What is the best Pentax 35mm film SLR?

Glad the typo/memory error was appreciated . I did of course mean Neopan 400 CN - know that's 100% correct 'cos I've got a roll out of my fridge to ensure no further blushes!


Steve

Aw!

And I thought Fuji had a new film range.

Anyway, the scanned neg you did Gartmore looks great, if B+W scans have that sort of grain I might try some myself.

Thanks. Well that is Tri-X at 400ISO developed in Kodak D76 for 10.5 minutes, classic stuff really.

Much of the advice you've received so far is for the older, more manual than auto, bodies.

My preference however is for the later Pentax bodies.

The best of these in my opinion is the MZ-S. The MZ-6 however is a cheaper and lighter option and almost as capable as the MZ-S. Both bodies can use P-TTL flashes and have wireless flash control built-in. The MZ-6 can also use lenses having no aperture ring as the aperture can be set by the body. The MZ-S has no aperture setting facility on the body and can't use them.

These two bodies are about the closest film bodies you will find that have similar functionality to your Pentax DSLR.

Depending on your intended use or abuse of a film body, the MZ-S is much sturdier than any of the palstic bodied cameras.

That said, I still have a soft spot for the Super-A, although I don't own one any longer. The Super-A was the most refined of the ME style bodies having all manual and semi-auto exposure modes and TTL flash.

An MZ-S in good condition should cost you £200-£300. I recently picked up an MZ-6 + FA28-90 lens in excellent condition for £36.

I also recentlty picked up an MZ-6 with a Sigma 28-105 lens amd lowepro snoot bag for £55. But no user manual and Pentax don't have it listed for download

I ran a search on e-bay and found to my surprise that you purchased the last one auctioned in mid January. Any chance you have no further use of it as its taking up valuable space on your bookshelf and you would like it sent to a warmer climate, where it will be well looked after.

Yes I did buy one, advertised as English, image showed it was English. I received one . . . in Italian. It's going back to the seller who's name just happens to be . . . pentaxuseruk.

You can download the manual from here. It was called ZX-L in the US.

Not my favourite ebayer...

Thanks for that Pete.

That name does ring a bell, is he a member of this forum :

I think he is a she (s/he changed ebay username a little while back) and no, I don't think I have seen them on here. Just someone making a buck buying kit on ebay then re-selling it at 4x the cost. Relatively poor ebay rating.

I just had browse through some of his/her listings and feedback, it seems he/she likes to sell lenses in one auction and then lists the caps separately.

I've not bought from pentaxuseruk before but the price of the manual was reasonable so I bought it.

The seller replied very swiftly to my complaint and will refund.

Sadly that's one of the favorite tricks of UK dealers... someone trades a camera in they get a pittance of a price for it and no extra because it's complete with case, UV filter, lens cap etc. Next the camera goes on sale at an enormous mark up and all the accessories are stripped and sold separately very often at rip-off prices.

shim

Last time that happened to me I complained and got the cap sent to me - for £2 extra, mind. It's a shonky way to do business.

That's one of my big gripes with ebay.

I often miss out because a dealer has bought the bundle.

Have you noticed how many foreign dealers have appeared since the pound value's fallen. Several items I've bid on have ended up in China, Russia and the rest!

I had an ME, MX x 2, Super A, LX and MZ5n and, without doubt, the LX was the finest - easy to use, extremely good metering system, interchangeable pentaprisms, interchangeable focusing screens, solid as a rock. Only got rid of it when I went digital. Second would be the MX. I must say that I have been very happy with all my Pentax cameras and never had one go wrong on me.

John