Talk:Pentax Spotmatic
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- Just a trivial question - what does "SW" stand for on the Spotmatic exposure meter switch? --Johnbear (talk) 09:53, 20 September 2021 (UTC)
- Push the switch up to SW to switch the meter on. This is from the instruction book: Push up the switch button with your thumb, and the small window on the switch button will turn to red indicating that the meter is switched on. Through the viewfinder, you will observe the movement of the meters needle on the right side of the ground glass. Be sure to turn off the meters switch when not actually taking readings. Geoff H (talk) 12:17, 20 September 2021 (UTC)
- Not being a native English Speaker, I always thought SW = Switch! LOL! Titrisol (talk) 12:33, 20 September 2021 (UTC)
- Thanks for telling me how to use the switch (Geoff), but I'm still none the wiser as to what SW stands for. I've been pondering this riddle for years, so I thought I'd ask. It could well be "switch" (Titrisol), but just seems a bit odd to label a switch as a switch; so why doesn't it also say "button" on the shutter release, for example? I guess asking the right question takes as much skill as giving the right answer? --Johnbear (talk) 16:16, 20 September 2021 (UTC)
- I checked both Keppler's and Gerjan's book and can't find an answer. There must be a japanglish related reason for it, in Japanese exposure meter should be Roshutshu-Kei but switch is an outsider word, so must be suitchi or so.
I'll take one for the team and ask this in the pentaxforums unless you want to do it? Titrisol (talk) 18:11, 20 September 2021 (UTC)
- I'm Japanese, and Japanese is my first language, but I think most Japanese would read the notation SW as meaning switch. The Japanese instruction manual of the PENTAX SP is uploaded on the official website of Ricoh Imaging, but the meaning of the engraving is not particularly explained, since it is obvious that SW means switch. http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/japan/support/man-pdf/sp.pdf KazumaK (talk) 20:08, 20 September 2021 (UTC)
- Happy to take that as an answer. I'm British, and we have no such abbreviation of SW for switch, nor the tendency to label a switch as a switch in preference to the alternative of providing a hint as to its function. Ours usually say things like "ON" and "OFF" ... hence my confusion at SW. I note that the Spotmatic F abandoned the annotation. Thanks to all for your help and interest. PS: You have excellent English KazumaK: Kudos to you. --Johnbear (talk) 20:45, 20 September 2021 (UTC)
