this cannot be used for street and certainly not handheld!

[emraphoto]

first frame from the new (to me) pentax 6x7 and 55mm.

handheld, neopan 400 souped in d-76, at 250th /f11

lets see some pentax 6x7 magic folks!

 

[jonmanjiro]

wielding that massive pentax you prolly scared the daylights out of her, john. keep the shots coming!

 

[gavinlg]

I absolutely adore my pentax 67 - it's the older one and it's seriously lovely to use. The whole thing about not handholding is complete bull**** - it's only marginally harder to use than a normal big SLR and I'm happy using it down to about 1/60th of a second with sharp results, 1/30th even if the conditions are right. The 105mm takumar is a gorgeous lens too.

Off my blog:

 

[gavinlg]

Ginza, Tokyo

 

[kaiser]

Damn this thread makes me want a Pentax 6x7

 

[Doug]

Hand-held? Certainly not! Funny how misinformation, especially negative, gets traction on the forums. Somebody overstates or imagines an issue, and it's pile-on time. Anyway, I have four 67-series bodies, the first acquired in 1976, so clearly it's been a long-time favorite system for me. I think my tripod's around here somewhere...

75/2.8 Aspheric, Mono Lake CA

120/3.5, Painter's shadow

 

[ChrisN]

Nice work Doug. I was expecting you to drop in.

 

[gavinlg]

Just to prove that handheld + low shutter speeds are fine - Both @ 1/30th @ 800asa

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Used one handheld back when I shot a lot of stuff from airplanes with no doors (yeah, I was younger and way more stupid), but I wouldn't want to carry one on my shoulder all day.

Lovely images, though. And a lot more fun than carrying around an RB67!

 

[emraphoto]

wielding that massive pentax you prolly scared the daylights out of her, john. keep the shots coming!

Indeed! I think it might be a secret PLUS to the thing. People are shocked into submission!

I will post some more from the roll later.

Anyone have experience swapping the focusing screens? All over the interwebs it says "send to Pentax!" however I thought I would check with the experts here first.

 

[oftheherd]

Doug, great shot of the water. fdigital, love the night shot.

I don't know about the Pentax, but my Super Press 23 is not light. But it is very hand holdable. I have seldom used it on a tripod. Usually only for studio type portraits. The more heavy a camera is, the more one needs to train one's muscles. But that is true with 35mm and large lenses.

 

[emraphoto]

i am back to work next week and will have a go at the 6x7 for documentary work. that should be a real test of the big beast!

i will start practicing the deep breathing now...

 

[Finder]

I knew a guy that knew a guy who that knew another guy who had picked up a Pentax 67 in a camera store had sworn that the mirror in the camera would start an earthquake. So you must just be fooling yourself. But what do I know--I use 6x12 cameras handheld.

 

[emraphoto]

yes well it is one of the systems i am going with after i transitioned out of newspapers. different directions i suppose.

the d2xs, d700, d3, 80-200 business were brilliant tools but i will be happy to never carry them again.

i have a second body with a split image screen in it and i reckon i want another. out of curiosity did you do the screen change yourself or send it off?

 

[emraphoto]

I knew a guy that knew a guy who that knew another guy who had picked up a Pentax 67 in a camera store had sworn that the mirror in the camera would start an earthquake. So you must just be fooling yourself. But what do I know--I use 6x12 cameras handheld.

that was me who started that!?!?! i feel terrible.

 

[Thardy]

I knew a guy that knew a guy who that knew another guy who had picked up a Pentax 67 in a camera store had sworn that the mirror in the camera would start an earthquake. So you must just be fooling yourself. But what do I know--I use 6x12 cameras handheld.

Not sure about an earthquake, but an avalanche for sure.

 

[pagpow]

I think your own image from your first post refutes your assertion. The Pentax 6x7 is hand holdable within the limits of the camera. The mirror is a serious thumper, hence the early mod by Pentax for mirror lock-up.

Twas irony methinks was being offered us.

 

[emraphoto]

here's some more from the champagne bottle known as neopan 400!

disclaimer - i am not much of a street shooter.

 

[Doug]

Thanks Chris!

On the focusing screens... The ones in the 6x7 and 67 need to be installed by a technician, while the 67II uses different screens that are user-changeable... Easy, the 67II screen just drops in from the top while the older models had them inserted through the lens mount.

My original non-MLU 6x7 got a new grid screen while at Pentax for service. I got a Beattie grid-screen with center split-image for my late-6x7 and had it installed by CameraTechs in Seattle. They said no meter calibration change was necessary as a result.

I have grid screens in both 67II bodies too, one a plain matte grid from eBay and the other a hard-to-find center split-image grid from KEH.

I bought my second 6x7 (late, just before the name change to 67) off eBay and picked it up in person in the Seattle area. It came with 45mm and 300mm lenses, so I put the 45 on and loaded some XP-2 to check function with some pics around the Hiram Chittenden ship-canal locks in the Ballard district... Hand-held, sorta street-like shots:

 

[emraphoto]

I reckon I was sort of lucky. I bought a beautiful set up with two lenses, a metered prism and non metered prism and a shiny and new looking 6x7 MLU off a RFF member and two days later picked up a body with rangefinder split image screen off CL for $140!

Off to the races!

I am returning to work on a fairly "delicate" subject next week so we'll see if the crack of this thing going off is an issue.