Hi Mark, I've never had a problem with mirror slap. When shooting off a tripod, I use mirror lock up and I push down on the camera a bit with my hands as I trip the shutter. I've heard that dampens vibration a bit. However, I've had success without resorting to this. I frequently shoot cars for magazines with a 300mm lens and the 6x7. The results are razor sharp. I can blow up a 200 meg scan to 100& and see sharp detail of a bug on a headlight. (I've retouched a ffew of these :-). I frequently shoot as slow as 1/15 at f32. I've also used the same lens handheld, shooting at 1/250 with great results. My favorite landscape lens is the 55/4. Be sure to get the latest version with the typography on the outside of the barrell, much like some A lenses. (There are three different 55s: the early 55/3.5, the subsequent 55/4 with type inside the filter ring, and the latest version with the type outside of the barrel.) All but the earliest 6x7s come with mirror lock up. I have a TTL finder, but rarely use the meter. I generally stick with a handheld incident meter for important work. For walkarounds (which I have done with the 6x7) I'll use the TTL meter, but I don't consider it indispensable. I bought my 6x7 used for slightly more than $200, and it has performed flawlessly through at least 300 rolls of film. I've heard the latest model, the 67II, has a sturdier wind mechanism, and of course it offers goodies like TTL flash, but it's much more expensive. Paul
Mark Cassino wrote: > It looks like the *ist-D will replace a lot of my 35mm work, and in the > areas where it won't replace 35mm I really should be using a larger format > anyhow. So I plan to move up to a 6 x 7 system. Obviously, I'd like to > stick with Pentax for this. > > A couple of quick questions: > > I've heard that the Pentax 6 x 7 has a big problem with mirror slap making > photos unsharp. Is that true? Do all models have mirror lock up, or do I > need to look for one that has that as an added feature? > > Any recommendations regarding finders? I have a decent light meter > (Polaris) and a spot metering attachment for it, so I don't see the need > for a TTL meter as a priority. > > How about lenses? I plan to use this for landscapes and figure something > with the equivalent FOV to a 28mm or 35mm lens on a 35mm camera would be > best. What 6 x 7 lenses have that FOV ? I'm guessing 70 - 80 mm? Are > there any zooms of acceptable quality that cover that range? What lenses > would be recommended - and any dogs to be avoided? > > Aside from eBay and KEH - any recommendations on where to buy a setup? > > TIA - > > MCC > ----- > > Mark Cassino Photography > > Kalamazoo, MI > > http://www.markcassino.com > > -----
