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Pentax Espio Mini

Roger Moore on bottom, Tony Curtis on top. Coffee right
This is a review of the Pentax Espio Mini - a camera i had for a couple of months and shot half a film with it (the other half was shot with my OM-2n).

This is a compact point and shoot camera from the mid-90's, a camera that did not receive a lot of attention when new (there are not many coming up for sale in the second hand market) and it took people a bit of time to re-discover and elevate it to an almost cult camera that fetches around £120 to £200 on the Internet (that is more that my Nikon F5).

The Espio Mini is Pentax's take on how the Mju-2 should look like. They are about the same size and weight although the little Pentax is more square and more easy to hold.
The battery compartment cap is small and easy to break. Beware
 Where the Espio Mini really shines, it is in the viewfinder department. The camera projects frame lines and shades part of the viewfinder in order to compensate for parallax correction when you shoot from too close and it also masks the frame when you use the Panorama mode.
Left: Normal / Middle: Panorama / Right: Parallax correction
 The lens on the camera is a 32mm f/3.5 Pentax lens which to me looks like being multicoated. It is a triplet, 3 elements in three groups but it performs exceptionally well. I personally find the 32mm a bit awkward, too wide for me (but then the 35mm is also too wide for me) and copes well with back lit subjects without any signs of ghosting.
A tad of vignetting visible

Pentax Espio Mini Versus Olympus Mju-2
Virtually same size

It just happens that i have an Olympus Mju-2 and this little Pentax at the same time so i can compare them for the rest of this review.
* Viewfinder. The Pentax has more functional viewfinder but both are too small
* Dimensions: About the same - one is more square-ish, the other (Olympus) is more streamlined.
* Noise: The Pentax is a bit more quiet.
* Build quality: The Olympus seems a bit more substantial as a camera, certainly the clam door is better put together.
Lens: Aha, a bit difficult to tell. I took two pictures with both cameras (a couple of days apart) and i cannot see which one performs better
Taken with the Espio
Taken with the Olympus Mju-2
The Olympus had a Tri-X in there and the Pentax a Foma 200. There is a bit more contrast on the Olympus but that might be the film. Both developed in HC-110.
Olympus on the left, Pentax on the right
Olympus on the left, Pentax on the right
If you ask me, both preform exceptionally well.
 
Conclusion
This little Pentax is a well thought out camera that is more likely to find it's way in a street photographer's bag. The slightly wider lens is excellent, it is a 32mm f/3.5 lens that performs very well. Price remains an issue here, the prices seem to be going up and up and by the looks of it, it will become quite an expensive camera in the future.
In the second hand market, the Espio-Mini faces stiff competition from the Olympus Mju-2. Performance is very good, size and weight is good but which of the two is better? Difficult to say, see those cameras as the Roger Moore and Tony Curtis of the camera world, both very interesting cameras performing very well. Get the one that is in better condition and don't look back, you won't be disappointed. 

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