Pentax Spotmatic

Asahi Optical Company (later Pentax) presented the original prototype called Spot-Matic in Photokina 1960, designed by a team led by Dr. Minoru Suzuki with a spot-metering system; by the time sales began in 1964, coinciding with the Olympics in Tokyo, the metering system was an average metering. These cameras use the M42x1mm lens mount, just like their predecessor (Pentax S/H series), allowing them to use many lenses from different manufacturers.

Asahi Optical set new standards in image quality and construction under the Takumar brand. The late models called Super-Multi-Coated Takumar allowed for fully opened light-metering with mechanical linkage to the camera, which was used in the Spotmatic F and the Electro Spotmatics. Asahi Optical introduced many Takumar lenses of excellent construction and image quality, improved over time with high-quality coating, setting the standards for years to come, and some have achieved cult-like status.

The Spotmatics were in production for a long time, and improvements were made continuously both mechanically and in electronics, resulting in several models and over 5 million cameras sold until the K-series of cameras finally replaced them in 1975. The original "Spotmatic" was presented in Photokina 1960 (sales began in 1964) and is one of the first (if not the first) cameras with Through-the-Lens (TTL) metering; the Spotmatic II added a hot shoe, and later with the evolution of and miniaturization of electronics an electronic camera with aperture priority was introduced, the Electro Spotmatic (ES), finally the Spotmatic F introduced fully opened light metering.