Pentax Espio 140M

$97.00

INCLUDED ITEMS:

Pentax Espio 140M 35mm film camera
CR123A battery
Roll of Kodak Gold 200 (may vary due to availability)

CONDITION: Pre-owned. Film tested and fully working. Excellent condition, with normal light signs of use.

MORE ABOUT THIS CAMERA: The Espio 140M is a mid-tier point and shoot film camera issued by Pentax from 1998 to 2000 and manufactured in the Philippines. In its release year it retailed for 1,990 French francs in France, which in today's terms is around 430 EUR, or 700 AUD. Whilst this is interesting, it's also rather academic since a point and shoot with a 140mm zoom lens isn't as admired today as it was in the nineties. Nevertheless, this is a decent model with a few nice bells and whistles including focus-lock, self-timer, infinity focus mode, bulb flash mode (which allows manually controlled shutter times of up to 1 minute), tripod socket, and DX reading from 25 to 3200 ISO. The Pentax 'Power Zoom' lens ranges from 38 to 140mm, and we suggest using a high speed film (perhaps 800 ISO or higher) when planning to use the zoom at the upper end of its range (and holding the camera as still as possible). The lens and autofocus system is quite advanced compared to many other point and shoots and Pentax drove home the point using some pretty confusing terminology like "a phase-matching passive five-point auto focus system". It runs off a single CR123A battery, making life easy for the user (they're fairly cheap and readily available), and in the manual Pentax claims this will last you about 13 rolls of film on average. Let's talk about the photos though, cos that's what really matters right? Well despite all its newfangled tech, the Espio 140M takes some pretty washed out photos and the focus doesn't always seem that sharp either, it almost feels a bit like you accidentally put expired film in it when you didn't. And no, its not just that there was something weird going on with the one we happened to take for a test or that we accidentally used expired film - no we've given a number of these a run now and this is how they shoot. So if you're looking for sharp focus and bold colours, this is not the camera for you. On the other hand, if a washed out, dreamy look is your thing then this might just be the camera for you. It performs better in good sunlight and is absolutely mesmerising with black and white film, providing misty, dreamy, nostalgic looking photos. Unfortunately we don't have any black and white from this camera but you can view five shots we took on Kodak Portra 160 colour film and use your imagination. And for those interested, here are some of the other specs of this model. The aperture ranges from f/4.8 to f/12.0. Its minimum focus distance is a fairly normal 0.8 meters, so not amazing for closeups but can get close enough. The shutter ranges in speeds from 1/400 of a second to 2 seconds (and up to a minute by holding the shutter down for longer on 'bulb flash' mode). The flash has a fairly quick 5 second recharge time. Overall a bit of a chunky camera with some great features and really the story with the Espio 140M is the dreamy washed out photos that it takes, and if you love this stuff then it's an ideal camera.

YEAR RELEASED: 1998
LENS: Pentax power zoom lens (8 elements in 6 groups)
FOCAL LENGTH:  38mm - 140mm
APERTURE:  f/4.8 - f/12.0
SHUTTER SPEED: 1/400 sec - 1 min
AUTOFOCUS: Pentax phase-matching passive five-point auto focus system
FOCUS LOCK:  Yes
INFINITY FOCUS MODE:  Yes
MACRO MODE:  No
CLOSEST FOCUS DISTANCE: 0.8m
DX READING: 25 ISO - 3200 ISO
LCD PANEL:  Yes
FILM CONFIRMATION WINDOW:  Yes
FLASH: Auto (plus red-eye reduction, flash-on, slow sync, flash-off, and bulb sync modes)
RED EYE REDUCTION:  Yes
FLASH RELOAD TIME: 5 sec
SELF-TIMER:  Yes
FILM ADVANCE/REWIND: Auto advance / auto rewind (plus a mid-roll rewind button)
TRIPOD SOCKET:  Yes
POWER SOURCE: 1x CR123A battery
BATTERY LIFE: Approximately 13 rolls of film (24-exposure)

SHIPPING & RETURNS: Free shipping (Express) on orders over $199. Twelve month warranty on all cameras. Visit Shipping & Returns for more info.