Ansel Adams ... Pentax?

SOS7 · 06-02-2023, 06:53 AM - **1 Like**

The Asahi Pentax Spotmeter V - Ansel Adams trusted tool. - Retro Pixel
This indicates Ansel Adams used this Pentax spot meter...
Did He also use the Pentax MX?
Someone has claimed this in a Youtube post...
Repairing Ansel Adams Pentax MX

You Tube

Curious?

BarneyL · 06-02-2023, 07:12 AM

I don't think he had been photographing with small format cameras much

gatorguy · 06-02-2023, 07:33 AM

Originally posted by SOS7

The Asahi Pentax Spotmeter V - Ansel Adams trusted tool. - Retro Pixel
This indicates Ansel Adams used this Pentax spot meter...
Did He also use the Pentax MX?
Someone has claimed this in a Youtube post...
Repairing Ansel Adams Pentax MX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssIxSWZ6XrA
Curious?

From what I've read it is a verified fact that Ansel Adams relied on a Pentax Spotmeter V.
The Asahi Pentax Spotmeter V - Ansel Adams trusted tool. - Retro Pixel

If he used a Pentax camera at some point I'm not finding any reference to it, other than the one you linked.

**StiffLegged** · 06-02-2023, 08:11 AM

I doubt very much if Adams used an MX. He did use a Leicaflex, set to manual exposure iirc and many people would be surprised to hear a Hasselblad 6x6 cm was used latterly for his work, not just large format field cameras.

wkraus · 06-02-2023, 08:54 AM - **2 Likes**

Concerning the MX rumour: just because one A. Adams engraved his name on the camera? The German Wikipedia lists entries on no less than 43 A. Adams and only one out of them is Ansel. The English wikipedia likely has many more covered, but it is less straightforward to count them. Although I’m sure Ansel missed a great experience if he never shot an MX, the chances that the camera in the video was his are extremely slim.

pschlute · 06-02-2023, 10:30 AM - **2 Likes**

Worth pointing out AA died 8 years after the MX release.

Wasp · 06-02-2023, 11:49 AM - **3 Likes**

AA using a Hasselblad is a matter of record.

Lord Lucan · 06-02-2023, 12:22 PM - **4 Likes**

The video title is clickbait, and the guy claiming this is Ansel's Adams' camera is just having a laugh. There must be tens of thousands of A Adams in the world and he has no other evidence. Would be worth a fortune at auction if it were. One of the YouTube comments is that the repair company Ace seen on the label around 3:20 was in New Orleans (I don't know USA phone number allocations but perhaps someone else can confirm that), which is a long way from AA's San Francisco base. Anyway, I understood that AA used an Olympus for 35mm, because in his memoirs (or some other writing) he complained that his OM4 instruction manual did not explain spot metering adequately.

He may well have used a Pentax Spotmeter V but I believe he later used the digital spotmeter. If he did not then I must have sold mine under false pretences because I advertised it as "As used by Ansel Adams!"

tuco · 06-02-2023, 06:15 PM

I'm sure AA didn't use the Spotmeter V early in his carrier because the model V wasn't available until around 1975 or so but there were earlier models of the one-degree spotmeter he could use. And it shouldn't be a surprise he used it. It is a popular one-degree spotmeter among sheet film photographers who employ the Zone System.

In AA's book, The Negative, he gives test results both for sheet and 120 roll film so he clearly he shot medium format too.

SOS7 · 06-03-2023, 03:01 PM

The dates of the MX do work with His life...
Pentax MX - Wikipedia
The fact that no-one here has any hard evidence certainly makes Me sceptical.
Thanks.

**gaweidert** · 06-03-2023, 04:11 PM

It would not surprise me if AA used a Pentax SLR as a walk around camera. Maybe even for scouting a location and making a few proof shots. Back then Pentax was one of the big SLR brands and not an afterthought.

SOS7 · 09-22-2023, 10:17 AM

You Tube

Ansel Adams Yosemite Photos, Portraitures & Teaching
This indicates Ansel did use 35mm... 4minutes 40seconds an Ansel contact sheet from 1930's.

Dartmoor Dave · 09-22-2023, 10:41 AM - **5 Likes**

Who the heck cares?

Ooh, Hemingway used an Underwood typewriter, and I use one of those too so we must be kindred spirits.

Oh, wow, Picasso painted in oils on canvas! And I paint in oils on canvas too!!!

Seriously, who the heck cares? Do you really need the validation of thinking that Saint Ansel might have owned a piece of equipment with the same brand name that you use?

**StiffLegged** · 09-22-2023, 12:29 PM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by SOS7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fpu4bjFKlU
Ansel Adams Yosemite Photos, Portraitures & Teaching
This indicates Ansel did use 35mm... 4minutes 40seconds an Ansel contact sheet from 1930's.

The well-known portrait of a mischievous Georgia O'Keefe with Orville Cox which thumbnails that video was made in 1937 by Adams using a Zeiss Contax: he'd got the camera the previous year:

This photo of Adams with the Contax was made by his good friend, Edward Weston.

However, I'm with Dave: who cares what gear one or another photographer used? (although I really don't care what gear William Eggleston used – I can imagine manufacturers paying him to not use their cameras...)

AAlfano · 09-22-2023, 01:18 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by Wasp

AA using a Hasselblad is a matter of record.

The woman in the background certainly does not look like she approves! Must be a large format view camera purist.

06-02-2023, 12:22 PM - 4 Likes	#8
Lord Lucan Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: South Wales Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,963	The video title is clickbait, and the guy claiming this is Ansel's Adams' camera is just having a laugh. There must be tens of thousands of A Adams in the world and he has no other evidence. Would be worth a fortune at auction if it were. One of the YouTube comments is that the repair company Ace seen on the label around 3:20 was in New Orleans (I don't know USA phone number allocations but perhaps someone else can confirm that), which is a long way from AA's San Francisco base. Anyway, I understood that AA used an Olympus for 35mm, because in his memoirs (or some other writing) he complained that his OM4 instruction manual did not explain spot metering adequately. He may well have used a Pentax Spotmeter V but I believe he later used the digital spotmeter. If he did not then I must have sold mine under false pretences because I advertised it as "As used by Ansel Adams!" Last edited by Lord Lucan; 06-02-2023 at 12:42 PM.

06-03-2023, 03:01 PM	#10
SOS7 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 87 Original Poster	Curious The dates of the MX do work with His life... Pentax MX - Wikipedia The fact that no-one here has any hard evidence certainly makes Me sceptical. Thanks.

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06-02-2023, 07:12 AM	#2
BarneyL Pentaxian Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 899	I don't think he had been photographing with small format cameras much

06-02-2023, 07:33 AM	#3
gatorguy Moderator Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Central Florida Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,092	Originally posted by SOS7 The Asahi Pentax Spotmeter V - Ansel Adams trusted tool. - Retro Pixel This indicates Ansel Adams used this Pentax spot meter... Did He also use the Pentax MX? Someone has claimed this in a Youtube post... Repairing Ansel Adams Pentax MX https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssIxSWZ6XrA Curious? From what I've read it is a verified fact that Ansel Adams relied on a Pentax Spotmeter V. The Asahi Pentax Spotmeter V - Ansel Adams trusted tool. - Retro Pixel If he used a Pentax camera at some point I'm not finding any reference to it, other than the one you linked.

06-02-2023, 08:11 AM	#4
StiffLegged Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2018 Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,620	I doubt very much if Adams used an MX. He did use a Leicaflex, set to manual exposure iirc and many people would be surprised to hear a Hasselblad 6x6 cm was used latterly for his work, not just large format field cameras.

06-02-2023, 08:54 AM - 2 Likes	#5
wkraus Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Near Vienna, Austria Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,060	Concerning the MX rumour: just because one A. Adams engraved his name on the camera? The German Wikipedia lists entries on no less than 43 A. Adams and only one out of them is Ansel. The English wikipedia likely has many more covered, but it is less straightforward to count them. Although I’m sure Ansel missed a great experience if he never shot an MX, the chances that the camera in the video was his are extremely slim.

06-02-2023, 10:30 AM - 2 Likes	#6
pschlute Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Surrey, UK Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,202	Worth pointing out AA died 8 years after the MX release.

06-02-2023, 11:49 AM - 3 Likes	#7
Wasp Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: Pretoria Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,661	AA using a Hasselblad is a matter of record.

06-02-2023, 06:15 PM	#9
tuco Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Pugetopolis Posts: 11,026	I'm sure AA didn't use the Spotmeter V early in his carrier because the model V wasn't available until around 1975 or so but there were earlier models of the one-degree spotmeter he could use. And it shouldn't be a surprise he used it. It is a popular one-degree spotmeter among sheet film photographers who employ the Zone System. In AA's book, The Negative, he gives test results both for sheet and 120 roll film so he clearly he shot medium format too.

06-03-2023, 04:11 PM	#11
gaweidert Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Rochester, NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,325	It would not surprise me if AA used a Pentax SLR as a walk around camera. Maybe even for scouting a location and making a few proof shots. Back then Pentax was one of the big SLR brands and not an afterthought.

09-22-2023, 10:41 AM - 5 Likes	#13
Dartmoor Dave Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Dartmoor, UK Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,882	Who the heck cares? Ooh, Hemingway used an Underwood typewriter, and I use one of those too so we must be kindred spirits. Oh, wow, Picasso painted in oils on canvas! And I paint in oils on canvas too!!! Seriously, who the heck cares? Do you really need the validation of thinking that Saint Ansel might have owned a piece of equipment with the same brand name that you use?

09-22-2023, 12:29 PM - 2 Likes	#14
StiffLegged Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2018 Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,620	Originally posted by SOS7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fpu4bjFKlU Ansel Adams Yosemite Photos, Portraitures & Teaching This indicates Ansel did use 35mm... 4minutes 40seconds an Ansel contact sheet from 1930's. The well-known portrait of a mischievous Georgia O'Keefe with Orville Cox which thumbnails that video was made in 1937 by Adams using a Zeiss Contax: he'd got the camera the previous year: This photo of Adams with the Contax was made by his good friend, Edward Weston. However, I'm with Dave: who cares what gear one or another photographer used? (although I really don't care what gear William Eggleston used – I can imagine manufacturers paying him to not use their cameras...)

09-22-2023, 01:18 PM - 1 Like	#15
AAlfano Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2018 Posts: 145	Originally posted by Wasp AA using a Hasselblad is a matter of record. The woman in the background certainly does not look like she approves! Must be a large format view camera purist.