Pentax ZOOM 280p
The Pentax zoom 280-p is a beast of a ‘point and shoot’ weighing in at just over 1lb (467g with battery) as a camera of this style it’s really only rivaled in size by the Nikon Zoom Touch 800 . The 280-p though has a 28-80mm zoom lens rather than the Nikon 37-105mm. I much prefer the wide angle over the telephoto. The Pentax 280-p lens is comprised of 10 elements in 8 groups with a reasonably fast f3.5 at 28mm and f8.0 at 80mm (when compared to other zoom point and shoots from its time)
The camera has a lot of features though that help to compensate for its bulk.
- remote control built into the grip which even allows for zooming to 28/50/80mm.
- step or continuous zooming
- +-3EV exposure compensation in 1/2 steps
- Image size tracking (it can zoom automatically for portraits)
- Multiple exposures (under the drive menu)
- Interval timer settable from 10sec to 60min
- Several flash settings (Slow Speed/Bulb Sync/Auto/Daylight Sync/Forced Off)
- Focus override for infinity and spot
- Bulb timer settable from 1 second to 10 minutes
When all is said and done though it’s the image that matters and not the camera and unfortunately the Pentax zoom 280-p does not provide that good of image quality. I found it missed focus on a fair number of shots and the amount of distortions particularly at 28mm render all but the center of the image unusable. The verdict is that it’s just too heavy and it doesn’t provide enough in the final image to make up for it for general shooting. In 1993 it was one of the first point and shoot film cameras to provide this sort of focal range but it was surpassed by later models, and it’s ugly.
