Pentax PC35AF - First Roll

[Dave S.]

I just got the first roll developed from from my "new to me" Pentax PC35AF. I shot Kodak BW400CN rated at 320 ASA. I really like the feel of this camera and the 5 element lens is quite nice. Auto focus without auto wind is great too. I'd love to see others photos with this camera - please post. 🙂

-Dave

 

[btgc]

Dave, I agree it's very nice camera. Once you get used to small VF and cheesy release button, it's good full frame visual notebook. Because of ISO range and speeds, it's mostly daylight tool, but...while it's not really dark, it works very well!

btw how did you scan BW400CN? Once I shot a roll to see that in gets strong cast and ended up scanning in color mode and converting to BW.

 

[Dave S.]

Scanning BW400CN

Scanning BW400CN

Hi btgc,

I have my color negative film developed at Costco and scanned onto CD. They do a pretty good job, it's easy, and it's cheap. 🙂 If you have a Costco near you I suggest checking them out.

Dave

 

[amhildreth]

I have one I found at Goodwill for $3.99. Great shape, and great photos for a P/S. I'll post some of mine as well.

 

[PentaxFanatiK]

I just got the first roll developed from from my "new to me" Pentax PC35AF. I shot Kodak BW400CN rated at 320 ASA. I really like the feel of this camera and the 5 element lens is quite nice. Auto focus without auto wind is great too. I'd love to see others photos with this camera - please post. 🙂

-Dave

Nice shots Dave!

I also found one of these cameras at a thrift shop for $3.99 last month and it works perfectly. The following week I found a PC35AF-M and it's a beauty as well, and I scored that one for $2.68. I need to take pictures of it to share as well!

Here's my PC35AF:

And here are a couple of shots using Likon ISO 200 film that I buy for a buck at the Dollarama store near me:

Nice little camera! Now to put a roll through the PC35AF-M and see what I get ;-)

 

[camera.bear]

Dave and Richard,

Great pics and they give me a nice idea of what these cameras can do. I just recently put together a set of them myself, but I haven't shot any film with either yet. I have been finishing up rolls in other point & shoots. I am working on a roll in my Konica C35 AF2 and then I may move on to the C35 MF. Who knows? 😀

 

[daniel~]

Hello Dave and other fellow users, nice shots!

I have one, too. A red one. The overall build quality is good, though that "cheesy release button" is funny.
I only took a couple of test shots to see if it works, and that was over a year ago. Anyway, it's a cool camera with a good lens for sure!

My PC35AF:

Old building at night:

 

[btgc]

daniel, that red is one I have never seen! btw it matches red EF3 so well 🙂
Weirdest PC35AF I have seen were camouflage-painted, factory job not hand painted.

 

[daniel~]

Hi btgc, I do have a soft spot for the red cameras. Aren't they just gorgeous!
As far as I know, for PC35AF there exisits a silver variation, too.

I remember seeing one Camouflage PC35AF on the auction site long ago, then started checking carefully to see if the thing is for real...
Such a crazy pattern for a camera!

 

[btgc]

right, there were also silver PC35AF, seen it once - much pricey than cool black standard body. I really need to put a roll through mine Pentax.

Once in a beginning I bid on red Konica MG, lost auction. Maybe you were winner 🙂 Sure you have to have also red XA2?

 

[racoll]

Very nice! I currently have a roll in my PC35AF and hope to finish it soon. It's a cool camera that I have much to learn about, as I've not used mine a lot.

 

[daniel~]

Well, haven't got any Konica MG so far. Only a Tomato 🙂
As for Olympus XA2 variations, I like "urban white" most, but it just seems so rare. I doubt I'd ever find one at a bargain price.

I shot with PC35AF yesterday and recalled why I put it aside before. The thumbwheel became extremely stiff after a few frames advanced. Any suggestion?

 

[camera.bear]

Hey All,

I got my first roll back from my Pentax PC35AF and I have to say that I am very disappointed. My pictures turned out under exposed, quite soft and with a great amount of vignetting. I don't know if the camera just couldn't handle the bright, directional light here in the desert. What do you think happened?

 

[btgc]

Wayne, which film did you use?
For me it's hard to judge from pictures of this size. Vignetting can be seen, though.

 

[Dave S.]

Pentax PC35AF Disappointing Shots / Thumb Wheel Issues

Pentax PC35AF Disappointing Shots / Thumb Wheel Issues

Hi camera.bear,

What film were you shooting? What did you rate it at? One of the nice things about the PC35AF is that you can rate the film speed instead of using the DX coding.

I rated my Kodak BW400CN (ASA 400) at ASA 320 and was pretty happy with the results. As you're probably aware of already, print film responds well to slight overexposure. You might give it a try. 🙂

Hi Daniel~,

Not sure about the thumb wheel issue? I haven't experienced that. 🙁

-Dave

 

[Gradskater]

I've got one, too. I have gotten some good pics from it, but haven't been overwhelmed by the picture sharpness and clarity. I like the form factor, though, but wish it metered up to 1600. I will grab it before I pick up my Nikon L35AF, however. here is one:

and a link to a few more I took with the camera.

 

[camera.bear]

Thanks for the replies guys,

btgc,

Here is a link to my set on Flickr where you can see the large scans. I used Kodak Gold 200 for these. Not the best film, but I have had better results than this.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/camerabear/sets/72157620679935387/

Dave S.,

I shot this film set at 200. I will be trying a differnt film next time, but I will try overexposing as it seems that because of the brightness of the desert. Maybe this camera has a tendecy to underexpose? The exposures just seem flat to me.

Gradskater,

I really like your pics and they were a positive influence on me to get this camera. I will have to try some BW film in the camera, it just seemed to me that it was going to do better with the 5 element lens.

 

[Gradskater]

Gradskater,

I really like your pics and they were a positive influence on me to get this camera. I will have to try some BW film in the camera, it just seemed to me that it was going to do better with the 5 element lens.

Thanks, glad you like them.

 

[daniel~]

Well, I got the prints from lab last night. It turned out that the camera left a big gap like 1 inch between each frame...
This and the extreme stiff thumbwheel advance might've been caused by film not properly loaded.

Looking at the image results, I think PC35AF gives sharp pics(when its primitive autofocus isn't fooled), but the color leans towards the cold side and looks a bit under-saturated.
They reminds me of photos from my Olympus XA2--sharp but somewhat flat.

Pentax PC35AF, Fuji Superia 200
I owe the warm glow to the sunset.

 

[zuikologist]

Lovely shot. I like the slightly flatter "1970s" feel.