My grandfathers's original Pentax Spotmatic & Super-Takumar 50mm f1.4 is the reason I got into photography. It's the reason many of my earlier jobs were in the photogrphic retail industry and the reson I eventually worked for Pentax In Vancouver, BC for a time. I never knew my grandfather who passed away 5-years before my birth but what I do know of him fills my mind and heart every time I pick up that camera and lens. Thank you for "spot" lighting 😉 this particular portal to history that I share, albeit for different resons.
You stole my line. I was stationed at Clark AB in 1971. I was in Civil Engineering at the time. That's when I bought my first SLR, the Pentax Spotmatic F. Got some of my best photos in the Philippines with that camera.
The first SLR camera I ever used was a Minolta SRT-101 when I was in high school. I learned about exposure using that camera and carried it to Banff National Park and the Calgary Stampede in 1981 documenting a 10 day trip. I loved the feeling of it in hand, it ignighted a passion for photography in me that I carry to this day.
Thank you! A delightful trip down memory lane. Especially pertinent as my first camera - bought in 1967 from a 2nd hand shop - was a Spotmatic F with a 28mm Takumar lens, shop. So started the journey.
My first camera was a Pentax K1000 that I bought while overseas in Panama in '85 (one note, it was JFK who first sent US troops to Vietnam. By the end of 1964 there were 11,000 US Special Forces troops there as 'military advisors' (but were knee deep in it by then) Great channel!
My first camera was a Pentax with 50mm & 135mm Takumar lenses that my father and brother-in-law helped me pick up 42nd Street Photo back in 1972. I used that a lot in high school, and on my first trip to Kenya after my sister and brother-in-law moved there from NYC. I held onto the gear all these years, and have now passed it on to my daughter in LA who’s hooked on film photography and just started developing her film at home. I’m betting on the Clock of the Long Now and that Spotmatic being around for millennia! 😎
My mother's old Kodak Instamatic got me hooked, and when I was old enough she taught me to use her Minolta XGM and SRT102. When I graduated high school, I got my own X700, and that saw me through college as the photographer for several groups I was in. Still an old friend, and still brings back memories of the 90s for me.
After watching this video, it inspired me to immediately go to KEH and place an order for a Spotmatic and a 55mm f/1.8 SMC Takumar lens. As a child of the 6o's and a musician, it really brought back memories of shooting film and the overall tactile analog experience. A similar feeling I have with my Fujifilm system but with the added magic of film. Thank you for rekindling those memories and giving me that push to revisit that experience once again.
I had a Nikon N2000 as my first film camera. Still have it. I learned to process and develop film in the Navy, where, among my primary job as a nuclear reactor operator, I was trained as a periscope photographer. But after getting my first digital camera in the early 2000’s, a Sony DSC P100, I was hooked. The colors weren’t very good and the resolution was pretty bad, but not having to count shots anymore. Sweeeeet. When I could afford it, I moved up to a Canon EOS XTi. Not the best but really, really good. I slapped some Sigma lenses on it and had a great time. Never upgraded for about 10 years. It was perfect for me. Then I jumped to Fujifilm X-T3. Mind blowing. I loved film, but I could never see me going back. I do love the nostalgia, though. And I can still smell the developing chemicals.
Thanks, Hugh. A Hard Day's Night was the first film I watched on a computer in the early 1990s when it came out on CD (before DVD was popular). I never owned an Pentax Spotmatic but my 1960s Nikkormat FTn with its 50mm f/2 and 200mm f/4 still works. I'm loving digital though. I'd rather spend some time at the laptop "professing" than a day in the darkroom with chemicals that need temperature control, negatives that seem to be dust magnets, etc. For all the joys of grain and film, it always surprises me how easily a few specks of dust break the illusion of really getting immersed in a photo. I miss those days developing and printing, but not too much. Your video sent me straight to Spotify to listen to some 1960s classics from Buffalo Springfield. Thank you. again.
In the fall of 1972 I was just back from a leave (I was in the USAF Stationed in Karamursel Turkey). On that leave I took my Voigtlander Vitoret camera and was reviewing the Kodak slides from the 21st birthday trip. I had been saving for a SLR camera and asked a friend what to get. Based on the money I had to spend he suggested a Ashi Pentex Spotmatic II. I enjoyed the camera. I still have my Voigtlander, but no longer have the Pentex. I recently found a Honeywell Spotmatic which I'm told is the same camera and it sits next to the Voigtlander on my memory shelf. When it cools here (Tucson AZ) I will have to take them out for a shoot.
My absolute favorite camera is my Asahi Spotmatic II, which came with a lovely all metal Vivitar 135mm f2.8 that I hardly ever take off. It, and my Pentax KX are my main shooters. Every time I use my Spotmatic, I think about the man who gave it to me, who said he took it to Vietnam. History lives through these amazingly built machines. Thanks so much this great video!
Thanks Hugh. My first SLR camera was also an Asahi Spotmatic. My Dad had a Honeywell and so did my older brother, we shared a small pool of Takumar lenses. Of course I have no idea where that camera ended up after College. Operating that camera was a second nature muscle memory type thing absolutely no thought automatic. Next was a used Nikkormat.
Hugh, thanks so much for this wonderful connection back to an inspiring yet difficult time. I was 9 years old and living in Australia (dad on a sabbatical from Harvard) when the Beatles were hitting their stride. A few years later, I had a Nikkormat FTN and recorded the civic churn in an around Harvard Square-Sargent Pepper was out and Jannis J was still alive-if I remember correctly.
The "Spotmatic" was introduced to the buying public 60 years ago this year! And, if your only 20 or 30 or even 40 years old, this must "seem Ancient"! But for me? It's not that long ago, and I can remember it like it happened only yesterday! 😮 Building a 35mm SLR with an internal light meter? So you got a reading and thus could make exposure settings "on the fly" of every frame you shot!!! Well THAT was innovation. And the entire Photo 📸 industry soon followed suit. I was among the first photographers to buy and use this fabulous new invention. And, I've been getting great results ever since.
Terrific post. I learnt photography on a K1000 with a 50mm lens at art school in 1979. We shot only B/W Ilford, which we processed and printed ourselves. About 10 years ago I had a Spotmatic, which sadly got stolen in a burglary...I should buy another.
My very first 35mm camera was a Canon Vt de lux with a canon 50mm f1.4 l39 LTM lens, it was absolutely fantastic. My first SLR was a Canon FTb QL which I still have and use.
We’re just about the same age Hugh. I was in 5th grade in the suburbs of NYC when we watched the Beatles appear on Ed Sullivan. A major cultural inflection point indeed. In the 9th grade I was fortunate enough to have a friend’s Pam Am pilot father pick up my first camera (Asahi Pentax Spotmatic w Takumar 50/1.8) from a duty free shop in Hong Kong. I used the Spotmatic for my work as photo editor of high school and college newspapers. The sense memory that sticks for me is how long it took to switch lenses with the three turn screw thread mount! Thanks for a chance to revisit memories of a lifetime. I love your work, both images and 3BME posts.
Thank you for taking me back in time. I purchased a Spotmatic in 1968 and loved it. Tons of school paper and yearbook photos were captured with it and a f:1.8 Super Takumar. Sadly I sold it to get an Olympus with a bayonet lens mount (another fantastic camera). Oh, I think I paid less than $238 for it and the lens new.
I always found it interesting that Paul McCartney seemed to use a Takumar 85mm a lot (it shows up a bunch in the recently released Get Back documentary). I'm not going to psychoanalyze it, but it seems like a fascinating choice.
I do remember and miss my Pentax SP500 & Spotmatic as my first SLR's (because I thought that my dad's Agfa Ambi Sillete was just a little slow for sports photography) and wish I still had all of my negs from that time of life. Those Pentax cameras with their screw mount lenses begat my first Nikon, a Nikkormat FT3, then and F with 250 frame back followed by My much loved F2a. Ah, wonderful gear with even more wonderful memories. Thanks Hugh, wishing all the best for you and Claudia!
This is a big part of why I use vintage lenses. Even the most "vintage" digital camera (I can't believe we say that) has zero literal vintage soul. The right vintage lens can put a heart right into the cold pit of a digital sensor. And, fwiw, I swear you can feel the history of some lenses. As if it's constant vicinity to events and emulsive baths imprinted the world right into them. Maybe that's in my head... but it will certainly exit my brain and imbue my photos with that sensibility and intention. Which, in a way, manifests the very feeling I thought was just imagined. Anyway, great video as always. IMHO, this sort of content bolsters your content which sits alongside the average UA-camr. When you talk about gear, it extends from this part of you. I can't seem to care about what other people say, because they don't ever tell us the other side. The reason they create.
It would be wonderfull to listen to you talk more about the old cameras, and all they gave us... To see the old lenses... to see some prints... Those of us that have used old, full manual, sometimes without metering, cameras, like the comment below of the minolta 101, feel the need to hear it. I, myself, started on my dad´s SRT 100-B and still cherish it on my collection. Thank you for this video.
When I was studying photography at college in the 1970s, the Pentax Spotmatic was out of my price range but my parents got me a Praktica Super TL2 for Christmas which was the the closest thing. Hey, it was a workhorse and with it I took some great photographs. As for "A Hard Day's Night", that's a Pentax Spotmatic that Ringo accidentally lets fall into the river during his "parading".
Ha ha, I 'borrowed' my Dad's prized Spotmatic when I was a teenager and started taking photos with it. My next birthday present was a second hand Praktica (mainly so my Dad could get his beloved Pentax back!) I still have the Takumar 55 which I love using on my Nikons and Fuji all these years later.
Wow...refreshing my early life. The Spotmatic was my first "real" camera...early 1970s. I wanted it because it had a built-in meter. I had it until about 2000.
I personally own one Spotmatic with a lot of the Takumar lenses . The lenses I use a lot on my Fuji x-t with a ton of fun. I learn a lot about the old technology
The Spotmatic was a wonderful balance of features, size, and weight. About the only negative was that M42 lens mount, the threads were a very fine pitch and easy to cross thread. As a result lens changes were always slow, either due to care aligning the threads or backing and restarting multiple times for cross thread. Sadly with any SLR camera today of any type wont have the basic simplicity of the Spotmatic. Back in the day Press guys would shoot 3 or 4 test frames at the start of each roll so the lab could take a clip of the start of a roll to text develop to determine if the film would need to be pushed or pulled. Because most exposures were done by an experienced guess because light meters were just too slow to use when there was action breaking. In camera light meters with visible indicator's in the viewfinder was a blooming miracle when they first appeared. BTW, I would pass on the Tri-X, it's too grainy and didn't have the dynamic range of Plus-X. I've become a bit of a fan of Ilford films after trying out some Pan F 50 so I would suggest the FP4. Still hard to believe that the company who invented Digital Imaging managed those patents so poorly that they no longer exist. What remains of Kodak is just a shadow being passed between owners and bouncing around from one bankruptcy to the rest.
I don't think it is a coincidence that the purchase of my first mirrorless camera was soon followed by a return to owning film cameras, most recently a Mamiya TLR. Modern cameras are more tools than paintbrushes. For some reason I find much more joy in shooting the TLR, though it is impractical for much of what I shoot seriously.
In 1970 I took my student loan money and bought a Pentax Spotmatic with the 50/1.4. Thus began my journey through photo, film and broadcasting classes culminating in my first professional assignment in 1976. 47 years later still a working pro and I still have my Spotmatic. It is my touchstone and my connection to, as Neil Young eloquently phrased it, my journey through the past.
wow, beautiful video. I found my grandad's spotmatic and have been using it, not seen any exposures yet so not sure if it still works 100%. I never really met him, so I see the camera as a portal through history like you mention, that resonated with me
Whew yes what a memory jerker. I seem to be back amongst Photo UA-cams again after a couple of years of covid lockdown and my Leica TL2, Visoflex, 23mm and standard zoom lenses have arrived and seem virtually brand new in original packaging; how lucky is that? Hold that thought he he. When I started work in the Harwell Surface Analysis Lab in 76 I found a Pentax Spotmatic, a Westen Master meter and 50mm f1.8 lens in the lab drawer. What is this doing here I asked? Apparently a student on loan got it from stores to use at weekends before they found out and got cross. I used to use it for snapping experiments (seem to remember doing liquid contact angles with it). Of course I used the film stock I had been using since the 50s; Ilford FP3. For me it was always FP3 and Kodachrome. Yes, these things really do take you back. Have fun all ;-)
Someone gave me one of these. It's in excellent condition. Sadly I have never used it. I like this kind of video, tying a camera to a moment in history. Cool idea. I'm not really a huge Beatles fan, but I wish the world was a bit more like how it was back in those days. Simplicity, elegance, very little post-modernism. The cameras were good enough, even by today's standards. So if I were a photographer back then, I'd be very happy. But, then again, dentistry and surgery are way better these days.
Hi Hugh. I went to the Portrait Gallery a couple of weeks ago to view two exhibitions Yevonde and the Paul McCartney. A good day out in spite of the travelling. Yevonde if you aren't aware was a professional photographer and suffragette who was at the cutting edge of colour work in her studios in the late 20s and 1930s. Both are excellent and if you can get over to see them you won't be disappointed. The exhibition catalogue would be a good second choice and a cheaper one at £60 + shipping. McCartney's work occupies several large spaces and demands time and concentration to focus on the technical quality of the images and the stories they tell about the band, their friends colleagues and families as well as Britain and the US at that time. There were several images that were in the running to be my favourite. One in particular in colour is of Ringo Star wearing a blue cap and holding a cigarette. Your philosophical discussion here is worth viewing for the personal and contextual insights it brings. Go well. K
Thank you for a great video, whilst short one of the most thoughtful I have watched in a while. Luckily, living in the UK (the original Boston) I was able to see the exhibition £24.50 well spent. Coming from a family of lefties my first to cameras were from the Soviet Union a Cosmic 35 and then a Zenit E.
I went to the NPG last week, but I went for Madame Yevonde, the lady who brought colour to professional photography. Macca will have to wait, though I am of that era. I would be surprised if his exhibition doesn't cross the water. Have Spotmatic, will travel!
weel, i don`t know how good you are as a photographer (i been sure you are) but maaannnnn......you have a super mega giga VOICE !!! If i will make a documentary and need for a narrator voice....YOU ARE THE MAN !! sorry, YOU ARE THE VOICE !!!
My first SLR was an Olympus Pen FT ; I am currently shooting a Sony EV-10 behind an M-42 mount 50mm f1.4 SMC. Takumar . Great lens. Thanks for sharing! PS also have the 135mm f3.5 makes a very compact 200mm shooting experience. Has a soft look great for flowering tree shots.
I was one of the first, 300 Asahi Pentax Spotmatics that arrived in South Africa! I still use mie!! Why folks needed better or different, I never understood! " I started with a Spootie!" What was better? Well I added, note added, A Nikon-F due to my eyesight. A pair of glasses would have been better! Oh! None of my Pentax ever needed services or repairs! Leica, Oh Lord! Get one! Most meters are now dead.
Hi Hugh What a poignant video. It certainly brought back memories. I started out in the late sixties with an Exacta VXIIa. Stamped "Made in East Germany" on the body. Totally a manual camera that I used faithfully until the curtain started to crack, and the Zeiss lens developed a nasty fungus. In fact it looked like a biology experiment inside the lens. Needless to say, I graduated to the Pentax Spotmatic. Internal metering. Oh Boy! No more Weston light meter from the forties. It was a great camera until the meter went haywire. At the time I was naive enough not to realize I could get it fixed. After all, I bought it used from my favorite camera store. Later in life, I graduated to the plasticky Nikons for film. I haven't had a 35mm film camera for some time. A couple of years ago I bought a Leica R4s, and the 50mm Summicron. I'm happy as a clam. I've secretly joined the Leica universe with a camera that is built solid and a joy to use. But I digress. Yes, the Spotmatic did bring back memories. It was the height of the war. We didn't know if we would be dead or alive in six months. All we knew was that General Hershey owned our butts, and my student deferment was at risk. I lost friends. More importantly, I lost my innocence. The world had violently changed, and we could not go back. For What Its Worth, Ohio, and Arlo Guthrie. It's all coming back.
@@3BMEP Thanks Hugh. I forgot to add Country Joe and the Fish. - The Woodstock anthem. Such a dork. I drove through Woodstock wondering what all the cars were doing there beside the road. I hadn't a clue. 🤣
Hi Huge, I really enjoy your informative videos (I'm using the word video so you already know I'm not a youngster). My comment is not really related to your video but is a more general market question. That is, where are all the small cameras? I've just re-watched your video of the Panasonic GX9, 'Mind Officially Blown', which was measured, professional but highlighted useful, everywhere and any time capability of the camera. But where are those small cameras now? The Sony A6700 is not that small and the Sony A7C is not small - Coat pocket small? The reason I raise this point now is that I want an 'always have on me camera'. Have you tried to buy a Fujifilm XE4? I'm seeing used models advertised for more than a brand-new XT5! Want a Fujifilm x100v (I want interchangeable Lenses) you are way into the £000s, and I'm talking UK pounds. Phones are increasingly more sophisticated, but I don't see anything that can compete with a small interchangeable lens camera. In addition, the advances in technology equally apply to cameras. I've owned 2 Panasonic GX 9 cameras and as I look back over the shots that I took with those cameras, I love the memories - very, very good images. Is the image quality as good as a Sony A7rV, no but it was the best camera in the world - because I had it on me. I could have 3 lenses that weighed nothing in my pockets and cover 24-300mm. If Fujifilm brings out a XE5, will this be the only option?
In 1966, when I was 18, wanted the Spotmatic but it was too expensive for me > about 1000 DM (Western Germany). It wasn't until 2023 that I finally got a Spotmatic SP 'black beauty' in a pretty good condition for 80 euros incl. the SMC-Takumar 1.4/50mm. Since 1971, I have been devoted to Nikon starting with the Nikon F like the Beatle Ringo Starr;-)) @philosimot
@@3BMEPI was missing shots on the street with the X100V. It's too slow. Much futzing. (And I am keeping my $10 Ricoh XR-7 and only using my vintage Pentax glass)
My grandfathers's original Pentax Spotmatic & Super-Takumar 50mm f1.4 is the reason I got into photography.
It's the reason many of my earlier jobs were in the photogrphic retail industry and the reson I eventually worked for Pentax In Vancouver, BC for a time.
I never knew my grandfather who passed away 5-years before my birth but what I do know of him fills my mind and heart every time I pick up that camera and lens.
Thank you for "spot" lighting 😉 this particular portal to history that I share, albeit for different resons.
The Asahi Pentax Spotmatic was my first SLR in 1971. Well said Hugh!
You stole my line. I was stationed at Clark AB in 1971. I was in Civil Engineering at the time. That's when I bought my first SLR, the Pentax Spotmatic F. Got some of my best photos in the Philippines with that camera.
The asahi pentax spotmatic is my first slr in 2024 :)
The first SLR camera I ever used was a Minolta SRT-101 when I was in high school. I learned about exposure using that camera and carried it to Banff National Park and the Calgary Stampede in 1981 documenting a 10 day trip. I loved the feeling of it in hand, it ignighted a passion for photography in me that I carry to this day.
Thank you! A delightful trip down memory lane.
Especially pertinent as my first camera - bought in 1967 from a 2nd hand shop - was a Spotmatic F with a 28mm Takumar lens, shop. So started the journey.
Hi, Kit!
My first camera was a Pentax K1000 that I bought while overseas in Panama in '85
(one note, it was JFK who first sent US troops to Vietnam. By the end of 1964 there were 11,000 US Special Forces troops there as 'military advisors' (but were knee deep in it by then)
Great channel!
My first camera was a Pentax with 50mm & 135mm Takumar lenses that my father and brother-in-law helped me pick up 42nd Street Photo back in 1972. I used that a lot in high school, and on my first trip to Kenya after my sister and brother-in-law moved there from NYC. I held onto the gear all these years, and have now passed it on to my daughter in LA who’s hooked on film photography and just started developing her film at home. I’m betting on the Clock of the Long Now and that Spotmatic being around for millennia! 😎
My mother's old Kodak Instamatic got me hooked, and when I was old enough she taught me to use her Minolta XGM and SRT102. When I graduated high school, I got my own X700, and that saw me through college as the photographer for several groups I was in. Still an old friend, and still brings back memories of the 90s for me.
After watching this video, it inspired me to immediately go to KEH and place an order for a Spotmatic and a 55mm f/1.8 SMC Takumar lens. As a child of the 6o's and a musician, it really brought back memories of shooting film and the overall tactile analog experience. A similar feeling I have with my Fujifilm system but with the added magic of film. Thank you for rekindling those memories and giving me that push to revisit that experience once again.
Happy to be of service, Joe. Enjoy!
I had a Nikon N2000 as my first film camera. Still have it. I learned to process and develop film in the Navy, where, among my primary job as a nuclear reactor operator, I was trained as a periscope photographer. But after getting my first digital camera in the early 2000’s, a Sony DSC P100, I was hooked. The colors weren’t very good and the resolution was pretty bad, but not having to count shots anymore. Sweeeeet. When I could afford it, I moved up to a Canon EOS XTi. Not the best but really, really good. I slapped some Sigma lenses on it and had a great time. Never upgraded for about 10 years. It was perfect for me. Then I jumped to Fujifilm X-T3. Mind blowing.
I loved film, but I could never see me going back. I do love the nostalgia, though. And I can still smell the developing chemicals.
Thanks, Hugh. A Hard Day's Night was the first film I watched on a computer in the early 1990s when it came out on CD (before DVD was popular). I never owned an Pentax Spotmatic but my 1960s Nikkormat FTn with its 50mm f/2 and 200mm f/4 still works. I'm loving digital though. I'd rather spend some time at the laptop "professing" than a day in the darkroom with chemicals that need temperature control, negatives that seem to be dust magnets, etc. For all the joys of grain and film, it always surprises me how easily a few specks of dust break the illusion of really getting immersed in a photo. I miss those days developing and printing, but not too much. Your video sent me straight to Spotify to listen to some 1960s classics from Buffalo Springfield. Thank you. again.
My pleasure!
In the fall of 1972 I was just back from a leave (I was in the USAF Stationed in Karamursel Turkey). On that leave I took my Voigtlander Vitoret camera and was reviewing the Kodak slides from the 21st birthday trip. I had been saving for a SLR camera and asked a friend what to get. Based on the money I had to spend he suggested a Ashi Pentex Spotmatic II. I enjoyed the camera. I still have my Voigtlander, but no longer have the Pentex. I recently found a Honeywell Spotmatic which I'm told is the same camera and it sits next to the Voigtlander on my memory shelf. When it cools here (Tucson AZ) I will have to take them out for a shoot.
My absolute favorite camera is my Asahi Spotmatic II, which came with a lovely all metal Vivitar 135mm f2.8 that I hardly ever take off. It, and my Pentax KX are my main shooters. Every time I use my Spotmatic, I think about the man who gave it to me, who said he took it to Vietnam. History lives through these amazingly built machines. Thanks so much this great video!
My pleasure!
The Spotmatic was my first camera. Wish I still had it!😢
Thanks Hugh. My first SLR camera was also an Asahi Spotmatic. My Dad had a Honeywell and so did my older brother, we shared a small pool of Takumar lenses. Of course I have no idea where that camera ended up after College. Operating that camera was a second nature muscle memory type thing absolutely no thought automatic. Next was a used Nikkormat.
Love this! I recently bought a beautiful old Pentax SV which for me has many of the same connections you talk about. Great clip, Hugh!
Hugh, thanks so much for this wonderful connection back to an inspiring yet difficult time. I was 9 years old and living in Australia (dad on a sabbatical from Harvard) when the Beatles were hitting their stride. A few years later, I had a Nikkormat FTN and recorded the civic churn in an around Harvard Square-Sargent Pepper was out and Jannis J was still alive-if I remember correctly.
Thank YOU, Charles, for the contribution!
Hmmmm I'm in London for the next two weeks, ill put Eyes of the Storm on my schedule.
The "Spotmatic" was introduced to the buying public 60 years ago this year!
And, if your only 20 or 30 or even 40 years old, this must "seem Ancient"! But for me? It's not that long ago, and I can remember it like it happened only yesterday! 😮 Building a 35mm SLR with an internal light meter? So you got a reading and thus could make exposure settings "on the fly" of every frame you shot!!!
Well THAT was innovation. And the entire Photo 📸 industry soon followed suit. I was among the first photographers to buy and use this fabulous new invention. And, I've been getting great results ever since.
Nostalgia. I wanted that Pentax so badly but couldn’t afford it
Terrific post. I learnt photography on a K1000 with a 50mm lens at art school in 1979. We shot only B/W Ilford, which we processed and printed ourselves. About 10 years ago I had a Spotmatic, which sadly got stolen in a burglary...I should buy another.
My very first 35mm camera was a Canon Vt de lux with a canon 50mm f1.4 l39 LTM lens, it was absolutely fantastic. My first SLR was a Canon FTb QL which I still have and use.
We’re just about the same age Hugh. I was in 5th grade in the suburbs of NYC when we watched the Beatles appear on Ed Sullivan. A major cultural inflection point indeed.
In the 9th grade I was fortunate enough to have a friend’s Pam Am pilot father pick up my first camera (Asahi Pentax Spotmatic w Takumar 50/1.8) from a duty free shop in Hong Kong. I used the Spotmatic for my work as photo editor of high school and college newspapers. The sense memory that sticks for me is how long it took to switch lenses with the three turn screw thread mount!
Thanks for a chance to revisit memories of a lifetime. I love your work, both images and 3BME posts.
Rick, thanks so much for sharing!
I still have and use all the time I brought it in 1967 the pentax spotmatic maintain it and had no problems its a Great beautiful Camera
Thank you for taking me back in time. I purchased a Spotmatic in 1968 and loved it. Tons of school paper and yearbook photos were captured with it and a f:1.8 Super Takumar. Sadly I sold it to get an Olympus with a bayonet lens mount (another fantastic camera). Oh, I think I paid less than $238 for it and the lens new.
Sounds about right. 😊🖖🏻
Paul McCartney also released a book - 1964 Eyes of the Storm, Copyright 2023 by MPL Communications Ltd, choc full of photos taken with his Pentax.
Always enjoy this channel!
😊🙏🏻🖖🏻
I always found it interesting that Paul McCartney seemed to use a Takumar 85mm a lot (it shows up a bunch in the recently released Get Back documentary). I'm not going to psychoanalyze it, but it seems like a fascinating choice.
I do remember and miss my Pentax SP500 & Spotmatic as my first SLR's (because I thought that my dad's Agfa Ambi Sillete was just a little slow for sports photography) and wish I still had all of my negs from that time of life. Those Pentax cameras with their screw mount lenses begat my first Nikon, a Nikkormat FT3, then and F with 250 frame back followed by My much loved F2a. Ah, wonderful gear with even more wonderful memories. Thanks Hugh, wishing all the best for you and Claudia!
Nice to see you here again, Stan!
@@3BMEP Always a pleasure Hugh!
This is a big part of why I use vintage lenses. Even the most "vintage" digital camera (I can't believe we say that) has zero literal vintage soul. The right vintage lens can put a heart right into the cold pit of a digital sensor.
And, fwiw, I swear you can feel the history of some lenses. As if it's constant vicinity to events and emulsive baths imprinted the world right into them. Maybe that's in my head... but it will certainly exit my brain and imbue my photos with that sensibility and intention. Which, in a way, manifests the very feeling I thought was just imagined.
Anyway, great video as always. IMHO, this sort of content bolsters your content which sits alongside the average UA-camr. When you talk about gear, it extends from this part of you. I can't seem to care about what other people say, because they don't ever tell us the other side. The reason they create.
😊🙏🏻🖖🏻
Miss my Pentax Spotmatic 2. Was my favorite camera I received from my dad. Sold it to get a canon AE-1 Program. Good times.
It would be wonderfull to listen to you talk more about the old cameras, and all they gave us... To see the old lenses... to see some prints...
Those of us that have used old, full manual, sometimes without metering, cameras, like the comment below of the minolta 101, feel the need to hear it.
I, myself, started on my dad´s SRT 100-B and still cherish it on my collection.
Thank you for this video.
When I was studying photography at college in the 1970s, the Pentax Spotmatic was out of my price range but my parents got me a Praktica Super TL2 for Christmas which was the the closest thing. Hey, it was a workhorse and with it I took some great photographs. As for "A Hard Day's Night", that's a Pentax Spotmatic that Ringo accidentally lets fall into the river during his "parading".
Thanks for that detail, Simon!
Ha ha, I 'borrowed' my Dad's prized Spotmatic when I was a teenager and started taking photos with it. My next birthday present was a second hand Praktica (mainly so my Dad could get his beloved Pentax back!) I still have the Takumar 55 which I love using on my Nikons and Fuji all these years later.
Wow...refreshing my early life. The Spotmatic was my first "real" camera...early 1970s. I wanted it because it had a built-in meter. I had it until about 2000.
I personally own one Spotmatic with a lot of the Takumar lenses . The lenses I use a lot on my Fuji x-t with a ton of fun. I learn a lot about the old technology
The Spotmatic was a wonderful balance of features, size, and weight. About the only negative was that M42 lens mount, the threads were a very fine pitch and easy to cross thread. As a result lens changes were always slow, either due to care aligning the threads or backing and restarting multiple times for cross thread. Sadly with any SLR camera today of any type wont have the basic simplicity of the Spotmatic.
Back in the day Press guys would shoot 3 or 4 test frames at the start of each roll so the lab could take a clip of the start of a roll to text develop to determine if the film would need to be pushed or pulled. Because most exposures were done by an experienced guess because light meters were just too slow to use when there was action breaking. In camera light meters with visible indicator's in the viewfinder was a blooming miracle when they first appeared.
BTW, I would pass on the Tri-X, it's too grainy and didn't have the dynamic range of Plus-X. I've become a bit of a fan of Ilford films after trying out some Pan F 50 so I would suggest the FP4. Still hard to believe that the company who invented Digital Imaging managed those patents so poorly that they no longer exist. What remains of Kodak is just a shadow being passed between owners and bouncing around from one bankruptcy to the rest.
I don't think it is a coincidence that the purchase of my first mirrorless camera was soon followed by a return to owning film cameras, most recently a Mamiya TLR. Modern cameras are more tools than paintbrushes. For some reason I find much more joy in shooting the TLR, though it is impractical for much of what I shoot seriously.
I enjoyed this. Thank you.
The spotmatic seems pricey in the US. Here in Europe you can buy the same kit for around $20.
In 1970 I took my student loan money and bought a Pentax Spotmatic with the 50/1.4. Thus began my journey through photo, film and broadcasting classes culminating in my first professional assignment in 1976. 47 years later still a working pro and I still have my Spotmatic. It is my touchstone and my connection to, as Neil Young eloquently phrased it, my journey through the past.
What, me worry? 😉🖖🏻
Spotmatic and the Super Multi Coated Takumar 35mmf3.5 was my first real camera back in 1984. I still have a Spotmatic and a bunch of Takumars.
I still shot with my spotmatic last week using sunny 16. Tons of fun.
Fabulous camera. I have three😄
wow, beautiful video. I found my grandad's spotmatic and have been using it, not seen any exposures yet so not sure if it still works 100%. I never really met him, so I see the camera as a portal through history like you mention, that resonated with me
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Whew yes what a memory jerker. I seem to be back amongst Photo UA-cams again after a couple of years of covid lockdown and my Leica TL2, Visoflex, 23mm and standard zoom lenses have arrived and seem virtually brand new in original packaging; how lucky is that? Hold that thought he he. When I started work in the Harwell Surface Analysis Lab in 76 I found a Pentax Spotmatic, a Westen Master meter and 50mm f1.8 lens in the lab drawer. What is this doing here I asked? Apparently a student on loan got it from stores to use at weekends before they found out and got cross. I used to use it for snapping experiments (seem to remember doing liquid contact angles with it). Of course I used the film stock I had been using since the 50s; Ilford FP3. For me it was always FP3 and Kodachrome. Yes, these things really do take you back. Have fun all ;-)
Someone gave me one of these. It's in excellent condition. Sadly I have never used it. I like this kind of video, tying a camera to a moment in history. Cool idea.
I'm not really a huge Beatles fan, but I wish the world was a bit more like how it was back in those days. Simplicity, elegance, very little post-modernism. The cameras were good enough, even by today's standards. So if I were a photographer back then, I'd be very happy. But, then again, dentistry and surgery are way better these days.
Hi Hugh. I went to the Portrait Gallery a couple of weeks ago to view two exhibitions Yevonde and the Paul McCartney. A good day out in spite of the travelling.
Yevonde if you aren't aware was a professional photographer and suffragette who was at the cutting edge of colour work in her studios in the late 20s and 1930s.
Both are excellent and if you can get over to see them you won't be disappointed. The exhibition catalogue would be a good second choice and a cheaper one at £60 + shipping.
McCartney's work occupies several large spaces and demands time and concentration to focus on the technical quality of the images and the stories they tell about the band, their friends colleagues and families as well as Britain and the US at that time.
There were several images that were in the running to be my favourite. One in particular in colour is of Ringo Star wearing a blue cap and holding a cigarette.
Your philosophical discussion here is worth viewing for the personal and contextual insights it brings.
Go well. K
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Thank you for a great video, whilst short one of the most thoughtful I have watched in a while. Luckily, living in the UK (the original Boston) I was able to see the exhibition £24.50 well spent. Coming from a family of lefties my first to cameras were from the Soviet Union a Cosmic 35 and then a Zenit E.
I think we’re going to catch it early in ‘24 stateside at the Chrysler Museum in Virginia!
Sir Richard Starky (Ringo Starr) has a book of his photographs out 'Photography by Ringo Starr
I have it. 😊
I went to the NPG last week, but I went for Madame Yevonde, the lady who brought colour to professional photography. Macca will have to wait, though I am of that era. I would be surprised if his exhibition doesn't cross the water. Have Spotmatic, will travel!
Chrysler Museum in Virginia!
weel, i don`t know how good you are as a photographer (i been sure you are) but maaannnnn......you have a super mega giga VOICE !!! If i will make a documentary and need for a narrator voice....YOU ARE THE MAN !! sorry, YOU ARE THE VOICE !!!
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My first SLR was an Olympus Pen FT ; I am currently shooting a Sony EV-10 behind an M-42 mount 50mm f1.4 SMC. Takumar . Great lens. Thanks for sharing! PS also have the 135mm f3.5 makes a very compact 200mm shooting experience. Has a soft look great for flowering tree shots.
Thank you, Hugh!
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I was one of the first, 300 Asahi Pentax Spotmatics that arrived in South Africa! I still use mie!! Why folks needed better or different, I never understood! " I started with a Spootie!" What was better? Well I added, note added, A Nikon-F due to my eyesight. A pair of glasses would have been better! Oh! None of my Pentax ever needed services or repairs! Leica, Oh Lord! Get one! Most meters are now dead.
I can safely confirm that this isnt a sony A6700 review.👍
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Spot on Hugh, as usual. Seriously inspiring!
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Hi Hugh
What a poignant video. It certainly brought back memories. I started out in the late sixties with an Exacta VXIIa. Stamped "Made in East Germany" on the body. Totally a manual camera that I used faithfully until the curtain started to crack, and the Zeiss lens developed a nasty fungus. In fact it looked like a biology experiment inside the lens. Needless to say, I graduated to the Pentax Spotmatic. Internal metering. Oh Boy! No more Weston light meter from the forties. It was a great camera until the meter went haywire. At the time I was naive enough not to realize I could get it fixed. After all, I bought it used from my favorite camera store. Later in life, I graduated to the plasticky Nikons for film. I haven't had a 35mm film camera for some time. A couple of years ago I bought a Leica R4s, and the 50mm Summicron. I'm happy as a clam. I've secretly joined the Leica universe with a camera that is built solid and a joy to use. But I digress. Yes, the Spotmatic did bring back memories. It was the height of the war. We didn't know if we would be dead or alive in six months. All we knew was that General Hershey owned our butts, and my student deferment was at risk. I lost friends. More importantly, I lost my innocence. The world had violently changed, and we could not go back. For What Its Worth, Ohio, and Arlo Guthrie. It's all coming back.
Jeff, thanks for such a rich contribution!
@@3BMEP Thanks Hugh. I forgot to add Country Joe and the Fish. - The Woodstock anthem. Such a dork. I drove through Woodstock wondering what all the cars were doing there beside the road. I hadn't a clue. 🤣
This one got to me. Wow! Thanks!
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This was so amazing. thanks
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Hi Huge, I really enjoy your informative videos (I'm using the word video so you already know I'm not a youngster). My comment is not really related to your video but is a more general market question. That is, where are all the small cameras?
I've just re-watched your video of the Panasonic GX9, 'Mind Officially Blown', which was measured, professional but highlighted useful, everywhere and any time capability of the camera. But where are those small cameras now? The Sony A6700 is not that small and the Sony A7C is not small - Coat pocket small?
The reason I raise this point now is that I want an 'always have on me camera'. Have you tried to buy a Fujifilm XE4? I'm seeing used models advertised for more than a brand-new XT5! Want a Fujifilm x100v (I want interchangeable Lenses) you are way into the £000s, and I'm talking UK pounds.
Phones are increasingly more sophisticated, but I don't see anything that can compete with a small interchangeable lens camera. In addition, the advances in technology equally apply to cameras.
I've owned 2 Panasonic GX 9 cameras and as I look back over the shots that I took with those cameras, I love the memories - very, very good images. Is the image quality as good as a Sony A7rV, no but it was the best camera in the world - because I had it on me. I could have 3 lenses that weighed nothing in my pockets and cover 24-300mm.
If Fujifilm brings out a XE5, will this be the only option?
I hear you, but I don’t have an answer.
hi, love the video as always, i was courious are you going to do a video on the fujifilm s20?
Yes, soon😊
Hey Hugh, I am now getting consistent Notifications for your videos! cheers
Good to hear, thanks for letting me know.
Lovely video!! 👏👍🙂
Thank you, Warren! Cheers!
Inspired again! I just had to buy "That Thing You Do". Still, it's a lot cheaper than buying a Spotmatic: I already have one of those.
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In 1966, when I was 18, wanted the Spotmatic but it was too expensive for me > about 1000 DM (Western Germany). It wasn't until 2023 that I finally got a Spotmatic SP 'black beauty' in a pretty good condition for 80 euros incl. the SMC-Takumar 1.4/50mm. Since 1971, I have been devoted to Nikon starting with the Nikon F like the Beatle Ringo Starr;-)) @philosimot
Ringo was - and is - the real photographer!
Lovely film,if your ever in Liverpool, the coffees on me.
Sounds good to me!
Miss my first Honeywell Spotmatic, black body
I thought you had your hands on the new film camera Pentax is promising 😂
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Imagine ...
First!
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I just traded my Pentax MX for the Pentax KP - an overlooked masterpiece. PENTAX FOREVER.
3 days later, I sold my X100V.
Wow!
@@3BMEPI was missing shots on the street with the X100V. It's too slow. Much futzing. (And I am keeping my $10 Ricoh XR-7 and only using my vintage Pentax glass)