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18 years traveling with a Pentax Espio Mini

lxmike
Posted 06/01/2015 - 20:42 Link
I think it was back in 1996 that the Pentax Espio mini came to my attention, now off and on this has been my travel light camera since then, for me it has everything, its small, light but still well built, has a lovely coated sharp 32mm lens and I particularly love the panoramic mode. Prices have fluctuated over the years but on ebay at the moment you can still grab a bargain, I cannot assert highly enough how 'cute and capable' these little gems are and the battery lasts a reasonably long time to

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and what its capable of:

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lxmike
Posted 06/01/2015 - 20:44 Link
Forgot to mention that many years ago l lost the remote for my Espio mini and have not managed to find a replacement since
johnha
Posted 06/01/2015 - 20:57 Link
I carried mine everywhere in my jeans pocket for several years until it finally developed a fault (slight pressure on the back door makes it think you've loaded a new film and it advances several frames). Beautiful & brilliant camera, very small for a 135 and an excellent lens.

The IR remote I bought for mine still works with my K-5 (as does the one from my Zoom90-WR), so there's a chance a modern IR remote would also work with the Espio Mini.

For those that can't remember, the in-store promotional arrangement has the camera inside a book with the pages cut to 'hide' it - hence the 'Espio' name.

John.
lxmike
Posted 06/01/2015 - 21:26 Link
johnha wrote:
I carried mine everywhere in my jeans pocket for several years until it finally developed a fault (slight pressure on the back door makes it think you've loaded a new film and it advances several frames). Beautiful & brilliant camera, very small for a 135 and an excellent lens.

The IR remote I bought for mine still works with my K-5 (as does the one from my Zoom90-WR), so there's a chance a modern IR remote would also work with the Espio Mini.

For those that can't remember, the in-store promotional arrangement has the camera inside a book with the pages cut to 'hide' it - hence the 'Espio' name.

thanks for the reply, especially the interesting info regarding the 'hide it book' promotion

John.

Roscoe
Posted 25/01/2015 - 14:02 Link
I still have my Espio S50 which is in perfect working order, and was my first Pentax digital camera.

Due to airline restrictions regarding weight, and the ever decreasing under seat stowage,we have just purchased a Panasonic TZ60, to take on holidays requiring air travel, as sadly the trusty K20D is too heavy and bulky to put under the front seat when flying(never ever put your camera in the overhead locker).
At 18 megapixels, 30X zoom and a host of other features we can only hope that we can get some good shots with this camera.
johnriley
Posted 25/01/2015 - 15:06 Link
There's something very liberating about travelling with a compact camera - all that weight and bulk goes and it encourages us to take our cameras absolutely everywhere.

The WG series are good for all weather use, the MX_1 is better but not weather resistant. The Q-S1 kit is brilliant in being versatile and not bulky even when we get tempted to add more lenses!
Best regards, John
johnha
Posted 26/01/2015 - 21:36 Link
My travel gear used to be a K-5 (without a grip) and DA17-70, which together are still quite bulky. I now use my MX-1 instead (almost the same capability). But the compact size makes it more portable when I need to carry a small camera, and it also allows me to take my LX and three lenses as well
gartmore
Posted 27/01/2015 - 12:53 Link
It's one of my favourites, I bought it to use at the birth of my daughter in 1995. The lens has always been highly regarded and was what I took with me on holiday for many years.

Lxmike, it's Remote Control F
Ken
“We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson -
G1DRP
Posted 29/03/2015 - 21:16 Link
I used to carry an Olympus XA everywhere and I was always really pleased with the results. I still have a couple of XAs and a Rollei 35 somewhere.
Cheers,

Ian
ChrisPlatt
Posted 29/03/2015 - 22:28 Link
I have always been a big fan of 35mm pocket cameras and have tried many different models.
My Pentax Espio Mini broke after only about a dozen rolls.

Chris
Bring back the latent image!

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