Pentax Spotmatic II

For the last couple of months I've been scouring through eBay and other online stores for the right film camera. I've read as much articles as I could, joined and lurked plenty of photography forums and watched countless YouTube videos but the selection was just really overwhelming. When I saw the listing for this Pentax Spotmatic II, I knew I didn't want anyone else to have it. Great condition and it was dirt cheap!


I'll try not to geek out too much here.

Having learned everything I know on a digital camera, I got used to having unlimited amount of shots I can have in a single memory card. There's always that thought of "take one more just in case". Where at times that saved my butt from shots where someone blinked or an unwanted passerby getting in the way, it also spoiled me and even held me back from learning more about the process. Since I picked up my very first DSLR camera, I've only shot on manual mode. Yes, it took a while and a lot of deleted files but I forced myself to never rely on Full Automatic mode or P mode. I'm still working on getting to a point where I can look at a scenario and say to myself, "I'm going to shoot this at ISO 400, f/2.8 at 1/1000th." and be spot on without monkeying around and fiddling with the settings.

For my first roll of film, I just went with the cheapest and readily available pack I could find (Fuji X-TRA 400). I'm saving the good ones for another time. I wanted to check if the camera's metering is accurate. The battery for this camera has been discontinued and there really isn't an official replacement. Others suggested using 1.55v batteries that they sell at electronic stores but I read somewhere that it can cause incorrect metering which could either result to having under/overexposed images depending on which battery type you end up using. So far everything is good and it doesn't appear to have any light leaks except for the first photo I took of Amado.

Yes, he's eating salad from a huge metal bowl. All for him.

And yes, he really dresses in Japanese robes with matching pants/shorts when we're at home.

I know, harsh shadows! Again, this was my test roll so let it slide just this once.

Some people on the train heading to Anime Expo. We took some friend from out of town all over DTLA and Hollywood. My legs are still sore.

I'm still waiting on my 2nd roll to be processed. The lab's machine broke down after they processed my first roll. Anyway I like having to wait until the film is processed to see how the photos turned out. It's like opening gifts on Christmas day. There's no guarantee to what you're getting. Which isn't really completely accurate for me because I just check our bank statements to see if Amado bought anything during the holidays and my birthday. But so far I'm enjoying the process.