5 frames Rediscovering my Pentax 67… and then another 5…

I bought a 6×7, the slightly earlier model, around 1989: it was stolen in 1992, and the replacement is the less stylishly-named 67. It’s been sitting on the shelf for some time, and the fact that I’ve recently bought some 120 film prompted me to get it down and use it.

It’s not a rapid camera in use: although it’s a Spotmatic on steroids while shooting, there are only 10 frames on each roll of film, and it doesn’t have interchangeable backs, unlike many of the rivals. It’s a matter of being organised, and following the procedure. I realised, some years ago, that professionals cheated, by having duplicate bodies and lenses, and a team changing films as fast as they can go behind the scenes.

Focus is tricky – the screen is quite dim, and I now, with ageing eyesight, regret not buying a Beattie screen when they were advertised regularly… I love microprisms, but the standard screen’s not very bright, and the light levels in a studio don’t favour manual focus of any kind – especially in studios with recent flash units that have LED modelling lamps!

To be entirely honest, my very first outing with the big beast was for an art nude shoot, but the focus accuracy was embarrassing, and not everybody loves nudes, so a couple of films went with me to the ARB Studios social in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent. I took the body with the standard 105mm f/2.4 lens, and the 165mm f/2.8 that works so well for portraits. Both are old: the camera line was manufactured from 1969 up until digital was killing off all the best kit, and the lenses were restyled a couple of times. I’ve not met a lens that isn’t beautifully sharp, though.

Using a Pentax 67 in a modern studio isn’t easy: current flash triggers go in hot shoes (which the Pentax doesn’t have), and it’s difficult to switch on the IR sensor on most of the current generation of flash units! Sarah (I have the PC lead for my Prolinca IR trigger permanently plugged into the flash synch socket of the 67.)

Nonetheless, with a little persistence, I found that I was able to shoot, confining myself to two frames of each subject: film is getting more costly by the month.

The ‘broomhandle’ was a really worthwhile accessory, as was a focus ring – these are now incredibly expensive second-hand, but they make focussing and holding the camera steady vastly easier.

I chose the big Pentax around 35 years back, as being the most wieldy of the medium-format cameras: and every time I hang up another reel of film, I love it more for the sheer quality – and these days, it’s a rather cool camera to be seen using! .

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