2026-10-30 Pentax ZOOM 70-S Camera

The Pentax ZOOM 70-S replaced the Pentax Zoom 70 (1986). The Zoom 70 was the first autofocus camera with a built-in flash and a zoom. It was the first in the “Zoom” series. This Zoom 70-S (1998) came along 12-years later.

The bulk of the controls are clustered above and below the LCD display. The red button is the shutter release. Below the slider starts at “0” off and goes through “I” on and a green macro setting. On the back edge of the top there is a rocker switch for the zoom.

On the front of the camera there are two additional switches. The top is for the self-timer. Just above the switch is a red strip that flashes as the self-timer counts down. The bottom switch increases the exposure 1.5 EV to counter back lighting that would make the subject too dark.

A different kind of diagonal slider switches the flash from Auto in red to flash always on to flash always off. You don’t have any choice in Macro mode, the flash always fires. There are warning lights next to the viewfinder window for autofocus and flash status. (that blue tape had the owner’s name on it).

When the macro mode is activated the zoom pops to this green flower line. It is surprisingly tight and a great feature to have.

The camera’s zoom does project out to a potentially dangerous distance, particularly if you drop it.

On the other hand the camera always fires up in the 35 mm zoom setting, so most of the time the camera’s zoom is pretty well protected.

The Pentax Zoom 70-S can use either 4 AAA batteries (Not Ni-Cad) available everywhere, or a 223 Lithium battery (relatively expensive and not available everywhere).

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