Pentax ES

The Pentax ES was manufactured between 1971 and 1973.  It was the first Pentax SLR sold outside of Japan to feature aperture priority (Av) automatic exposure control.  The Electro Spotmatic was the first Pentax to do so but was only sold in Japan.  The ES featured open aperture metering with the Super Multi Coated Takumar lenses.  These lenses featured some changes to the M42 screw mount which transmitted the aperture value to the camera body.  Stop-down metering was available with the older Super-Takumar lenses.

The ES did not have a self-timer.  The space on the right of the lens (as you hold the camera) was used for the battery compartment.  Exposure compensation was available when using automatic exposure.  A more limited range of shutter speeds and no metering was available in manual mode.

Despite some of its deficiencies, the ES is one of my favourite M42 mount cameras.  My example is the more common all-black variety.  The example shown is fitted with a S-M-C Takumar 28mm f/3.5 lens, a Pentax green filter, ref-convertor and cable release.