I had a bit of trouble deciding what to submit for the June PUG, as the theme seemed pretty open. I ended up submitting what I think is the first shot I submitted to the PUG, in 2000. It was also one of my first efforts with the ancient (but then new to me) 6x7.
In the process of picking a submission, I also considered shots from my first Pentax camera. In 1966, I was stationed in the Far East, and I flew to Japan to deliver a plane for maintenance and bring back one that had been serviced. While there, I purchased a camera and other things I couldn't get where I was. I intended to buy a Minolta SRT 101, since I had borrowed one from a friend, and liked the way it operated. The sales person at the PX, however, showed me a Spotmatic, and said that it was mechanically similar, but had much better "glass." [Very perceptive] He also said that the same camera was being sold in the states as a Honeywell, which was a brand name I knew and respected. On his advice, I bought an Asahi Pentax Spotmatic. That was about 2 years after the Spotty was introduced in connection with the 1964 Olympics. I used that camera for 20 years, before replacing it with a SuperProgram. I still have my first Spotmatic, and it still works. I also have a Honeywell Spotmatic, a Pentax Spotmatic (without the Asahi name), and a Sears clone that used the screwmount lenses. This is probably not my first photograph with the Spotmatic, but it is from my first roll of film, and it is the only one I have left from that original roll. This is a scan of a print from a slide, but most of the imperfections are on the plexiglass through which the image was taken. http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5242937 The shot was taken on our way back from Japan. Our F-4 fighter jet is being refueled from a tanker. The photograph shows the connection. The "male" part of the connection is our refueling probe, which was extended from the side of the plane just before approaching the tanker. The circular "basket" or drogue is the female connection at the end of the fuel line trailed by the tanker. It is the target used by the pilot in connecting to the refueling line. As the plane's radar intercept officer, I took this shot from the back seat while refueling was in progress. Comments, of course, are welcome. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
