5 Frames with a Pentax IQ Zoom EZY and Lomography 400 Color Film – By Dee Dee Yelverton

I found this Pentax IQ Zoom EZY camera while doing some spring cleaning recently. Fortunately, I had stored it without a battery, and it looked clean (almost like new), and waiting for me to take it out for a spin. I suspect I picked this up quite a while ago when these sort of point and shoot film cameras were as cheap as chips, to borrow one of my favorite expressions from friends “across the pond.” A recent check on the large auction site shows that you can still get one of these for relatively little, but more than my bag of chips price from a few years ago.

Using the Camera

Mine had no manual with it but figuring out how to use it was pretty easy. I was curious about the lens and how fast or slow it might be. I did a quick web search and found a review online that indicated the lens was a little on the slow side, at least if I planned to test out the full zoom: 38-70 mm f/4.8-8.5.

The camera performed as expected for me. It was reasonably quick to focus and take a photo when I pressed the shutter. There is a small on/off red button on the top, which isn’t the quietest thing in the world when it turns on. It was, however, faster in acquiring focus and taking the photo than I expected from the online review I read. It focused faster than some early model digital cameras, and much faster than some other similar style film cameras. Nothing about it got in the way of me using or enjoying it. It won’t be your go-to camera for sports or wildlife, but for everything else I found it to be very fun and responsive.

The Film and Results

I grabbed a roll of film that I had on hand, and headed out to see what it could do. When I got the scans and film back from the lab, I was pleasantly surprised and happy with the results.

Here are my five frames from a bike ride around town.

And a bonus frame.

I hope you enjoyed this quick look at the Pentax IQZoom EZY and my five (plus a bonus) frames. You can find more of my photos on my Lomography page, on Flickr or on my website.  Find my previous “Five Frames” article on 35mmc here.

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