Opinions of Pentax 67 II owners or users.

[ken h. cockrell]

I am thinking of selling my Pentax67 and buying a new 67 II. I would

like to hear what current owners or users of the camera have to say

about them now that the camera has been around for a while. Is it

worth the change? Thanks

[trace_dibble3]

Keep in mind that my answer to my needs may not be your answer to yours; having said that: no. My own personal vision of photography is hiking through the red rocks to the canyon rim, heavy tripod over my shoulder, all-metal, strictly manual camera on my back. As the sun mellows, amber with age and impending death, I take what's left of my own time and find my image, scrawl an 'X' in the dust with my toe, set up the tripod, screw in the cable release, dust off the lens. with a spotmeter at my eye, I await the moment of existence, that moment which has not previously occured, nor will ever occur in quite the same way again. I squeeze the release and take the moment with me...

 

To my way of thinking, the refinements present in the P67II are merely that, and are otherwise irrelevant. Yes, It's a bit lighter in your hand, but that is due to Pentax's decision to replace metal with plastic. Metal vs. plastic arguments notwithstanding, I never handhold the thing, anyway. The multiple exposure modes and viewfinder cockpit displays seem as attempts to compete with the mob appeal for 35mm style thoughtless automation. A point-and-shoot the P67 can never be, nor should it. I'll admit that the P67 is one pretty body design, but plastic cosmetics do not replace the peace of mind that steel affords.

[patrick_drennon]

I have both a P67 & P67II. I value both cameras and still use both. The P67II is, in my opinion, a significant improvement. The matrix or spot metering choices are the most significant additions. I've not had the problems with shutter induced blurring so often reported (with either camera). If you like the P67 and don't need the metering advancements I'm not sure you would be impressed with the difference.

[kim_fullbrook]

I've owned both P67 and P67II. From my experience I'd say it's worth upgrading to the P67II if:

- you use the camera's meter a lot and need the different metering patterns

- you need auto-exposure

- you need the "half stop" shutter speeds that the P67II can do if you pay for the custom feature to be added

- you do a lot of hand holding: the P67II ergonomics are much better and the mirror/shutter vibration is very slightly less

- need to change focussing screens frequently

- you keep forgetting to wind the film on (P67II has external reminder)

 

With a camera on a substantial tripod and excluding the above points the differences are not worth the cost.

 

The other major areas such as ease of viewfinder accuracy, focussing, problems with film flatness I can think of are much the same.

[patrick_drennon]

I forgot to mention one thing that might make an impact to others but wouldn't make a purchase difference to me. The P67II has a MUCH brighter focussing screen. The P67's was (and is now) acceptable but I will admit it is nice to view an image that is at least 1-2 stops brighter.

[rolland_elliott]

I've never used the old version, but the new one is pretty rad. If you make the jump be sure to buy from Cayman Camera, check the archives. They are about 20% below B&H's prices.

[sr 6745]

I no longer shoot with a Pentax 67 but for years I was a user of a Pentax Takumar 6x7 (an earlier camera with MLU that is essentially the same as the P67 save for a few cosmetic differences). But if I were still a user of the P6x7, I would upgrade the camera to a P67 II. The important new features to me are: longer exposure time (down to 4 seconds I think), the built-in hand grip and a brighter viewfinder image. Having a self-timer is nice too, in case I forgot (or lost) the cable release, although the fixed 12(?) second delay is too long. I would like to have a choice of 2 second delay in addition to a longer one (like the Contax 645 for example). Multiple exposure is a good addition too, though I rarely use that feature.

 

I wished the P67 II could have increased the syn speed to 1/60 at least. That would be very difficult I think, as the shutter curtain would likely to have changed from cloth to metal which can be easily damaged given the size of that thing during film loading for example. I didn't mind the noise of that camera (the P6x7 that I owned), but I was disturbed by the shutter vibration even after I had the mirror locked up. That was the reason why I sold the camera which I still think is an excellent machine with great and very reasonably priced lenses.