Pentax Espio 120mi
Through This Window : A £1.50 Pentax and the Poetry of Film The Pentax Espio 120mi isn’t a marvel of modern engineering—and that’s exactly why it’s charming. This late‑90s compact 35mm point‑and‑shoot was designed for everyday spontaneity rather than technical showmanship. I picked mine up in a charity shop for £1.50, loaded it with Ilford HP5 Plus, and let it do what it was built for: wander. Despite the humble price tag, the Espio 120mi is no disposable toy. Its 38–120mm f/4.8–12.5 zoom lens is built from 7 elements in 6 groups, giving you a surprisingly flexible range from wide to short telephoto. Autofocus comes from a passive 5‑point array that locks on from 0.65m to infinity, helped along by a low‑light assist lamp. Exposure is fully automatic, with shutter speeds from 2 seconds to 1/400s and DX‑coded ISO support from 25 to 3200. The camera packs in all the essentials: built‑in flash, red‑eye reduction, backlight compensation, and a ...
