The Pentax IQZoom (US) or Pentax 140M (UK) seems to be a gem of a camera. I like the idea of having something small I can take out if needed, and over the years have tried many. Most seem to give only average results – this camera seems to me, a mark above the rest!
It offers a focal Length of 38 mm – 140 mm and an aperture range of f4.8-f12 nothing ground-breaking but not too bad for a compact camera zoom. Mainly I’d use the 38mm end. Focus is down to 2.6 ft – not bad either. The lens is apparently 8 elements in 6 groups, and it only uses 1 Cr123a battery for power – often cameras like this use two.
The auto exposure offers shutter speeds from 2 secs to 400th apparently, which to me seems a good enough range, and whilst it is auto focus, it only actually has 5 zones, rather like the good old Olympus trip with 4 – but hey, it works!
I used another roll of my old out-of-date film up to test it. I rated the 200asa film at 100, as it’s 20 years out of date! The results from the film are as expected average, but I could use it to check focus, shutter, light leak etc and all seems OK, so I think for me this is a keeper!
S.H.O.U.T. 