Pentax PC35AF Twin1985

History

By the mid-1980s, the autofocus compact camera market was maturing rapidly. Single focal length AF compacts - including Pentax's own PC35AF and PC35AF-M - were being supplemented by cameras with more optical flexibility. Two competing approaches emerged: zoom lenses (mechanically complex and expensive in 1985) and dual fixed focal lengths, which offered a simpler and cheaper way to provide framing choice. The PC35AF Twin belongs to this second approach, alongside similar offerings from Olympus (AF-1 Twin, 1985) and Canon.

The "Twin" designation signals the dual-FL concept and likely informed the naming of the Olympus AF-1 Twin, which appeared in the same year, though which came first is not definitively established.

Pentax subsequently shifted toward true zoom lenses with the IQZoom and Espio families in the late 1980s, making the PC35AF Twin a transitional product between the fixed-lens and zoom eras. The dual-FL format largely disappeared from the market by the early 1990s.

Why It Matters

The PC35AF Twin is significant as a design experiment rather than a landmark product. The dual fixed focal length concept acknowledged a real consumer need - compositional flexibility - while avoiding the mechanical complexity and optical compromises of early zoom lenses. In that sense it represents a rational mid-1980s engineering choice.

The SMC Pentax lens, whichever focal lengths the Twin employs, benefits from Pentax's coating standards, giving it an optical quality edge over cheaply specified competitors. At the wider setting the camera functions like its PC35AF siblings; the telephoto option adds portrait-range compression without requiring the user to move.

For collectors and contemporary film shooters the Twin is an uncommon find. It is not widely documented and its collector value is modest. It is more interesting as a historical curiosity in Pentax's product evolution than as a camera to shoot with.

Sample Photographers / Notable Use

• No specific photographers or documented projects are known to have used the PC35AF Twin. It was a consumer market product.

References

• Camera-Wiki: Pentax PC35AF Twin - primary reference for identification
• Butkus manual archive - instruction manual scans where available