Spotmatic F Body

OK, I've just had my second dissapointment from eBay. Over the past year I've purchased a beautiful Spotmatic and a Spotmatic II. Both are being tuned-up by Eric Hendrickson as I write this. I thought I'd look for an "F" while I waited for the old girls to find there way back from Tennessee, and bid on two which looked promising. Both are barely good enough for parts. The last one looked like it had been used as a child's toy.

I've wasted enough money and time. If anyone has a fully functioning spare Spotmatic F body which would be worth sending to Eric for seals and tuning (not repairs), please email me at [email protected]. (Forgive me if I don't reply to all offers.)

Sorry to use the forum this way Mr. Moderator - kill this if I'm too far out of line.

Thank's all...

I can understand your disappointment - I've had great success and great failure when buying on eBay as well.

There are some nice Spotmatic F bodies around, but there seem to be rather more KMs, which are of course the bayonet version of the same camera.

Sorry I can't offer you a Spotmatic F, but maybe someone else will come up with the goods.

Mac,

To be honest, you are rather flogging a dead horse by buying camera bodies that are over thirty years old. By now most of the good ones have been bought by collectors, and the few coming on the market are likely to have been pretty well used and abused.

Even if you buy one that looks good, there's no guarantee it won't fail tomorrow. Wouldn't you be better off buying bayonet stuff? At least then the lenses could be used on new or recent cameras.

Regards

G

George, the other side of the coin is the pure delight of the classic Spotmatic design. It's a beautiful bit of engineering, and a joy to use. The lenses are also superb, although to be fair they could indeed be used on more recent bodies.

There are still some good ones around, but it's a bit like fishing, you need to be patient!

John,

My first GOOD camera was an SPII, bought brand new with a month's pay in 1973. (Today's DSLRs are a bargain by comparison.) I have an SPII now, for nostalgic reasons, so I know exactly what you mean.

But I wouldn't, today, plan to build up a system based on 42mm. However, each to his own, and I wish Mac well.

George

PS: I know the lenses CAN be used on modern bodies, just as you CAN walk if you want to go from London to Birmingham. But let's not pretend that either are very convenient.

Folks,

My guardian angel has saved me.

I'm on my way to a nice Spotmatic "F". Thank's to this forum for hooking me up so quickly, thank's to John and George for putting up with this!

Cheers!