Cameras
I've got something of a Pentax Museum in my little study. Here are my cameras in chronological order of when I got them.
Pentax ES II
I bought this camera in McSweeney's Photo shop in Patrick Street, Cork, Ireland in 1987. It was my first SLR. I got a 50mm 1.7 (I think) screwmount lens with it. It's still a nice camera, and I use it occasionally, usually for black and white. It's solid, heavy and makes a nice clunk. The light-meter has long since given up the ghost, but I had a seperate light meter for a while, and often just used to use the sunny-16 rule. One of my favourite shots was taken with this camera with no metering.
One of the nice things about this camera is the control system. nice and simple: one dial for shutter speed (1/1000-1/15, 60X, B), aperture on the lens and a reasonably bright viewfinder.
I always thought of photography as a naughty thing to do -- that was one of my favorite things about it, and when I first did it, I felt very perverse. -- Diane Arbus
Pentax ME
After many years, I got fed up with carting around a light meter and having a screwmount lens. I went out and bought an ME in Guildford, where I was living at the time. It came with a 50mm 1.7 K- Mount lens and I bought a zoom to go with it. (Tamron 28-200, variable aperature.)
This is only an ok camera, it lacks the ability to set the shutter speed and never felt as nice to use as the ESII. Quite small though, and very discreet with the 50mm lens on it. It's an aperture priority only camera, there's no way to select a shutter speed other than the synx speed (1/100) or B.
Shortly after I moved to Hong Kong, the humidity and age got to it and the meter died. As there was no way to set the shutter speed with a dead meter, the camera was useless. Time for a replacement.
[Edited: Monday, 3 September, 2001] I had another look at this last night. It's not an ME-Super, it's just an ME. The batteries were quite firmly dead, so I removed them, cleaned up the contacts and tried a good pair in there. It works! I compared the viewfinders of all my cameras and this one and the MX are the biggest and brightest by far. And the cameras are the smallest and quietest. I think I've just decided on my acoustic cameras...
"Where there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see." -- Dorthea Lange
Pentax MZ-5
I decided to buy a new camera. Now, if I'd thought about it, this would be the perfect time to change systems to Nikon (probably) or Canon. After all, I had two semi dead cameras, not many lenses and I was looking for a brand new model with all the bells and whistles. I decided, however, that I was going to want to use my big zoom (Tamron 28-200). I also liked the Pentax philosophy of total compatability and compact size. I looked around at the various websites, concentrating on the Pentax one. Second from the top of the line was the recently introduced MZ-5 (or ZX- 5, depending on where you are.) Small and light, and you can set the shutter speed manually. Built in Flash too. The only things it didn't have were Depth-Of-Field preview and the ability to stop down the flash.
I like this camera. It's small and quiet. The autofocus is good and the battery pack full of AAs seems to last forever.
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." -- Antoine de St. Exupery
Pentax Z5
My first Z-Series Pentax, the Z5 was a limited edition model in the Japanese market. I got it because I was looking for a Z1 and couldn't find one. Some idiot dropped a PA system on it and damaged the lens mount so it isn't very useful. I may get it fixed at some point, but my Z1-p has replaced it.
A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know. --Diane Arbus
Pentax Z1-p
This is my workhorse. If I only take one camera out with me, it's this one. Fast, reliable, comfortable, small and loaded with features. My Z1-p page has more details and the beginnings of my users guide to this very underrated SLR. I bought this one second hand in early 1999 in Hong Kong. I'd been looking for one for a while, ever since I got my Z-5.
Pentax MZ-1 / PJ-1
A mythical camera this. The Pentax world is convinced that there is a 'pro-quality' camera, whatever the hell that means, on the way. People with an inside track confirm that there is one on the way, but they all seem to have a different idea of just what it's going to be. My take is here. I've got a more realistic assessment here.
[Update: Monday, 3 September, 2001]Well, the MZ-S is here now, has been for a while. I've compared my predicted features with the actual ones on the link above.
Seagull 4A103
My first Medium Format Camera. This little Twin Lens Reflex black box gives 6x6 negatives from 120/220 roll film. It comes with shutter speeds from 1s to 1/300s and B, flash sync to 300(! That's better than my PZ-1p!), 10-second self-timer and a 75mm f3.5 lens. This is the three lens element version, the four element ones are supposed to be a little better. It's got a typical medium format 6x6 viewfinder with, get this, a built in loupe!
I've literally just bought this (21/12/99) and haven't done anymore than look through it an play with the focus. Everything seems to work, although I doubt if there's very much to go wrong.
The cost? HKD550 (about USD 70, GBP 44.00), a steal. I predict that these little toys are going to take over as the entry level medium format camera. It's really dinky: 102x102x146 (mm) and 925g.
Update April 2001: After many revival attempts, the shutter mechanism on the Seagull finally expired. It now lives on as a bookend. I've replaced it with a Mamiya C3, which is a huge heavy brute of a TLR. Rock Solid, though.
The Seagull gave me over a year of service with no real problems. I had some great slides from it, and some lovely black and white shots. I would thoroughly recommend one as an introductory medium format camera.
Pentax 6x7
This is a huge, honking brute of a camera. All solid metal and heavy. It's got a hefty mirror which goes *CLUNK*. Mine is the Mirror Lock up (MLU) version but doesn't have a meter.
My 6x7 is an old camera, not quite sure how old, but it still works fine. The 6x7 is a classic camera, the oldest ones being about 30 years old.
This camera uses 120 film and has an image size on the film of 55mm x 70mm. Film in this ratio blows up to the same ratio as 8x10 photographic paper. Velvia slides at 6x7 size are just awesome.
The charm, one might say the genius, of memory is that it is choosy, chancy and temperamental; it rejects the edifying cathedral and indelibly photographs the small boy outside, chewing a hunk of melon in the dust. --Elizabeth Bowen
Pentax MX
I got this because I needed a quiet, manual camera to take pictures at an acoustic concert (John Renbourn in the Fringe Theatre, Hong Kong). It's a lovely little scalpel of a camera - small and light, quiet and precise.
It's a completely manual camera with no automation, ahtough it does have a centre-weighted light meter.