| Review of: Pentax 6x7 by Paul Ewins on Tue March 2, 2010 | Rating: 0 | View more reviews | |
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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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