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Message |
    
Steve_roberts
Tinkerer
Username: Steve_roberts
Post Number: 19
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 11, 2008 - 03:28 am: | 
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Hi,
Having just performed major surgery on the tattiest Spotmatic I've ever seen, I came to check the light seals at the top and bottom of the back and couldn't find any evidence that there had ever been any, ie no gunge in the grooves or on the closing edge of the back. That set me wondering whether early Spotmatics were originally fitted with these seals. It looks a very early example, as the script used on the shutter speed dial and film reminder isn't a style I've seen before and looks distinctly old-fashioned compared to that used on most SPs and the later SP2s.
Cheers,
Steve |
Penop3
Tinkerer
Username: Penop3
Post Number: 2
Registered: 07-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 04:52 am: |
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On my Spotmatic there are seals top and bottom, but none at the either end of the back. The serial no. is 1464072, bought new 1964.
JSR |
Steve_roberts
Tinkerer
Username: Steve_roberts
Post Number: 20
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 06:59 am: |
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Thanks for that, JSR. My Spotmatic must be of similar vintage. I don't have it here, but I think the serial number is 112-something. Since posting the message, I've run a test film through it and left it sitting around in daylight for a while and there's no sign of any stray light getting in. I have a seal kit on the way from Jon Goodman, so will eventually fit seals anyway.
Did you personally buy the SP new in '64? If so, you must be very attached to it by now!
Best wishes,
Steve |
Ade
Tinkerer
Username: Ade
Post Number: 10
Registered: 02-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 11:48 am: |
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hi steve,i have a number of pentax's of which some have either retained the seals or they've been removed.
The only one i can vouch for is the SV which my dad bought in singapore in '62.
This has never had seals and never leaked light.
ade. |
Steve_roberts
Tinkerer
Username: Steve_roberts
Post Number: 21
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 02:21 am: |
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Thanks for your comment Ade. I guess that if the channels around the camera back are designed properly and non-reflective they shouldn't let light in anyway, so the function of seals in such cases may well be only as an anti-dust measure.
Steve |
Petercat
Tinkerer
Username: Petercat
Post Number: 67
Registered: 01-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 27, 2008 - 04:00 am: |
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Is your spotmatic as tatty as mine? Someone took off the "Spotmatic" from the front of the prism, apparently with a coarse grinding wheel and a heavy hand. |
Rick_oleson
Tinkerer
Username: Rick_oleson
Post Number: 685
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 27, 2008 - 02:23 pm: |
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Does it say "Asahi" instead of "Honeywell" on the prism? Honeywell was the US importer of Pentax, and they were particularly known for having "unauthorized" Pentaxes defaced on arrival whenever they could manage it. |
