Pentax 67 shortage/pricing

[Benjamin Marks]

I bought one of these in 1991 when I couldn't afford a Hassleblad, and even if I could have, I couldn't afford Hassie's lenses. The Pentax was a simpler system -- just one shutter to worry about, except the 165 leaf shutter that I think was used for fashion shoots with big strobes. While not inexpensive, it was a great way to get into medium format . . . I should add that this was before I really started exploring the used market for photo gear. Ah well, we are all young and inexperienced at some point. I purchased the camera new from Olden camera in NYC, a simple prism and 90/2.8 after a year's savings and loved the big negatives. All my metering was with a Luna Pro SBC (don't that take y'all back?) and exposures lower than 1/60 were on a tripod. Of course that was true for my 35mm images too, so I never really understood what all the mirror-slap fuss was about. On slow exposures, one could pre-release the mirror. There was, I am sure, more vibration in the system than the little >snickt< of a Rolleiflex shutter or even the snikt-slap of a Hassie. But I used it outdoors handlheld for years and loved the negatives.

Indoors I needed a tripod to do available-light stuff, but as I say, that was true in most other formats for anything formal. I ultimately learned to handhold a Rollei down to 1/15, but mostly stuck to Leica for actual low-light photography. I still have the whole camera, plus a 165, a 105 and a 55 that mostly just sit on the shelf. Sadly I have not developed a single roll of 120 film in over 5 years. Can't bring myself to get rid of it though.

 

[flavio81]

and exposures lower than 1/60 were on a tripod. Of course that was true for my 35mm images too, so I never really understood what all the mirror-slap fuss was about.
(...)

Indoors I needed a tripod to do available-light stuff, but as I say, that was true in most other formats for anything formal. I ultimately learned to handhold a Rollei down to 1/15, but mostly stuck to Leica for actual low-light photography

With a good 35mm SLR you can enjoy the joys of shooting at 1/15, 1/8 and even 1/4 speed, handheld. I even have a portrait of a friend, 1/2s handheld, acceptably sharp.

You don't really need to use a leica or other rangefinder for low light photography.

 

[Calzone]

Wow!

Sell the Camera Calzone!!

They are really nice cameras, that's for certain, but if you can make a real good profit off this kit then do it.

Camera prices cycle up and down. In a few months your kit will be worth half what you paid for it. Fads do not last very long.

I know you enjoy the camera, and you are not really a seller, but let's get serious. I know that you have a lot of photographic options open to you so you are really not going to miss that camera that much. In 6 months to a year you will be able to buy it all back.

Just my 2 cents. Or maybe less.

P,

I have a sale pending. It didn't take long.

BTW yesterday I traded up to a Leica SL.

Thanks for the support. My friend Mike is a fashion photographer. Good to see that after all this time the P67 II gets used like it did back in the day.

Cal

 

[Roger Hicks]

With a good 35mm SLR you can enjoy the joys of shooting at 1/15, 1/8 and even 1/4 speed, handheld. I even have a portrait of a friend, 1/2s handheld, acceptably sharp.

You don't really need to use a leica or other rangefinder for low light photography.

Many people do however find that direct, uninterrupted vision does however help them to hold a camera more steadily. I have been known to mount a Tewe finder on an SLR for this very reason.

Cheers,

R.

 

[jsrockit]

I still have mine and actively shoot it.

🙄 actively huh? 🙄

 

[unixrevolution]

Which shutter speeds? How fast? Did you use the wooden hand grip? If i can't do 1/30 or at least 1/60 reliably then the camera becomes limited to me.



That is what I thought at the beginning and that's why I bought myself a Pentax 67 in the past. So I actually shot one and sadly i found many of the criticisms to be valid. Got back to my Mamiya RB67 and C330, happier with them.

It is sad because I miss the sound of the P67 shutter. But romanticism aside, it didn't work as well as expected.

I am also dissapointed because the P67, which is an update of the original P6x7, did not improve the shutter to lower down the vibrations. It is just as if Pentax did not care for improving the machine. The actual improvement only came later in the form of the P67II.

I had good daylight for most of it. Usually at least 1/125. I use 1/60 or maybe 1/30 handheld, and I don't notice any obvious sharpness issues. Maybe if I blew them up really huge, but that isn't what I"m going for when I shoot the 6x7 at the RennFest or at similar events/situatons. I have never had the wooden grip for the 6x7. I have never desired it, it seems it would just make it heavier and forces you to hold it from the wrong side. Silly. I would attatch my left-hand trigger-grip for added support if I thought it needed it, but it doesn't.

I have a C330, that came with me to the Renn Faire, and I only shot two rolls through it cause it was unmetered, and I reserved the 6x7 for color and the c330 for BW, and was way more in the mood to shoot color anyway. I have owned an RB-67, but ended up passing on it as a poor compromise between 35mm and LF. It's an in-between, but unlike the Pentax, I think it's in the wrong direction vis-a-vis handholdability, bulk and time to set up. I love my 6x7 because it bridges the Large Format/35mm gap pefectly, with something that can be set on a Tripod with the waist level finder for careful landscapes, or held in the hands for street-style shooting.

That said, the C330 does appeal, and I love it. I love the size over the 6x7, as I won't deny the 6x7 is a big mutha, and I also love the quiet, vibration free leaf shutter, which I'm sure is good for handheld way into the lower range of the shutter speeds.