Pentax 67 Left Handed Grip

So this is a random question. Does anyone out there know of any differences in manufacture for the Pentax 67 left handed grip? The reason I ask is because most of the time I see them with a sort of burnt orange wood grain, however the one on mine is a more dark chocolate almost walnut wood grain and the shape is slightly different. It works just fine, but it just looks different from every other picture I've seen of the left handed grip.

Did Pentax change the design at some point? Or is mine perhaps a third party generic grip?

Just curious.

Just went and looked at mine and it's a slightly lighter color than yours, but not substantially. I'm sure there are natural variations in the wood color over the many they made. A more useful grip IMO is this:

Dead Link Removed

Pentax used 4 types of wood for the original grips, cherrywood being the most sought after. The grips were finished with lacquer which gave them added depth of colour and protected the finish. It did not make the grip slippery as many people first thought. Many grips are still in pristine condition despite the last ones being discontinued from manufacturer in 1994.

Yeah, I have been eyeing one of those right handed grips for a little while now. I may end up getting one at some point. I do really like the left handed grip though. Not so much for when I'm making a photograph and holding the camera to my eye, but it is great for when I'm just moving about and carrying the camera while inspecting a scene. Lol, I can carry the camera around like I would a hand bag.

arealitystudios said:

Yeah, I have been eyeing one of those right handed grips for a little while now. I may end up getting one at some point. I do really like the left handed grip though. Not so much for when I'm making a photograph and holding the camera to my eye, but it is great for when I'm just moving about and carrying the camera while inspecting a scene. Lol, I can carry the camera around like I would a hand bag.

Click to expand...

What!? You haven't skilled up to portage a big Pentax 67 on a tripod as you wander about? Shameful!

Mine is slightly more brown and has laquer on it, it has been used quite a lot and some of the surface has been worn away, it still looks woody, though.
I also do not use it for taking pictures, I love it for walking around to carry the camera, it just sort of falls naturally in that position.

The two pictures of the guy holding the Pentax 67 in the West End Camera Club blog post should not be seen as the correct way of holding this large camera. The lens must be cradled during the actual shooting handheld, and as a long-time professional user, I cannot agree that having two grips on the camera improves anything in the actual shooting practice, other than a bit of cosmetic improvement (but it's a working camera, not a dolly).

When the P67 is tripod-mounted, the use of MLU is standard procedure prior to tripping the shutter. This technique will guarantee beautifully sharp images while hand-holding will very potentially introduce blur from shutter/mirror inertia (and we are talking about quite a large shutter and mirror!). The early Pentax 6x7 (1969) was not as well dampened in the shutter area as the later Pentax 67 (1989).

I use 1/30 quite a lot and I have never had blurred images due to shutter and / or mirror induced vibrations.
But I agree with the guy holding the camera all wrong.
I grip it with the right hand with my right index finger resting on the release while the massive butt of the camera rests peacefully in the left palm of my hand, i can then use the left fingers for focusing.
The wooden grip is solely for carrying, it also looks cool.