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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
12-13-2012, 04:11 PM
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Although I don't use it any more, my favorite and best P&S film camera was a Pentax IQ Zoom 135. It was small enough to fit in a coat pocket (although not small enough for a pants or shirt pocket).
I can't explain it fully, but there was something about this little camera that gave me a lot of confidence when I used it at weddings and other events. As I recall, it only had six-segment metering, and yet it delivered near-perfect exposures every time. I want to say it also had a feature that allowed it to detect back lighting situations which forced the camera to use its built-in flash. I think it determined this by seeing a stark difference in EV between the bottom two meter segments as compared to the top two. I'm not sure if this was a ever implemented in other P&S or SLR cameras, but it worked. I don't have the instruction booklet any more, and sometimes I think I imagined this feature. Nevertheless, the IQ Zoom I had was really fantastic. I would imagine the rest of the line was good, as well.
I should mention the length of the zoom on the 135 also allowed for very nice portraits. As the model number suggests the 135 had a maximum focal length of 135mm, which let me isolate faces and couples.
I let go of the 135 when I worked at a photo lab. An elderly couple came into the store and lamented that their old P&S camera had give up the ghost. They weren't looking to go digital; they were like so many older people I met who said in so many words, "we don't understand that stuff." Although I maintain that's a defeatist attitude, I felt sorry for them since they seemed sincere, and thus sold them my IQ Zoom which wasn't seeing much action. I was saving for a K-7 at that point, so I felt it was a win-win. They got a camera and I got a camera!
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