Just noticed

I have my two Pentax coffee mugs. One is an original from the 1970s and the other a green Pentax Sports Optics one.

Simply hold a Pentax....mug of coffee.

I actually photographed the Beatles on a photocall in Carnaby street in 1969 (that is old!). I was on the old London Evening News.

Standard Fleet Street kit then was Nikon Fs and still a good few Rollei TLRs. I don't ever recall seeing Pentaxes. I had used one on the Reading Evening Post with a nice 35mm f2 Takumar but for Fleet Street purposed the tank like build and motor drive of the F put it in a class of its own.

You'd occasionally see Pentaxes in films that had (actor) press photographers in them but that was usually because they borrowed them from the film techs.

I thought Victor Blackman of Amateur Photographer fame used Pentax and he always styled himself as working for the Express I think.

Mike

Many years back when I was starting out the money was in short supply and well I compeated against guys with all the gear that even pros dream aboy. Well with in three years I was 3 star, they still used star ratings back then. Some had canon outfits with all the lenses one wished tp own or Nikons with all the extras as well a the Big 6x6 from Sweden. I all in the eye and how we see and compose in the end. Do this exercise; take a simple digital, in the dark ages a instermatic would be used, creat set catogory ie. flowers, and then every one must take a picture of a flower or even the same flower with the same camera and then without any digital effects see what every one comes out with. I all in the vision as some famous photographer said many many years back

This is a fun club activity to do.

No more emotionally attached to a camera than I am a car, all I want is something that does the job well day in and day out

So who makes the camera equivalent of my old Honda?

Cheers
Rich

Don't know. But Pentax is definitely the equivalent of my Toyota ( import ).
All the toys you'd need, in an easy to understand manner. Build quality only envied by other manufacturers and a price I could afford.

That'll do for me.

No, I knew Vic, going to all his jobs on his beloved BMW bikes. I used a bike for a while too, so we used to chat about that. He used Nikons, as did every Fleet street photographer. Most had a Rollei in their bag, too, for the better flash synch speed for car shots.

The occasional Leica (M2s were the favourite, Vic had some)was seen but only in specialist situations.

He was a highly opinionated bloke, which was what made his AP column so readable. Anyone remember his advocacy of nose grease for getting hiding scratches on negs?

I always did wonder just how much of a real newspaper photographer he was. You must have known him when he was a bit older I guess as I think he was a born again biker in later years wasn't he? he was always banging on about jump for joy poses as I recall. He was entertaining.

Mike

That "jump for joy" concept was just so.....yuck......wasn't it? As corny as it gets!

Well yes but it had a number of benefits as it distracted the subject from having their photograph taken and showed off legs and figures. He got a lot of mileage from it.

That's for sure!

I had forgotten all about him, I wish I hadn't been reminded.

I went to Fleet Street when I was 25 in 1969 and, as you say, Vic was one of the old guard then. He was a bit of an old whatsit, really but he was a real newspaper photographer, if not a particularly good one.

He had a deal with BMW that he got their bikes at a special discount in return for sitting actresses and pop singers on them. He used to get a new BMW every year and then BMW found out that he was flogging them at a profit, making money on the deal to buy the new discounted one and so on and on. So BMW stopped the deal!

He had a reputation on the Express of being rather lazy. The Express was a proper newspaper in those days and had some of the best names around, David Cairns, Terry Fincher, Bil Lovelace et al.

I asked him once what his AP column paid but he wouldn't tell me. One of my fellow photogs on the Evening News was Mike Maloney, who went on to do an AP column (or was it WDC?) himself.

Mike Maloney was in AP, sending people that dreadful "I've been mauled by Maloney" badge for far too long!

The writers I had far more time for were people like Kevin MacDonnell and, much later, Jack Schofield and David Kirkpatrick.

[quote:3496ace15f="hkwiles"]Maybe we should all join the fray and wear our Pentax T shirts ?

GOOD POINT, all around where do we purchase the T-SHIRTS and let's get ties and if we wanted be funny cufflinks to go with my DALEEK ones.

Everyone have a great weekend, and remember are in the PENTAX group and the others can be just their groups.