The Pentax S1a is a 35 mm SLR camera introduced by Pentax in 1963 as a direct predecessor to the famous Spotmatic series of cameras.
Photos of the Pentax S1a
My Pentax S1a Camera
I've broken the rule I set a couple of months ago when I decided to concentrate on only Miranda and Topcon cameras for my collection, because I saw a Pentax S1a camera on eBay which I've always wanted to own, and I managed to get it very cheaply. In reality, it is a bit battered and worse for wear, but I'm still pleased I got it.
I paid £5.50 for it plus £5.00 postage and received the camera body and a couple of old telephoto lenses, a Hanimex 80-200 mm f/4.5 in pretty poor condition and an Optimax 300 mm f/5.6 with a large fungus growth in the middle of the front lens! Still, I think the camera body was worth what I paid for it and I have a Takumar 55 mm f/2.0 lens which would commonly have been supplied with this camera, so I can fit that to it.
In many ways this is virtually the same camera as the iconic spotmatic, the control layout and feature set being almost identical, although the S1a has no exposure meter of course.
The general condition of the camera is quite good, but it has a small dent/mark on the prism housing, the shutter curtains are sometimes a little bit sluggish to close and for some reason the B shutter speed is working as a normal shutter speed rather than remaining open until the shutter is released - I'll try to fix that.
When I first received the camera, the mirror would not return to the correct position after the shutter was fired, but that was easily repaired. When I looked in the mirror box, the spring which returns the mirror had become detached from the pin on the mirror, so all I had to do there was lift it back into the correct place using a pair of tweezers.
There is quite a high level of dirt on the camera which I will need to clean off, but now the return mirror is fixed the rest of it seems to be working normally.
Brief Pentax S1a Description
The S1a was a cut down version of the Pentax S3 SLR (or SV in the USA), made between about 1963 and 1967. Oddly, although this is a cheaper version of a better camera, one of the ways it was cut down was to simply remove the top shutter speed markings on the shutter speed dial. Although the camera has shutter speeds marked as 1sec to 1/500sec, there is another click stop after 1/500 which is 1/1000!
Another oddity of the shutter speed is the T position, which allows the shutter to be opened when the shutter button is pressed and remains open until the speed button is rotated to another position. I guess this was used to do long time exposures without having to hold the button down as you would with the B setting. I remember having a lockable cable release to do a similar thing with my Zenit B in the early 1970s.
The other difference from the S3 is the removal of the self-timer mechanism. In all other aspects the camera is the same as the Pentax SV/S3, so please see my review of that camera for more details.
Pentax S1a Specifications
- Pentax S1a 35 mm SLR
- Shutter B, T, 1sec to 1/500 (marked) + hidden 1/1000
- Flash sync at 1/60th
- X & FP sync
- Manual focus
- M42 screw lens mount
- 55mm SMC Takumar f/2.0 lens fitted
- Auto aperture stop down
- Serial No 698884
- Manual available on-line here
Questions typically asked about the Pentax S1a
When was the Pentax S1a introduced?
Pentax introduced the S1a camera in 1963.
Are Pentax cameras still being made?
Pentax are still one of the major camera manufacturers having been purchased by the Ricoh corporation in 2011.
What is the famous Pentax camera?
The two most Iconic cameras made by Pentax were the Pentax Spotmatic in 1964 and the K1000 in 1976.
