Pentax ESII

The Pentax ESII was manufactured between 1973 and 1975.  It was one of the last M42 screw mount cameras released by Pentax before the introduction of the K mount in 1975.

The ESII was an improved version of the Pentax ES, which itself was a more widely released version of the Electro Spotmatic.  The ESII features aperture priority exposure (Av) with an exposure compensation dial around the rewind knob.  Although manual mode is available, it is unmetered and has a limited range of shutter speeds.  The shutter is manual, however, allowing you to continue to use the camera without batteries if necessary. One cool feature is that there are two automatic settings the second of which activates a viewfinder curtain blind.  This is useful in preventing erroneous exposures when using the camera on a tripod etc. without your eye to the viewfinder.

My example shown in the photograph is the more unusual aluminium variety.  Most ESII are black.  I have attached an SMC Takumar 55mm f/1.8 lens (the immediate forerunner of of the K series 55mm f1/.8) and a Superlite II flashgun.