Giveaway winner! Registered: December, 2007 Location: beantown Posts: 944 | | Review Date: August 20, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Resposive in low light. With mostly accurate results. | | Cons: | Caution needed in tricky lighting situations, heavy-ish | |
I got it broken or not working fully. My version was the ON/OFF model and the normal A mode was dead. New capacitors were installed and that seemed to solve it. The meter service manual I obtained depicted an earlier version of the circuit board and differed greatly from my version. However, it did demonstrate that an issue seemed to exist with the transistor switch. A possible failure due to bad voltage hold properties? When this happens the secondary circuit could possibly still be fine. This is the M mode or when the lens lever is set to MAN. (stopdown).
So I would review it as very accurate in general lighting conditions. The center bottom weight that it seems to have is very close to what I calculate when compared to a spotmeter sampling or the averaging meter finders. Head to head with a MX meter and they are almost always the same. The TTL ring would have been a nice touch, but I didn't get that with the purchase so it is very cumbersome to change shutter speeds.
If you find one working well, I would say it does a good job in most conditions. If you do land an old one, check it carefully as the meters are reported to shift in values over time.
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Pentaxian Registered: February, 2009 Location: Arizona Posts: 1,272
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 16, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Well built, Fairly accurate metering, Removable | | Cons: | Heavy | |
The Asahi TTL is basically the same as the later "Pentax" designated TTL for the P67. The Asahi TTL was used on both the non MLU, non U.S. version camera and the MLU U.S. version 6x7. However the non MLU U.S. Honeywell finder was probably identical in function to the Asahi finder.
The Asahi TTL is a very tough finder. I have dropped mine while on the camera and tripod and dinged it without any change in function. The prism itself is a roof pentaprism and is probably made of high index glass. This type of glass is very dense and therefore making this finder heavy. This TTL in combination with the reflex mirror, corrects the upsidedown and backwads image coming from the lens, so that the shooter is not burdoned with situations like a view camera produces on the ground glass.
The meter in this finder is somewhat accurate, however a gray card is recommended. This metered prism can be faked out by bright or dark areas in the frame and give wrong readings. Over time, the meters can and do drift and need to be recalibrated to bring them back to accuracy. I don't recommend buying one of these TTLs used, unless in mint shape. Better to get the newer Pentax designated one in mint shape if possible. Be aware that outer bay lenses will not always activate the TTL meter. It is a design flaw.
Overall, the Asahi TTL prism is a pretty handy device but takes some getting used to because the viewing area is not 100% and it adds weight to the system.
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