I was wondering the other day why there are so few threads on using P67 for fashion work. A couple of days ago I was looking at the diaries of a well-known fashion photographer Sante D'Orazio and noticed he did fashion with P67. Then I remembered Lindbergh and several others and said Hey, why is this topic so ignored (or did I miss it on all those numerous forums???) I fell in love with 6x7 format during my Mamiya RZ days. However, doing fashion on location with a 4kg RZ, Prism and Motor "Leibowitz style" wasn't real easy. So I switched to Blad (553ELX). Love the small cube's portability, *HATE* the format. My other camera is an EOS. Now I am loking for something in between - a P67 with the heavenly format and -almost- SLR handling. I would like to hear from anybody who does fashion (not commercial portraiture, you know, but outdoor fashion) with P67. My choice would be the 55, 105 and 165 lenses (max.aperture 2.8 on 165 really sounds neat). You guys from all these forums have really frightened me with this mirror-induced shake. I guess for fashion it is not as critical as for landscapes. So, happy and disappointed users, ahoy!

Sam E.

-- Sam E. (samedobrefotke@hotmail.com), June 07, 1999

Answers

Alex, I saw the MFD thread on your question. I agreed with some, others I did not. My comment here is a tangent to your question but is very controversial. This is the subject of hand holding the P67. I use mine on a regular basis for travel portraits and find that per a given magnification(afocal), the shutter speeds are similar to a 35mm SLR. In other words, if a 35mm camera can be shot at 1/60 sec using a 50mm lens, the 67 is no worse than this. The 90 and 105(normal lenses) can both be hand held at 1/60 and be sharp. As with 35mm, which has always been 1 over the focal length of the lens for sharp hand held shots, the 67 is 1 over half the focal length(1/ 1/2 f)for shutter speed. I have even shot the 300mm at 1/125 with good results. I do miss some however. The 600mm can be hand held successfully at a 1/500 sec but I have some sharp work shot at 1/250 sec also. Once you get faster than 1/30 sec, hand held, the mirror and shutter shake are not the dominant factors. Lens movement is. A non MLU will work great for hand held portraits and even fashion work. SR

-- Steve Rasmussen (srasmuss@flash.net), June 18, 1999.

Well, I am answering myself ad this means I already know all I wanted to. It's all in the Medium Format Digest (my exact same question) and was answered extensively. If you are interested, go there.

I was using my friend Sam's e-mail, the names were different here and at MFD, I am sorry If I confused anybody.

-- Alex B. (samedobrefotke@hotmail.com), June 11, 1999.

Alex, I'm completely in love with my Pentax 67II! I handhold it for fashion and portrait work. The mirror-induced shake hasn't been an issue for me. I've done a lot of work in low-light situations with my 35mm (Minolta X-370, www.sensured.com ) and approach working with the 67 in a similar fashion (i.e. fast film, steady hand, etc). The design of the Pentax 67 lends itself to being handheld. Even with a flash bracket I can work with it comfortably for extended periods. I have the 105mm lens and am very happy with it. I'm not looking into adding another lens anytime soon. On my new website (www.ivanafoto.com), I've got portfolio work using both my Pentax 67II and my 35mm.

-- Ivana (ivana@blok.org), December 09, 1999.