It’s a beast, this Pentax. It weighs a ton and it’s hard to hang on to. It’s slow, has a terrible synch speed and everything is in full stops. It feels like it was hewn out of a solid block of steel and is as much of a dead weight and is as cold as you could imagine.

When I first picked it up, I really didn’t like it at all.

…but the lenses are quick. Images pop into focus rather nicely – much better than with my Hasselblad. And the 6×7 format is starting to grow on me. The meter is actually better than you might think, given that it’s on the top of the camera – better than my Mamiya 6 meter before I hacked it with a permanent change on the exposure compensation dial.

And the images that you get are lovely. It usually takes a long time for me to get used to a camera – I got used to the Pentax 67 a whole lot faster than any other camera I have picked up in recent memory.

As ugly, ungainly and heavy as it is – it’s a delight to shoot with and the images make it worthwhile.

Here’s a little video with a review and a little photo walk.

The Pentax 67 in pictures

The following were taken with the Pentax 67 at Finn Slough in Richmond, British Columbia.

Thanks for reading, I’d appreciate you sharing your experiences with this camera on either the YouTube video above, or in the comments below.

~ Alastair

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4 responses to “Camera review: The Pentax 67”

  1. crazy camera, I remember Giovanni Ribisi using one in the film Lost in Translation.

  2. This is my favourite combination, the 67 and 105mm F2.4, which is a superb lens you can use for everything from portraits to landscapes. I don’t have the handle for it and don’t feel l need it, so mine is a bit lighter. You get used to the weight when you use it a lot and l carry mine on a black rapid slingstrap. It’s not a Texas Leica, that’s the Fuji GW690 Rangefinder, which is another big camera capable excellent results. Anyway, being given a 67 and that lens is a definite result! Stick with it, it grows on you, l wouldn’t be without mine. I enjoyed the video and the sound of the shutter is spot on, so great quality audio.

  3. Nice video Alistair, thank you. I just reviewed the camera on 35mmc as well. The camera sparkles with color negative film….I have some images shot fairly recently with the 67 on my blog, to find them will require a bit of scrolling….The 90mm is a lot smaller and takes off some of the carrying burden, an excellent lens. The 40-50ish wide angle lenses are excellent also, and “relatively” light, and moderately priced. I use a left side custom grip that I purchased from a gentleman in Malaysia. There are pics of it in my review. I don’t use the grip you have mounted. I carry it with a very heavy duty Upstrap….The camera requires dedicated strap connectors that attach on the front of the camera. Replacements are found easily on Ebay….Cheers, Lou.

  4. The “Automatic” switch allows you to change the f-stop without the view finder lightening and darkening. If you want to check depth of field, switch to manual. Same process on the old Spotmatic 35mm cameras.

 

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