I was using this camera on a walk in Coventry and said to my walk-mate, “I have no idea where this camera came from, but it was in my junk box waiting to be tried.” He turned around and said, “I gave it too you!”
Oh, that answers that then and I added a label to the bottom to remind me. Maybe I should do that more often.
So here we are, a lovely point and shoot camera from 1994. And that is it, that is all I have. I did a search but didn’t find any other reviews of the camera, just people selling it which never looks good. If you look at my camera post list, you will see I have tried a few espios and have a good opinion of them. In the absence of data and posts lets look at the camera and the manual for information.
- Zoom from 38mm to 110mm (hence the name)
- Macro function
- Red eye reduction
- Mountain setting
- Self timer 10 sec – this button also accesses consecutive firing mode and double exposure
- Built in flash – this button also accesses longer exposure flash and bulb mode (bulb up to 10 mins)
- Viewfinder diopter
- Quick film loading with auto loading, forwarding and rewinding
- DX coding from 25-3200asa (non-DX coded film set to 25asa)
- Speed approximately 1/5th – 1/400th
- Aperture from f4.5 ish, I say ish as I couldn’t find definitive information.
Wow, that is a lot of technical details for someone who never put them in a post. And double wow, that is a lot for a point and shoot. I didn’t try any of them other than the regular, need to, ones on my first test roll. I simple used it as a point and shoot. I loaded a roll of Agent Shadow and took the camera around my local area and Thirsk.
Here are most of the results.
Well, they aren’t too bad, a lovely little point and shoot with a massive zoom. Well, that was probably the quickest post I have written. I could actually write more about Thirsk than I could about the camera.
A lot of the shots were taken at Thirsk Hall Sculpture Park and the high street. I mainly enjoyed the sculpture park due to the pigs. There was a field with some in and as soon as you walked near it, they ran to the gate begging for food. Luckily for my fingers, there was a big sign saying “these pigs will bite”, so I left them well alone. They were cute. I didn’t take a photo with this camera but I took a video on my phone.
Thirsk was quite busy for a cold and rainy day. It is quite famous due to its association with James Herriot. I didn’t got into that museum, but did go into the Thirsk one, which was a lovely local type one you get in famous villages.
In other news, I am really looking forward to less cloudy, rainy, snowy or icy days.
Oh, and I will return this camera to the original owner.
The Pentax Espio cameras are solid and dependable with many still sat in a drawer, forgotten and unloved. They are a great every day camera for times when you don’t want to have the weight of an SLR around your neck.
True, or when you don’t want to ruin a more expensive camera in the rain and snow.
Pentax has been a big player in the point and shoot business. Often unloved cameras as Jim rightly says. I bought an Espio 160 a couple of years ago at a really ridiculous price and was surprised to find a great camera, quality and with very complete features. Beautiful place Thirsk and excellent shots!
They are perfect at a cheap price, a few are fetching more than I think they should though. But for a throw-in-your-bag camera, they are perfect.
The quality of your images explains the oft-times high selling prices for Espios on The Bay. Who knew a “bulb” setting lurked in this camera’s controls?!
The 170sl also has a bulb setting and can go for much higher prices. So there are one or pentax point and shoots with that setting.
From results I’ve had and seen, I’d say Pentax Espios are probably the most consistently good compacts across a whole camera range, and across several generations.
I don’t think I have tried a bad one yet! Not that I can remember.