[net.rec.photo] Pentax 110 SLR

esp (01/18/83)

I am considering purchasing a Pentax 110 SLR, and would appreciate 
information both pro and con.  Anyone have any information on 
110 film going off the market in the future?  I already have a 
Rollei 35mm SLR which takes very high quality photos but is 
excessively heavy and a burden to carry with equipment whenever 
I am going somewhere for sightseeing.  How is the quality of small 
prints?  Am I better off trading in the Rollei + equipment for a 
more compact version?
                            Thanks,
                               Elaine

jeff (03/19/83)

I have a 110 and the 18mm and 70mm lenses.  The camera is well-made and
cute, and packs a lot of versatility in a small package.  However if all
you're interested in is good pictures, without the interchangeable lenses,
I'd recommend a Minox 35GT or Olympus XA, both of which are full 35mm.
I have them both, and find the optics on the Minox better than those on the
Olympus, although the coupled rangefinder on the Olympus is a nice feature.
The Minox lets you use any flash, the Olympus requires use of the Olympus
flash.
I doubt 110 will go off the market during the lifetime of any 110 camera
bought now, even though Kodak undoubtedly makes much more from Disk film.

Print quality is good to 4 X 5, noticeably inferior to 35mm above that.
I note the new finer-grained Kodacolor films are being made available in
35, some in Disk, but have seen nothing about 110.

The Pentax 110 is a neat gadget, but for really good snaps get a small 35
or for serious creativity get a 35SLR (for photojournalism get a rangefinder
camera, e.g., Leica or Minolta CLE)
jeff

mark (04/02/83)

#R:tesla:-1200:zinfandel:10200004:000:426
zinfandel!mark    Mar 26 10:37:00 1983

Re: For photojournalism get a rangefinder.

I've heard this before, and wondered about it. Why rangefinder instead of
SLR? I've thought that it might be that rangefinders are smaller and lighter
than SLRs, but aren't SLRs small and light enough? Or is it that SLRs
are (presumably) more delicate? Something else?

Thanks.

Mark Wittenberg
...!decvax!sytek!zehntel!mark
...!ucbvax!menlo70!zehntel!mark
...!teklabs!zehntel!mark

tw (04/03/83)

#R:tesla:-1200:hp-pcd:7800014:000:175
hp-pcd!tw    Apr  2 22:30:00 1983

For one thing, rangefinders tend to be *much* quieter than SLR's.
It is rather hard to remain unobtrusive while shooting if every
shot goes KA-THUNK as your mirror flaps.

Tw