John, thanks for the info. I've updated the Pentax section of our wiki with direct links to this forum and to your articles section.

Wow! Thanks for so many comments. Sounds like I have a lot of choices. I'll start looking for some of these at the estates sales and see what I can find. I saw a Spotmatic II for $30 USD a few months ago and wish now I'd bought it. I'll post again to let you know what I end up buying.

I've got a growing number of M42 lenses. I use them on my Canon DSLR with an adapter but I'd like to use a film camera. Several people have recommended the Pentax Spotmatic. I believe Pentax made a number of models for M42 mount lenses and I was wondering if there was a general consensus as to which was the best choice for use today. I'd prefer an all-mechanical (no battery needed) model and I'd like something reasonably compact. I could go for a battery-powered one if there's a chance the meter still operated, maybe an ES II?

Hi, I came across this thread while searching for Pentax info on google. I thought I'd point out that we've got a sizeable but incomplete collection of information about Pentax cameras over at Camera-Wiki.org (previously known as Camerapedia). You're certainly welcome to contribute improvements there. Many of our editors are more interested in vintage cameras, so the modern Pentax digital cameras and lenses have not been well documented yet.

As pointed out in this thread, discussion forums are a better place for personal interaction. But a wiki is a great first stop for users who need information on a specific camera or lens. So we try to provide the information they need and then offer links on each camera brand to online communities like this one in the hopes they'll get more involved.

Anyway, consider this an invitation for any Pentax users who are interested to visit Camera-Wiki.org and do some editing.

http://camera-wiki.org/
http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Pentax