Senior Member Registered: September, 2009 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 274 | | Review Date: March 2, 2010 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
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There are in fact three different versions of the 6x7.
The original version, released in 1969, had a slightly different loading system with little round checkered plates for the spool release instead of the lift up latch style found on all later models. You pushed in the plate and turned it, rather than lifting up the latch and turning it. The earliest manual (the red Asahi Pentax one) shows this arrangement.
This was upgraded with the new latch style of spool release, but still without mirror lock-up. The earliest Honeywell 6x7 manual I have (the dark blue one) shows this style of camera.
Finally there is the MLU version.
Somewhere along the way the 10/21 switch on the side became 120/220 and the number of frames on 220 dropped to 20 but that may have happened before or after MLU was adopted.
Note that there isn't a separate "Honeywell Version" per se, while Honeywell held distribution rights in the USA the finders were labelled "Honeywell Pentax" but once that agreement ceased they were labelled "Asahi Pentax" the same as everywhere else in the world. Since the logo is only on the finder and the finders are interchangeable there is no guarantee that a camera with a Honeywell finder was sold that way.
There is possibly an even earlier version, since the original advertising booklet (the yellow one) shows a chrome and black 6x7, much like a big Spotmatic although the prism is black. If it does exist (other than as a prototype) it will most likely have been sold in Japan only.
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Pentaxian Registered: February, 2009 Location: Arizona Posts: 1,272 | | Review Date: September 14, 2009 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
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There should be a distinction made in this camera review section about the early non lock up Honeywell. It was made for the US market and was cosmetically different from the MLU Asahi that followed. The Honeywell had some design differences as well. The most noticable were the film spool pins; being longer than the MLU version. This made film loading very difficult because the spools just would not go into place easily. Many Honeywell owners have filed the pins to shorten them for a better fit. The non-USA version of this camera was called Asahi Pentax, so that is why there are some Asahi bodies with no MLU. The non-USA Asahi had bolder lettering on the finder when compared with the later Asahi MLU version. Besides the pin difference on the Honeywell, it also had a different film guide on the film door than the newer models. It would also shoot 21 frames when using 220. It is rare however that one could get 21 shots out of a 220 roll because part of the frame would be cut off. This is why Pentax changed their newer models to just 20 shots. The film guide roller near the take up spool was flat black instead of chrome. Only one film start mark is seen inside the body. Battery door and lens release slider are two tone; black and silver.
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