Camera for the rest of us review: Pentax P3, a handy little classic

This particular camera has a story. My friends Alan and Mary owned a flower shop where I worked for for 12 years. This was the "shop camera". The portfolio for their wedding work was shot with this camera and a nice off-camera flash gun. Eventually, Al and Mary got tired of the business, Al took online classes to complete his BFA in film and television, and, we all lined up jobs offering health and retirement benefits which this small business couldn't afford. I ended up selling coffee. Alan handed me this camera and the flash when we closed shop back in 2001 or 2002.

The Pentax P3 was a consumer grade film SLR in the 1980s. Unlike the use for three years and throw away DSLRs of today, even the pedestrian camersas of the '70s and '80s were build to last. The bottom plate and the film door are both made of metal. The rest of the body is hard plastic. Not scary-flimsy plastic, though, this camera can take some hard knocks...and it has. It is manual focus only. Exposure is either full-manual or a full-automatic program setting which sets both the aperture and shutter speed for you. The P3 is one of the easiest cameras to shoot manual with. Actual and recommended shutter speeds are matched in the viewfinder by bright, easy to read LEDs. The shutter speed wheel is easily manipulated with just the right index finger without taking the camera from your eye..

The Pentax professional model at the time was the LX, the P3 was aimed at beginners, hobbyists, and snapshooters. ISO is set via the film's DX coding only. there is no override. Also, It has program automatic, but no aperture priority. The lack of aperture priority is no big loss, though, manual exposure is easy to accomplish if you are looking to control depth of field. The shutter speed wheel is easily moved with just the right index finger without taking one's eye off the viewfinder. To set the camera to program, you simply move the aperture ring on the lens until it lock in the "A" position.

I have the kit lens which is the SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2. Pentax has several fine 50mm lenses, this one got the least respect. Manual focusing with AF lenses is fine, but it's not what they are made for. A real manual focus lens like this 50mm is smooth, accurate and feels really nice to use. Because of the fast aperture of the lens, the bright LEDs in the viewfinder, and the P3's low profile, this is a camera I would not hesitate to put 400 or 800 film in and take out for nighttime street photography.

Features:
Manual Focus
Manual Exposure/Program Autoexposure
Shutter speeds up to 1/100 sec. 1/100 sec flash sync
AE Lock
Depth of field Preview

The Pentax P3 is a small, lightweight, but solid little manual camera. It's not pretty like my Nikons, but, it works well. It's good to throw in a backpack or to take with you when weight and compactness is a priority, which is most of the time for most of us who have no interest in schlepping a professional "on assignment" kit around.

Photos shot on Ilford XP-2 Super 400

The highlights on all of the shots on this roll were very slightly over exposed,. I brought the average exposure down just a little in Photoshop.

These kids were playing 1960s garage rock and some AC/DC. I'm glad to see that good taste in music is not completely lost on the new generation.