Upgrade 6x7 to 67ii?

cluttered · May 13, 2011

I've got a Pentax 6x7 (MLU version) which I quite enjoy, but I'm now considering upgrading it to a 67ii. My 6x7 is in reasonable condition, but this particular 67ii is in very good condition and is with box and manual etc.

Obviously I'd incur a substantial cost to upgrade given that 6x7 bodies are fairly cheap whereas 67ii ones are still expensive (eg $1000 to $1500).

So, would I gain much in upgrading? A built-in meter would speed up my workflow, and the option to be able to use aperture priority would be handy, even if I wouldn't always use it. Are there any other items which would make it worthwhile, or should I just keep my money and stick with the 6x7?

Thanks!

bobt99silver · May 13, 2011

I went from a 6x7 with mirror lock up to a 67II with the AE prism II. I'm glad I made the change.

The biggest concern to me was the condition of the cameras. My 6x7 had to get repaired a couple times, and the local shop that fixed it closed so that was a factor. I had the opportunity to get a 67II in what looked like very good condition, so I traded in the old one on the newer one. It's served me well without a problem.

The 6 zone metering on the new one is generally very good. Exposure compensation is easy to dial in, you still have to remember to reset it when you don''t want it but it sits out on top. I like the user interface of the 67II better.

I'm glad I made the change.

cluttered · May 13, 2011

Thanks for the feedback.

I hadn't thought about condition/servicing, that's a good point.

Keytarjunkie · May 15, 2011

I haven't had any serious issues with my 6x7. Whenever I think about the 67ii, I go and look at some of the images on flickr, and ask myself if they really look any better than anyone else's images from the 6x7...the answer has never been yes. Yeah it's a great camera and has a lot of convenient features over the original. But, is it really necessary. At least as a college student, the answer is no. It's still a great camera, but I feel like if I had $1000-1500 to spend, I would buy a Mamiya 7ii and 80/4 any day.

Denverdad · May 17, 2011

I too have a 6x7 w/MLU and have often thought of upgrading to the 6x7II. The attracting features to me are the brighter viewfinder (or so I have read), and the possibility of being able to manually set shutter speed in 1/2-stop increments. The latter requires a modification be done to the camera, but for me would be worth it for how I like to bracket with slide film. Otherwise, the many electronic features of the II don't mean a whole lot to me, although I might come to like them if I had them.

cluttered · May 18, 2011

Denverdad said:
The attracting features to me are the brighter viewfinder (or so I have read)

That's one aspect of my 6x7 that is a bit annoying, the viewfinder is a bit dim. I've done what I can to clean the viewfinder but it's still not great, even with a f2.4 lens. It's not too bad but it could be better.

and the possibility of being able to manually set shutter speed in 1/2-stop increments.

I work around this limitation on my 6x7 by using half-stop apertures. ie, on my lenses there's a clear click on the aperture ring on each half stop.

Otherwise, the many electronic features of the II don't mean a whole lot to me, although I might come to like them if I had them.

Same here, although the option to use aperture priority would be nice to have occasionally.

dpurdy · May 18, 2011

You can always install a Beattie screen in the 6x7. Probably cheaper than upgrading to the 67II.
I have never felt compelled to spend my money upgrading because the lenses are the same.

mtjade2007 · May 18, 2011

67ii is a more modern and much better camera than the old 6x7 and 67. It's likely going to be a one way trip for you going from 6x7 or 67 to 67ii. I got mine 8 years ago and have enjoyed it every bit ever since. It is no longer made. If you run into one in great shape with a good price you may regret it for not getting it. I have built a system on it with 10 lenses. It can do everything except commercial wedding shoots.

Sirius Glass · May 18, 2011

It is an APUG tradition that when a post like this appears that some big bore has to push their agenda for their own equipment choice even though the OP does not want to hear about anything other than his desires.

Given that is vacuum has not been filled:

Now is a good time to step up to great MF equipment! Step up to Hasselblad and think square!

Now that I got that off my chest, have a nice day.

Steve

lxdude · May 18, 2011

Well, Steve, I think the OP should consider a Minox or Olympus Pen instead. Or a 5X7.

Sirius Glass · May 18, 2011

lxdude said:
Well, Steve, I think the OP should consider a Minox or Olympus Pen instead. Or a 5X7.

No, but a Tessina, http://www.submin.com/35mm/collection/tessina/index.htm

cluttered · May 18, 2011

Sirius Glass said:
Now is a good time to step up to great MF equipment! Step up to Hasselblad and think square!

Heh!

This OP is already very tempted by having a (eg) 500CM (mainly for studio portraits), but it would have to coexist with my 6x7 kit. I'm worried that they might start arguing with each other over which one is the ideal film format, and then I'd have to store them in different rooms so that they stop making snide comments at each other.

More seriously, I've not seen a good "starter" kit locally in good condition for a price that I'm comfortable with. We live in hope...

Sirius Glass · May 19, 2011

I have a similar problem. The single frame 35mm camera fight with the full frame 35mm cameras who fight with the Hasselblads who fight with the Graflex and the Graphic every time I get the equipment to go out taking photographs! The squabbling is bad enough, but name calling and insults are really quite incredible!

Steve

mtjade2007 · May 21, 2011

Sirius Glass said:
It is an APUG tradition that when a post like this appears that some big bore has to push their agenda...

Given that is vacuum has not been filled:

Steve

I joined this forum at about the same time you did. You have posted 8296 messages to the forum but I had only 241. Hum... Guess who is pushing his/her own agenda. It sure is an APUG tradition that I have not picked up yet...

By the way, there is currently a nice P67-ii on eBay. People have bid it up to $1325 and there is still more than a day for the auction to go. It sure looks hot:

http://cgi.ebay.com/PENTAX-67-II-CAMERA-AE-PRISM-KIRK-PLATE-EXCELLENT-/140548242028

Sirius Glass · May 21, 2011

mtjade2007 said:
I joined this forum at about the same time you did. You have posted 8296 messages to the forum but I had only 241. Hum... Guess who is pushing his/her own agenda. It sure is an APUG tradition that I have not picked up yet...

By the way, there is currently a nice P67-ii on eBay. People have bid it up to $1325 and there is still more than a day for the auction to go. It sure looks hot:

http://cgi.ebay.com/PENTAX-67-II-CAMERA-AE-PRISM-KIRK-PLATE-EXCELLENT-/140548242028

That post was tongue-in-cheek. I was making fun of the fact that when an OP states that he wants A or B but really does not want C, every C owner jumps in and pushes C. I was being sirius, not serious.

You really need to get with the program!

Steve

cluttered · May 21, 2011

mtjade2007 said:
By the way, there is currently a nice P67-ii on eBay. People have bid it up to $1325 and there is still more than a day for the auction to go. It sure looks hot:

http://cgi.ebay.com/PENTAX-67-II-CAMERA-AE-PRISM-KIRK-PLATE-EXCELLENT-/140548242028

It does look nice. For now I'm just looking for a local sale to keep things simple.

I'm surprised how much a P67ii sells for nowadays, the price is much more (in percentage terms) than a 6x7, and is about the same amount of money as a decent DSLR (yeh, I know, comparing apples with oranges and all that...). Or about the same as a typical 500cm+lens+back.

mtjade2007 · May 21, 2011

I agree that it is very common for people to go off and push for something else not mentioned by the OP. The problem is all the replies to this thread up to the one from me were not pushing for C. All were on the subject about upgrading from P67 to P67-ii. Maybe I need to relearn English. Did I miss something among the replies?

Sirius Glass · May 21, 2011

mtjade2007 said:
I agree that it is very common for people to go off and push for something else not mentioned by the OP. The problem is all the replies to this thread up to the one from me were not pushing for C. All were on the subject about upgrading from P67 to P67-ii. Maybe I need to relearn English. Did I miss something among the replies?

That was posted in jest, poking fun at what has happened on other threads in an effort to prevent it from happening here by striking before the event. You might want to brush up on your understanding humor in English though.

Reread post number 9 to see if you can see the humor.

mtjade2007 · May 21, 2011

Thanks for the explanation. I did not get the humor. English is my 2nd language, actually the 3rd. Sorry about that. This forum offers so much for me and I really appreciate it. Thanks again.

Sirius Glass · May 22, 2011

Read my posts and you understanding of some forms of America humor will improve. If you do not understand any of them, I will explain it to you.

2F/2F · May 22, 2011

I'd not "upgrade" until the old one dies. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, as the saying goes.

An in-camera meter may speed up your shooting, but it will also provide you with worse exposures, simply due to the fact that it is a reflected meter that reads the composition, rather than an incident meter that reads the light. Is getting worse (but probably usable, most of the time) exposures worth the convenience?

As for aperture priority, the same comments apply, as that mode gets it's information from the in-camera light meter.

In other words, it seems like a great expense for things that are not only unneeded, but will actually make your pictures worse (in a technical sense).

And besides all that, the old ones just feel way better in the hand to me, and in overall feel.

surfotog · May 22, 2011

The 67II has a number of features which, for me, make it a worthwhile upgrade. Most notably is the much brighter viewfinder, which is attributed to the 67II's focus screens, which are easily interchanged and IMHO, superior to the beattie screens, which my older 67 has. If you do a lot of long exposure work the 67II has a switch that locks the miiror up instead of using battery power. This significantly extends battery life if you're doing long exposures.
As to 2F/2F's comments, I can only say that as someone who has used the 67 system for over 10 years, I disagree that the older 67's feel better in the hand. Since I got a 67II, the 67 has been collecting dust. This is purely a matter of personal preference, you'd have to handle both and decide for yourself.
Using a reflected light meter doesn't necessarily result in worse exposures. Like all instruments you have to know how to use them. I believe Ansel Adams used reflected light spot meters with pretty good results.
The problem with the 67II's is the price, which has gone up in recent months. If i were looking for one, I'd try to find the body only, as the price of the AE prism is in the $500 range.

Sirius Glass · May 22, 2011

surfotog said:
Using a reflected light meter doesn't necessarily result in worse exposures. Like all instruments you have to know how to use them. I believe Ansel Adams used reflected light spot meters with pretty good results.

Generally with any reflected light meter, internal or hand held, if you exclude the sky or most of the sky, the light readings will be spot=on, regardless of the camera or meter.

Steve

cluttered · May 22, 2011

I use a handheld incident meter for most of my photos, except where I'm trying to get a quick/easy photo when a built-in reflected light meter would be handy. However, as the 6x7 family is not exactly a convenient point-and-shoot camera, it's more likely I'll be using the handheld meter and using a 35mm camera for the on-the-move photos.

The brighter screen in the 67ii does appeal. Ideally I'd just change the one in my 6x7 but from what I've read it's not a user-servicable item, like in (for example) my F3.

Thanks to all posters in this thread for an interesting variety of aspects to consider. I think if 67ii bodies were cheaper the upgrade would be a no-brainer, but at their current cost I'm having second thoughts about the plan.

Upgrade 6x7 to 67ii?

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