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AOHC IN PORTUGAL 2001
By Pedro Oliveira (popentax@oninet.pt) In April 29th, 2001 one more photo fair took place in the city of Porto. This event, which takes place five times per year, is an important meeting point for the camera collector and second hand market. AOHC participates in this event since June 1998, displaying AOCo historic cameras in order to capture the attention of future members and to show that Pentax had and still has an important role in the photographic panorama. For this fair I tried to show all the Pentax SLR formats, but it was not possible to find a Pentax 67 available on time, so I selected the following cameras, all black: Spotmatic w/ Takumar 500mm f/4.5, ES w/ Super Multi Coated 50mm f/1.4, KX w/ SMC Pentax 50mm f/1.4, ME Super w/ SMC Pentax-M 40mm f/2.8, LX w/ SMC Pentax 50mm f/1.2 Winder and Dial Data, Super A w/ SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/1.4 and Motor Drive A, Z-1 w/ SMC Pentax FA* 85mm f/1.4 and Auto 110 w/ Pentax-110 24mm f/2.8. Meanwhile, as I bought a very interesting set (a MZ-3 QD with SMC FA 43mm f/1.9 Limited all packed in a special wood presentation box) I decided to bring it to the fair together with a Tower 22 with Asahi Kogaku 58mm f/2.4 just to make the contrast "old vs. new", "black vs. chrome". Pedro Santos, a new AOHC member from Lisbon, brought his LX with SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/4.0 Macro and Z-1 with SMC Pentax FA* 24mm f/2.0. The Takumar 500mm f/4.5 was kindly lent by another AOHC member, Abel Santos. In these special days we have the chance to meet all the aficionados of collectible cameras, maintaining endless conversations about this hobby that we all love. And a curiosity: an Italian tourist showed up at the photo fair and is a Pentax user (Bruno Spurio carried a Z-1 w/ SMC FA 28-105/4-5.6). He was surprised to find a Pentax club and even more surprised to know that it was an Italian club. He and a friend have a site about photography (www.operamundi.it) and Bruno showed interest in knowing more about AOHC. Regarding new members, there is the possibility of one new member. The business side of the fair is never forgotten and in the Pentax department one could find one Z-1 body, one 645 body with 55/2.8 + LS 75/2.8 + 120 insert, one black ESII with SMC Takumar 50/1.4, two Spotmatic and one SP1000 (Asahi and Honeywell), and several lenses M42 and K. Two weeks later (May, 10-13) AOHC was present at the FOTIMAG 2001 exposition held at the Exponor fairground, near Porto. FOTIMAG 2001 is like a "micro-Photokina" but all the major camera brands, through the local distributors, were at the show and had very impressive stands, where one could test cameras and lenses. Beltrão Coelho, SA (BCL), the Portuguese Pentax distributor since 1958, had a nice stand in which the new MZ-S was the main attraction: its well-finished body, solid feel and excellent ergonomics make this camera a very appealing one. Apart the MZ-S, one could try the 645N with FA 45-85/4.5 and the 67II with 55/4.0 as well as several big FA* lenses (600/4, 300/4.5 and 250-600/5.6) with MZ-S and Z-1P bodies. In general Pentax had a very positive participation in the FOTIMAG 2001. Regarding the AOHC presence in this exposition, I had the chance to use three shelves in the very visible front corner of the stand of "MacroZoom", an important retail shop in the Porto city, "MacroZoom" organized several fashion shows that gathered many photographers as well as public, which was a very effective way of calling attention to the stand. The AOHC exposition caught the attention of many and some wanted to know more about our club, meaning that Pentax fans are more than we think. |
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 MacroZoom booth at Fotimag 2001 |
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Page updated 15th Aug. 2001