First time film user

My ebay purchase of a Pentax MG and 50mm and 135mm lenses with Miranda flashgun arrived today. I bought it mainly for the lenses actually, tried them out on my K-r and still in excellent condition.

The camera looks to my untrained eye to be in remarkable condition, I can only assume it was barely used. I'd like to give it a go, but as a young-un I've actually never used a film camera.

Any suggestions for what film to get? The seller suggested Fuji pro 400H film or Fuji Superia, good choices?

Also, when I use my DSLR it sometimes takes me a couple of shots to get the right exposure in M mode, but obviously you cant review them on a film camera - Am I better off leaving it in what I think is basically Av mode to ensure I don't burn through rolls of mis-exposed film?

After a bit of research I am trying Kodak Ektar film, which is three quid a pop from 7 day shop. Have tried Superia, its OK but a bit grainy, also tried Reala in the past which was better.

Might have a go with slide film again soon, since I'll be getting it scanned anyway.

By the way, I think the MG is aperture priority mode only, so you've no M mode ;p

If you fancy having a go with black and white, try Ilford HP5. All the Ilford films are excellent but HP5 is probably the most useful for a beginner as it can be used in most lighting conditions and is very tolerant where developing is concerned. You may struggle to find a lab able to handle it, but it's really simple to develop at home. The kit to do so can often be found for very little if you haunt ebay, car boot sales, Freecycle, etc.

If you want zero-hassle colour then Boots still sell process-paid slide film, I think it's made by Fuji and it seems fine. Slide film is a lot less tolerant of under or overexposure, so you'll find you need the exposure compensation dial a lot for backlit or unevenly lit subjects in order to make the MG's auto mode expose correctly.

At the moment I'm experimenting with Kodak Gold 200 as our local Tesco ended up with a load of it for £2.97 a roll. I bought their last five!

The MG is Av only with 1/100 and B settings, it defaults to 1/100 if the batteries fail and you should use this setting with non-dedicated flashguns. If used with a dedicated flash the camera will automatically switch to 1/100 and illuminate an icon in the viewfinder when the flash is ready. You can use a Winder ME II with it, these can often be found for about £10-£15 with a bit of hunting.

If you don't have the manual you can find it as a free download easily enough, that will cover film loading. I tend to do it differently in order to maximise the usable length of film by inserting the end of the film into the take-up spool, pulling the cannister across to slot into place, and then taking up tension on the rewind crank to hold the film against the sprockets while closing the back. After closing the back simply wind on and fire the shutter once, your next frame will be fine. By doing this I get 40-odd exposures from a 36 exposure roll, wasting only one frame at the start.

The MG manual is here CLICKY and I agree with Dangermouse, B&W is easy to develop.

We point people at the AGFA Rondinax if they want to try doing it the hard way as these devices make film developing easy.

Once developed youcan scan the film into your PC to edit.

One thing with the Rondinax - make sure it's complete, and make sure you get the "35U" version rather than the 60. The 35U takes 35mm film as you might expect, the 60 is for 120 film.

Wow thanks for all the advice everyone! Amazingly it came with the original instructions, all in a hard leather red corduroy lined box!

You're dead right as well, it's main setting is aperture priority. That's that sorted then!

I've picked up a Fujicolour 200 for £3 which I'll just get developed at boots or similar for now, want to try it out first. If I find I'm getting on well I'll keep and eye out for a Rondinax. That look pretty amazing, and I don't have a room suitable for darkroom use.

I think I have the same case - does it have a couple of elastic loops in the base part and another couple in the lid? Mine came with an MX inside though!

Yes that's the one! I didn't play much attention to it in the listing, mainly worried about the contents, but it's actually a lovely case. Got a very faded KLM Royal Dutch Airlines sticker on the bottom, can't make out the name on it sadly. All adds to the aged charm.

Same here. I got a minty MX, 50mm f1.7 lens, boxed Prinz flash and light meter in the box. I was only really after the MX although the meter is fun to play with.

The flash has a rather distressingly high trigger voltage so I won't be using it on digital!

An accurate light meter is always a bonus.

I have several and use them when I'm not sure about lighting in shaded areas.

I don't have the hard leather red corduroy lined box though.

Once you've transferred the film to the tank in a changing bag, you don't need a darkroom to develop slide film, just a sink will do !

I might even have the tank in the loft somewhere, yours for the postage if I can find it

That's part of the problem - I've no idea whether it's accurate or indeed how I'm supposed to use it. Do I point it at the subject or face away from the subject and point it toward the light falling on the subject?

Although they use a modern meter THIS LINK will help DM.

As for accuracy, check it against a known, such as your DSLR.

Thanks, I came across that one a while ago but couldn't fathom what sort of meter I have! It's one of the ultra-simple old ones with a needle indicator and a dial on the front which you set to align its own needle with the meter one (much like a KX). I am guessing that it roughly corresponds to the meter shown there set to incident reading?

I seem to get pretty decent results metering from grass or what I judge to be the mid point of the scene anyway, the MX responds very well indeed to that trick.