The Pentax A3000/A3 came out in 1984, and it's an odd one. The large grip is due to the battery compartment that houses two AA's for the motor drive. The grip also has a threaded release socket at the front. Shooting is through aperture priority, but with a Pentax-A lens, it can be shot in Program mode. It's like a manual focus point-and-shoot.

I'll be trying this soon. Mine came with the nifty fifty seen here. The camera was only $10, although S&H and taxes brought it up to $33.60, which is still not bad for some fun and to add to my collection.

Tags:   Pentax A3000 Pentax A3 my cameras camera collection

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Empty chairs at an empty home, lot to be developed.

The Pentax A3000 is working in Program mode, but is not metering properly in Aperture priority, with shutter speeds chosen being too slow, so overexposure and blur from hand shake. I'll buy some alkaline AA's, because all I had were NiMH, so it may be a voltage thing.

Program mode is fine, except everything is chosen by the camera, and it picks smaller apertures to have greater depth of field. I was using 400 speed film on my test, and most of my shots were around 1/60th, which I could see the camera choosing, so I think for aperture, it was selecting f/8-f/11. Exposures were fine, but I prefer to be around 1/125th just to prevent motion blur/hand shake.

Pentax A3000, test roll
SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7
Arista 400
Blazinal 1:100, stand developed, 68°F/20°C
Pakon F135

Tags:   Pentax A3000 Pentax SMC-A 50mm f/1.7 camera test test roll first roll Arista EDU Ultra 400 Blazinal Rodinal stand development stand developed Pakon F135 chairs home empty Pentax A3

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The Pentax A3000 is working in Program mode, but is not metering properly in Aperture priority, with shutter speeds chosen being too slow, so overexposure and blur from hand shake. I'll buy some alkaline AA's, because all I had were NiMH, so it may be a voltage thing.

Program mode is fine, except everything is chosen by the camera, and it picks smaller apertures to have greater depth of field. I was using 400 speed film on my test, and most of my shots were around 1/60th, which tI could see the camera was choosing, so I think for aperture, it was selecting f/8-f/11. Exposures were fine, but I prefer to be around 1/125th just to prevent motion blur/hand shake.

Pentax A3000, test roll
SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7
Arista 400
Blazinal 1:100, stand developed, 68°F/20°C
Pakon F135

Tags:   Pentax A3000 Pentax SMC-A 50mm f/1.7 camera test test roll first roll Arista EDU Ultra 400 Blazinal Rodinal stand development stand developed Pakon F135 sentry sentries trees heritage home Pillath House Pentax A3

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Pentax A3000, test roll
SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7
Arista 400
Blazinal 1:100, stand developed, 68°F/20°C
Pakon F135

Tags:   Pentax A3000 Pentax A3 Arista EDU Ultra 400 Blazinal Rodinal Black and White B&W home developed Pakon F135 camera test test roll first roll frog toy

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Pentax A3000, test roll
SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7
Arista 400
Blazinal 1:100, stand developed, 68°F/20°C
Pakon F135

Tags:   Pentax A3000 Pentax A3 Arista EDU Ultra 400 Blazinal Rodinal Black and White B&W home developed Pakon F135 camera test test roll first roll lost cat poster Jack

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