On Fri, 3 Aug 2001, Shel Belinkoff wrote:
> I'm considering purchasing one of these cameras. Can anyone tell me
> about its strengths/weaknesses, what to look out for? Does it use
> hard-to-find batteries, or can batteries be easily purchased? Any
> help or comments would be appreciated. Thanks!
Do you need aperture-priority? If not, then a nice Spotmatic F might be
preferable. The ES runs on a 6V PX28, K28L, or whatever they're called.
No self timer. Syncs at 1/60, shutter goes up to 1/1000. Gerjan's book
says that you can only see 1/1000 - 1 sec. in the viewfinder (will shoot
up to 8 sec's in auto mode).
If you can find an ESII, that might be a better deal. That uses 4 of the
standard 76 type batteries, has a self timer, and shows all the way down
to 8 secs in the viewfinder. It also has a shutter lock and can set the
ISO to 3200 (1600 for the ES). It *also* has a second auto mode that
closes the viewfinder for longer exposures, and the viewfinder lens is
multicoated.
*Some of the above info is from Gerjan's book, "The Ultimate Asahi Pentax
Screw Mount Guide: 1952-1977." If you're into Pentax screw mount stuff,
this is a must-have.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of the ES/ESII cameras. I'm sure a working
one is a pleasure to use, but I've seen several come through Don's in
awful condition, so I just have some bad prejudices against them. :)
If you're looking at one, check the meter, of course, to verify that it's
linear and reasonably accurate. Check the battery compartment for
corrosion or stuck doors, and make sure that the open-aperture metering
(with SMC Tak's) is working properly. Apart from that, just look at the
usual stuff. :) There's probably other stuff, but nothing that I can
think of at the moment. I don't know too much about that new-fangled
stuff. :)
chris
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