Pentax 67II camera with AE finder - A Review

[peter brown - www.peterbro]

<blockquote>Hi all,

<p>

I have just added a review of the Pentax 67II camera with AE finder for

Pentax owners or anyone interested.

<p>

<br />

This is the link: <a

href="http://www.peter-brown-photographer.com/equipment%20page/penta

x%2067II%20camera%20review%20.html">Camera Review</a>.

<p>

Kind regards,

<p>

Peter Brown

<p>

<a

href="http://www.peter-brown-photographer.com">http://www.peter-brown

-photographer.com</a>

 

</blockquote>

[allan_jamieson2]

I recently switched from a Pentax 67 to the newer model and so far my

experience has been fairly positive. However, Pentax did make one fairly big

design flaw ( in my opinion ) in not including a built in spirit level in the new

camera. Yes, the new hand grip is great, but if you are serious about taking

landscape pictures you really need to use a spirit level to keep your horizons

straight and the only way that you can do that is to attach the old style wooden

hand grip and sit a clip on spirit level in the shoe there. Small grumble maybe,

but that wooden handle adds extra weight and bulk to the whole outfit that I

could really do without.

 

The metering I'd give a cautious 7/10, on most things it is fairly accurate, but

I've noticed it over exposing some scenes that looked quite straight forward to

me. On one occasion it was a view across a canal, with some flowers in the

foreground, swans in the water and sun to one side of me and all fairly evenly

lit. Unfortunately, the meter did a really good job of averaging everything out,

to the extent that every shot was useless. I've seen the meter tripped up the

other way around too, when it underexposed one subject by about a half stop.

It's a step forwards, but it isn't infallible, best to use it as a guide along with a

separate light meter.

 

One good point about the camera is the ease with which you can change the

focusing screens; something that was not an option for the average user with

the previous model. You just take the prism off and unclip the screen there, lift

it out and put a new one in. I switched mine last week for a grid type screen,

which I find more useful than the standard screen for composing shots of

buildings, even landscapes.

[peter brown - www.peterbro]

<blockquote>Hi Allan,

<p>

I don't find the lack of a spirit level a problem. I use a tripod which has spirit

levels built-in and so the problem of keeping horizons straight would only be

an issue for me when using the camera handheld with say the 45 or 55 mm

lenses (and this is unlikely for serious landscape work), otherwise it's not a

problem. I do agree that it would be nice to see more cameras with spirit

levels built-in but why not place a couple of stick-on levels onto your tripod?

<p>

Yes, the meter needs to be used wisely and as I mentioned in my review, I

believe the spot meter provides better control than the multi-segment

metering. All lightmeters can be tricked, as you know and I also use a

handheld meter to compare readings in difficult situations. Overall I found the

meter to be accurate as long as you use the right metering mode for the right

situation.

<p>

That's a good point about the ease with which the screens can be changed

and having that feature is an improvement.

<p>

 

<p>

Kind regards,

<p>

Peter Brown

<p>

<a

href="http://www.peter-brown-photographer.com">http://www.peter-brown

-photographer.com</a>

 

</blockquote>

[jean_marie_solichon1]

I am on Allan side for the buble level need on the camera. Peter, I have a buble level on my tripod but I also have a ball head between the tripod and the camera, then how do you do? and for verticals?

[allan_jamieson2]

I've got a built in spirit level on my Gitzo 1349 tripod, but it sits below the ball

and socket head and is of zero use to me. All it does is tell me that the tripod is

level, which doesn't guarantee that the camera will be at the same angle or

plane. And I can tell you, that the spirit level on my hand grip very rarely

agrees with the one on the tripod.

 

The only way that a spirit level can really be of any use, is if its on the camera

itself; then you know exactly what is what, whether you are taking pictures in

landscape or portrait format. You cannot accurately judge how level an image

is by eye alone: even with a gridded focusing screen. If you think that you can,

I'd ask you to have another look at your old transparencies and just check

how level the horizons really are. And yet it is one area that many people

seem to ignore or at best make a guesstimate of what is and isn't level.

 

Yes, the new camera is probably marginally lighter than the old model. But,

with 1% more thought, Pentax could have done something about including a

spirit level on the camera body, thus getting rid of the need to carry the extra

hand grip that is only now needed for holding a tiny plastic spirit level.

[peter brown - www.peterbro]

<blockquote>

Dear Allan & Jean-Marie,

<p><p>

 

Although I agree with you both that having a bubble level on the camera

body is a good idea, I don't believe that the camera not having one is big

issue - annoying certainly, but not a major problem. Thousands of

photographers have been able to get their horizons straight (certainly good

enough for landscapes) using the P67II and the previous models and I am

one of them. Without a level on the camera, using a ball-head would

certainly make levelling the camera difficult and perhaps a 3-way head with

levels would be a better solution.<p><p>

<i>"The only way that a spirit level can really be of any use, is if its on the

camera itself . . ."</i> <p>I find this a misleading statement and perhaps

clarifying the statement by adding <i>"<b>with a ball head</b>"</i> would

make it clearer; eg <i>"The only way that a spirit level can really be of any

use with a ball head, is if its on the camera itself . . . etc "</i>. <p> My 3-way

head aligns perfectly with the base plate of the camera and the bubble levels

are very accurate allowing easy adjustment at the horizontal and the vertical.

If they didn't correspond I would have them checked and adjusted. It is a

simple task to adjust a bubble level on a 3-way head.

<p>

<i>"You cannot accurately judge how level an image is by eye alone: even

with a gridded focusing screen. If you think that you can, I'd ask you to have

another look at your old transparencies and just check how level the horizons

really are. And yet it is one area that many people seem to ignore or at best

make a guesstimate of what is and isn't level."</i>

<p>You may not be able to do this Allan but please don't assume others

cannot, especially with a grid screen. My horizons are just fine thanks, even

on my old transparencies and of the thousands of images I have shot over

the years, perhaps half a dozen or so have had horizons with which I was

not happy (due to poor or rushed technique) - these were easily corrected

when printing. What are we talking about here anyway - photographing brick

walls, architectural subjects or landscape photography? If a photographer

cannot judge a straight horizon for landscape photography using a tripod and

grid screen, then it's time to brush up on technique.

<p>

I'm sure that we are going to have to agree to disagree on this one, but for

me it is not a worry, I just adapt my technique to suit the

subject/camera/tripod/head combination that I am working with at the time.

<Br>

It's been nice discussing this with you and you have an interesting point of

view.

<p>

Kind regards

<p>

Peter Brown - Cairns Australia

<p>

www.peter-brown-photographer.com

</blockquote>

[allan_jamieson2]

Peter, I often find that what looks level when looking through the viewfinder

and using the lines on a gridded focusing screen is not quite what the spirit

level tells me is definitely level. You might be able to guesstimate how level

your images are and be reasonably close, but I'd much rather be 100% sure

of it, which is why the spirit level is an absolute must for me. Few things look

worse than a slightly sloping horizon on an otherwise stunning image;

especially when it is printed to a large size such as 30 x 20 inches. Why take

the chance of spoiling your work when you don't have to?

 

I've spent a lot of money buying excellent quality camera gear. I spend quite a

lot on travelling costs, driving around to get to the locations that I want to

photograph and then I spend even more money using lots of Velvia 120 film,

which then needs to be sent to a lab to be developed and then I'll need to buy

card mounts to display the best examples of the images that I have taken. It's

an expensive business, I try to ensure that everything I do is technically as

perfect as it can be. Do you think that I'm going to throw all that effort in time

and cost away, by looking through the viewfinder and guessing whether or

not the horizon is actually straight?

 

Attention to detail is everything in photography and it is often the small things

that can make the difference between something being outstanding or a sad

disappointment because of some minor thing that I could or should have done

.

[len_krueger1]

Allan, I have installed a spirit level on the prism of my 67 body as

well as on the prism of a friend's 67II body. The installation is

semi-permanent and you should be able to be removed if necessary

without any damage to the finder. For my friend�s 67II, which is what

you are using, I found a small spirit level that was 1 inch long and

1/4 in diameter. I sanded the ends smooth and covered them with black

masking tape (cut to 1/4 inch diameter) to give the level a finished

look. I glued the spirit level onto the finder at the notch just above

the eye piece using a very small amount of a glue called Aqua Seal. It

sticks really well to smooth surfaces but can be removed if need be.

Any similar type of adhesive would probably work. Directly behind the

level on the angled part of the prism you need to place a small square

of white tape (or something like that) so that you have a background

to see the bubble against. The beauty of placing the level on the

prism is that you can see it on the periphery while you compose your

picture. For the my 67 I found a level that was 5/16 x7/8 inch and

mounted it the same way. The level once mounted is not at all

intrusive. Of course the level only works with horizontal pictures.

Vertical pictures, because they are the smaller aspect of the frame,

don�t seem to be as much of a problem. E-mail me if you need more

info. Len