Want to know more about the classic Pentax cameras used by our Legends? In this section we profile the vintage models used in the featured video interviews and include the Legends' personal opinions of their much-loved cameras.
The Asahi Pentax S was the first in this wildly popular series and was introduced in 1958. The S1A was the fifth camera to appear in this series and was designed as a less expensive version of the previous S3 - but as all the S series looked the same on the outside, they opted against retooling the machines used to make the camera bodies. All Pentax did was to remove the option for "1/1000" from the shutter speed dial, but the setting was still available - all photographers had to do to get to a shutter speed of 1/1000th was turn the dial one extra "click".
The S1A also had an auto diaphragm and a film counter that automatically resets - something we definitely take for granted nowadays!
Bob: "What a camera this was. They used to advertise it by saying 'Just hold a Pentax.' And it was exactly right - in its day, this blazed a trail and gave amateur photographers the chance to produce professional photographs. It was wonderful. I used slide film, print film, colour negative and black and white. I've taken pictures all over the world with it and it's never let me down, ever."This 35mm SLR was introduced in 1989 and uses the K mount that Pentax DSLRs still use today - it had many innovative (for the time) automatic features including Autofocus, an automatic winder, automatic ISO and automatic exposure bracketing. Its cubist styling owed much to the 1980s and included a square shutter button.
Grant Gillard:
"My first SLR was the Pentax SFXN. I've been a photo enthusiast for about ten years -
I've done a lot of travel with it, and also used it throughout my graphic design degree -
mainly taking pictures of graphics and textures in their natural surroundings."