, jessicac...@gmail.com wrote:
> I would also like to know what the difference is between a 35mm camera and a 50mm camera. Camera, not lens.
>

If a camera is called a "35mm camera" that referrers to the film size.
It could be fitted with a 35mm lens. (Which would be mildly wide angle)

50mm would be a common lens size but there are many lenses that would
fit a 35m camera

[jessicac...@gmail.com]

Awesome. Thank you.

[Tony Cooper]

On Fri, 10 Jan 2014 12:22:06 -0800 (PST), jessicac...@gmail.com
wrote:

>Is my asahi pentax sp 500 a 35mm camera?
>This number is on it: 3219071
>I believe the lens is 55mm but I don't know if that's what the camera is... any info is appreciated..

Your camera is a Pentax Spotmatic 35mm camera made between 1964 and
1976. It is a film camera that took 35mm film. The lens is a 55mm
lens. It was a budget 35mm film camera in its day, but a decent
camera.

If it hasn't been used for some time, there's a good chance the
battery is dead or dead and corroded. If the battery compartment is
badly corroded, the camera is not salvageable. Certainly, at this
point, you would not want to spend any money on repairing the camera.
In your other post, you asked about a 50mm camera. I think someone
has mentioned a 50mm *lens*, not a 50mm *camera*, and you've
misunderstood. The 50mm and 55mm lenses were the common everyday
lenses for 35mm film cameras.

You won't be able to measure your lens to know what it is. The 50 or
55mm number has to do with the focal length of the lens when it is
focused on infinity.

The 35mm number is the approximate width of the film, including the
perforated edges, the camera took. The actual frame size is 36mm x
24mm. The reason it is called 35mm film goes back to George Eastman
and Thomas Edison and what they wanted in a film size. Things changed
over time.

If you are taking a class that requires a film camera, you have a
decent camera if there's no battery problem. If you want to use a
camera for current family photos, buy a digital camera.







--
Tony Cooper - Orlando FL

[Savageduck]

Yup! I had a Spotmatic back in the early 60's. Then sometime in the
early 70's I got a K1000 which I still own, and which functions as it
did when I first bought it. Both the Spotmatic and the K1000 had the
same "Normal" Pentax 50mm lens.

< https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/FileChute/K1000.jpg >

--
Regards,

Savageduck

[jessicac...@gmail.com]

It is for a class that required a 35 mm camera. The battery compartment is in perfect shape, but I'll have to buy a new battery. luckily, my dad somewhat collects cameras, so he already had this one. Thank you so much for your information.

[philo]

My first 35mm was also an Asahi Spotmatic. Bought it in 1970 and still
own it. Great camera. The only thing the battery does is run the light
meter...so the camera will still function if the light meter does not
work. I had to get the solar cell replaced once...the one on the camera
may or may not be good.

[Savageduck]

The big difference between the Spotmatic and the "K" series was the
screw mount vs the K mount lenses. Other than the mount the glass was
pretty much the same.

--
Regards,

Savageduck

[PeterN]

On 1/10/2014 4:58 PM, Tony Cooper wrote:
> On Fri, 10 Jan 2014 12:22:06 -0800 (PST), jessicac...@gmail.com
> wrote:
>
>> Is my asahi pentax sp 500 a 35mm camera?
>> This number is on it: 3219071
>> I believe the lens is 55mm but I don't know if that's what the camera is... any info is appreciated..
>
> Your camera is a Pentax Spotmatic 35mm camera made between 1964 and
> 1976. It is a film camera that took 35mm film. The lens is a 55mm
> lens. It was a budget 35mm film camera in its day, but a decent
> camera.
>

There is always this:
<http://www.asahibeerusa.com/>



--
PeterN

[Savageduck]

That is Asahi Beer USA, so it should really be Honeywell Beer for US marketing.
The big advantage of that Asahi product, is not having to worry about,
metering, focus, and film. Consume enough an it won't matter that it
isn't a camera. ;-)


--
Regards,

Savageduck

[PeterN]

As you consume it, the girl at the end of the bar gets better looking.
Consume enough and you lose focus. ;-)


--
PeterN

[Mike Trainor]

On Fri, 10 Jan 2014 16:58:58 -0500, Tony Cooper
<tonyco...@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Fri, 10 Jan 2014 12:22:06 -0800 (PST), jessicac...@gmail.com
>wrote:
>
>>Is my asahi pentax sp 500 a 35mm camera?
>>This number is on it: 3219071
>>I believe the lens is 55mm but I don't know if that's what the camera is... any info is appreciated..
>
>Your camera is a Pentax Spotmatic 35mm camera made between 1964 and
>1976. It is a film camera that took 35mm film. The lens is a 55mm
>lens. It was a budget 35mm film camera in its day, but a decent
>camera.

Would not really call it a 'budget' camera!

I believe that is the first full aperture TTL metering camera.
Prior to that, the viewfinders darkened if you stopped down
while metering.

I think that Canon FTb (follow up to the FT) was the first
Canon to have full aperture TTL. And, of course the
Nikon F2.

Perhaps, the Spotmatic would only the a budget camera
compared to the F2, which was pretty much a 'professionals
only' camera those days.

mt

---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com

[Tony Cooper]

On Mon, 13 Jan 2014 20:21:46 -0500, Mike Trainor
<mtra...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>On Fri, 10 Jan 2014 16:58:58 -0500, Tony Cooper
><tonyco...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 10 Jan 2014 12:22:06 -0800 (PST), jessicac...@gmail.com
>>wrote:
>>
>>>Is my asahi pentax sp 500 a 35mm camera?
>>>This number is on it: 3219071
>>>I believe the lens is 55mm but I don't know if that's what the camera is... any info is appreciated..
>>
>>Your camera is a Pentax Spotmatic 35mm camera made between 1964 and
>>1976. It is a film camera that took 35mm film. The lens is a 55mm
>>lens. It was a budget 35mm film camera in its day, but a decent
>>camera.
>
>Would not really call it a 'budget' camera!

There were several variations of the Pentax Spotmatic. The SP500 did
not include some features found on other models in the Spotmatic
family. It is the SP500, not the Spotmatic group, that was a budget
camera.

>
>I believe that is the first full aperture TTL metering camera.
>Prior to that, the viewfinders darkened if you stopped down
>while metering.
>
>I think that Canon FTb (follow up to the FT) was the first
>Canon to have full aperture TTL. And, of course the
>Nikon F2.
>
>Perhaps, the Spotmatic would only the a budget camera
>compared to the F2, which was pretty much a 'professionals
>only' camera those days.
>
>mt
>
>---
>This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
>http://www.avast.com

[Mort]

Tony Cooper wrote:
> The 35mm number is the approximate width of the film, including the
> perforated edges, the camera took. The actual frame size is 36mm x
> 24mm. The reason it is called 35mm film goes back to George Eastman
> and Thomas Edison and what they wanted in a film size. Things changed
> over time.

While early movie film was 35mm. in width, I believe that Ernst Leitz
with the first Leica built the first serial production still camera that
used this film, but with the sideways double frame format = 24x36 mm. =
1 x 1.5". This evolved from a single frame test camera to test the Leica
microscopes.

Mort Linder

[Mort]

Not only did the Asahi pentax invent the auto stopdown diaphragm , they
also experimented with a built-in spotmeter, which led to the Spotmatic
name, even though the spot meter did not work out and was not used.

Mort Linder

[Tony Dragon]

This might be the one I had in the 60's.
Was it the one where you set the exposure value on a separate ring &
this locked the shutter speeds to the f number?

[Savageduck]

Pentax used an integral shutter speed + ASA rating knob.
The shutter speed is adjusted by turning the knob (B to 1/1000 sec.).
The ASA, or film rating is set by pulling the outer ring of the knob
up, and then turning to set the appropriate film speed (20-3200 ASA). I
used quite a lot of Tri-X at 400 ASA.
< https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/FileChute/IMG_0626.JPG >

--
Regards,

Savageduck

[Ian]

"Tony Dragon" <tony....@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:JvmdnYoFwoet7HjP...@bt.com...

Hello folks.

I think that it used stopped-down metering and not full aperture metering.
http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Pentax_Spotmatic and
http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/AsahiPentaxSP500.html
also say it has stopped-down metering.

I have a memory of selling clip-on meters for Pentax SLRs in the 1960s - see
http://whitemetal.com/pentax/asahi_pentax_sl_st_55_20/index.htm.
I wonder if the Spotmatic (including the SP500) was an early user of TTL
metering albeit in stopped-down mode?
Ah yes -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentax_Spotmatic#Model_Range_and_variations
says that the 1964 Spotmatic was one of the first SLRs to use TTL metering.

When I worked in retail photography we would not have called any Pentax a
"budget" camera. That accolade belonged to the likes of Practica, Miranda
and Zenit/Zenith (and I refer to the selling prices and not necessarily to
their performance).

Regards, Ian.

[Savageduck]

My first Pentax SLR (pre-Spotmatic) had a prism mounted meter. It was
not TTL, and all adjustment was manual. I replaced it with a K1000
which I still own.

> http://whitemetal.com/pentax/asahi_pentax_sl_st_55_20/index.htm.
> I wonder if the Spotmatic (including the SP500) was an early user of TTL
> metering albeit in stopped-down mode?
> Ah yes -
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentax_Spotmatic#Model_Range_and_variations
> says that the 1964 Spotmatic was one of the first SLRs to use TTL metering.
>
> When I worked in retail photography we would not have called any Pentax a
> "budget" camera. That accolade belonged to the likes of Practica, Miranda
> and Zenit/Zenith (and I refer to the selling prices and not necessarily to
> their performance).
>
> Regards, Ian.

--
Regards,

Savageduck

[Scott Schuckert]

I sold the SP500 at retail when it was new. It was Pentax's budget
camera, a cut down version of the normal Spotmatic. The largest
differences were the lack of a self-timer and a 1/500th top shutter
speed, as opposed to 1/1000 - hence the name. It did NOT have full
aperture metering

[Mike Trainor]

On Tue, 28 Jan 2014 14:48:10 -0500, Scott Schuckert <n...@aol.com>
wrote:

Stand corrected on giving Asahi the credit for introducing full
aperture metering. Looks like Topcon (never seen one!)
and the great Minolta workhorse, the SRT-101, beat Pentax
to it.

But, if memory serves me right, the Pentax Spotmatic had
full aperture metering, right?

thanks

[herba...@gmail.com]

I bought two of the spotmatics back in 1971 . One still works fine after hundreds of rolls of film . I believe the spot in the name refers to the focusing spot in the middle of the screen

[Scott Schuckert]

In article <369ad7e6-22f3-4354...@googlegroups.com>,

Nah. The original prototypes had spot meters, with sensitivity limited
to the center of the screen. However, it was difficult for amateurs to
use, and didn't work very well anyway (the sensitive area was not
precise). It was changed to a slightly center-weighted averaging
system, but the name remained.

http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?Asahi
PentaxSpotmatic.html~mainFrame

[Murray]

The Americans were very much in the fore with movies and the original
film width was 1 3/8" (1.375 in.) which is almost 35mm. Without
checking, it was about 1924 when Barnack at Leica developed a still
camera to use this film and as said above, made the frame double the
cine size. This makes half frame the 'real' 35mm size. :-)

There were other 35mm still cameras before the Leica but none survived
against the simplicity of the first Leica.

Murray