i am interested in the pentax 67. i use 35mm, 4x5 and a speed graphic with a 6x9 roll film back. ALL BULKY! i like to hike and photograph landscapes with the larger format. i use the 6x9 while hiking, and use 90mm, 135mm and 210mm from the 4x5.

any thoughts or comments about moving to the 67 will be appreciated.

jamie

-- jamie adams (jamie.c.adams@vanderbilt.edu), July 21, 1999

Answers

Jamie, you will find that the Pentax is much quicker to use and has less opportunities for errors compared to the 4x5. It is a good compromise between the easier to use 35mm and larger film size cameras. The Pentax does however require a large tripod for telephoto landscape work. This is needed because of the huge focal plane shutter used in this design. Most other MF cameras don't use this system but use a leaf shutter instead. They have less shutter vibration as a result. Also, the 67 is closer to a 35mm as far as ease of use compared to a 4x5. The 67 lenses take some getting used to concerning DOF scales on the lens barrels. See other postings in this forum for further info. SR

-- Steve Rasmussen (srasmuss@flash.net), July 21, 1999.

I enjoy landscape photography with the P67II and three lenses - the 45, 90 and 300 with a helicoid extender for macro. You may wonder about the 300 but marc Muench has shown its utility in many landscapes. (It's about equivalent to a 180 in 35mm). I added this pentax system to a Nikon system with 1 body and 8 lenses fitting all in a big Lowepro backpack. Unfortunately, it weighs 35 pounds. I don't know about you but it has limited my hiking somewhat. Most frequently, I hike from my 2nd floor den to the car and back taking only carrying only the camera and lens I need from the car for a shot. (I also use a Bogen 3036 but did not include that in the 35 lbs.) If you went with just the Pentax outfit it would be a neat 15 pounds. I like the quality of the photos, the ease of using the TTL meter in manual mode, the ease of stopping down for DOF (no problem if you forget to release the stopdown), and the general ease of handling.

-- Tom Goodrick (tgoodrick@earthlink.net), August 04, 1999.