The Pentax 6x7 at Work

The Landmark Diner. Buckhead,Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1998 I received a commission from Fortune-Johnson Construction Company of Atlanta to photograph some of their projects, including a large condominium complex still under construction and one of their smaller projects, the Landmark Diner in Buckhead.

I used several different cameras for the project, including my Calumet-Cambo 4x5 view camera and a Hasselblad. My workhorse for architectural photography, however, was my Pentax 6x7, which, paired with the great 45mm Takumar wide-angle lens, was used for the above photo of the diner.

Big and heavy, the Pentax was nonetheless a great camera for travel and location work. I have always believed the 6x7 gave me the highest percentage of "keepers" of any camera I have ever owned. That doesn't seem important in this era of digital photography, when we often fire off a barrage at every subject because "it doesn't cost anything."

Actually, it does cost something. It costs the careful look, the study of your subject to determine the best, most expressive way to render the subject. When your camera only holds ten exposures, each one costing well more than a dollar for film and processing, one becomes very careful indeed before pressing the shutter button.

Of course, one can work carefully with a digital camera. But the temptation is always to "spray and pray." Digital photography has fulfilled George Bernard Shaw's dictum: "A photographer is like a codfish, which produces a million eggs in order that one may reach maturity."

 The clubhouse at the condo complex. Another Pentax 6x7/45mm lens shot. This scene was lit with three commercial-size flash units.

 If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Click on the link at left for information about ordering original signed prints from the Rock City Barns book.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2026 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography      architectural photography   Pentax 6x7 camera      PentaxTakumar 45mmlens     film photography   Georgia     Atlanta    Buckhead     4x5 Calumet-Cambo view camera    Hasselblad camera