Week eight - Pentax Espio 145M super

Off on my travels for a couple of days so yet again I'm packing light with this Pentax Espio 145M super…

The various models of the Pentax Espio/IQZoom series crop up fairly regularly in charity shops and a recent trawl of the local branches turned this up just last week.

Pentax Espio 145M super

This is one of the more compact models in the range even though it boasts a 38-145mm zoom lens. Something I immediately noticed when I popped in a fresh battery was that the focal length in use is displayed on the LCD panel (as seen below). How accurate this is I'm not sure but I wish that more manufacturers had equipped their offerings with the same feature.

Pentax Espio 145M super top view

With shutter speeds ranging from 1/400 - 2 sec (1/2 sec - 1 minute in Bulb mode) and wide or spot AF it would appear to be a capable little beast albeit hampered by the slow f/4.8 - 12.5 maximum aperture. I'll be loading some Kodak Portra 800 to help minimise the shakes!