In response to a comment at the Medium Format Digest site, I posted a response substantially similar to the following. I thought the general comments about my experience with the P67 would be worth adding here too.

From my experience, it would be a shame for anyone to be dissuaded from the Pentax 67 by the discussions on this and other sites of mirror and shutter vibration. I was put off by the lore for many years, and avoided trying the Pentax 67. I tried one, found out for myself, and now know better.

Over the years I have owned and used a Rollei SL66 system, the Pentax 645, and the Mamiya 7. I prefer the 6x7 negative to either 6x4.5 or 6x6. While the Mamiya 7 is a great camera that I like for wide-angle and normal focal length shots, and love for carrying around anywhere and any time, it obviously isn't the best camera for all uses. I like macro and telephoto lenses, and the Mamiya 7 is limited in those areas. I also found that I had trouble accurately focusing the 150mm lens on the Mamiya 7, particularly for my very active subjects, two young children.

Out of curiosity I borrowed a friend's Pentax 67 and 165mm lens for a month to use for pictures of my kids. I knew I'd prefer SLR focusing to the rangefinder for longer lenses, and so I anticipated that I might get better focused telephoto shots with the P67 than with the M7. However, I also thought that there would be a tradeoff between the vibration of the mirror in the P67 and the silky shutter of the M7, particularly at slower shutter speeds. To my great surprise, the shots taken with the P67 were consistently and critically sharp, both handheld and on a tripod, at a great variety of shutter speeds. I took many shots where the focus of my childrens' eyes and eyelashes really "popped" under 8x and 22x loupes, even when handheld at shutter speeds down to 1/30, and consistently at handheld shutter speeds of 1/60 and 1/125 (perhaps there is something to the theory that your body absorbs vibrations when shooting handheld). My results were consistent over weeks of tests with different films and in different conditions. I was convinced, and earlier this year I bought a P67 and a number of lenses. I've been thrilled with it. While heavier than my Mamiya 7, I have no difficulty using it handheld (although I have longed for a right-side grip like the one that now appears to be integral on the new Pentax 67II).

My most used lens is the 135 macro, which I use for head and shoulders photos of my kids. Its performance is outstanding, as is that of the new 100mm macro. I've found the performance of these lenses to be equal or better than the Zeiss lenses from my former Rollei. I only wish the Pentax 67II had been available earlier this year when I added the P67 to my cameral bag.

-- Greg Lawhon (glawhon@unicom.net), September 16, 1998