Which older Pentax film camera?

I send film away to these people:http://www.directfoto.co.uk/
have done for years, the results are consistantly good and you get a free Kodak 24exp. 200ISO film with your prints (upgradeable to 36exp. for a little extra cost).
The digital service is quite reasonable too!

Phone or email and I think they'll send you some free-post envelopes.

Current costs are:

up to 40exp. one 6x4 off each negative £2.99
............................7x5..........................+£1.50
extra set of prints...............................+£1.75
upgrade film from 24exp. to 36exp. +60p
Postage and packing charge per film +80p

Obviously for the more adventurous types, you'll need to visit a local store such as Jessops or an online supplier like ebuyer or 7dayshop, who'll be able to provide you with a wider choice of films etc.

The MX and K1000 are very well known and as we know, real work horses, but the KM is also a fully mechanical camera. I bought mine back in 1975 when it first came on the market and I still have it. I just felt I had to recommend it.

I would agree with the KM option and add the KX. It is changing now but both the KM and KX can be bought for much less than the K1000 which was a cut down budget version.

Kim

The Pentax MZ5 or MZ5n are superb modern Auto Focus Film SLRs with accurate metering, easy controls (like an old Manual Camera) and TTL flash metering. I think the MX is a great manual classic but it is out performed by the MZ5 or MZ5n. Also consider a MZ6 or MZ7.

If you wished to, you could use an MZ5/MZ5n/MZ3 just like an MX or any other manual camera. The display is different, but the handling is pretty much the same.

For useablity I would rate the MX as the classic manual camera. Perfect.

The MZ series have the advantage of better metering, autofocus, built in winder and other modern features.

There are lots of these cameras out there, and if you can find a good one then they are all still very useable.

Elegance in design.

I have at least one example of every series (note series not model) of Pentax SLR since the K1000, and I can honistly say they are ALL superb.

You actually can't go wrong.

Overall if I had to pick one, I'd go for the ME-F. An ME-Super with focus confirmation (technically it has AF, but it only works with one lense and those are rarer than hens teeth so it might as well just be electronic focus confirmation.)

For an AF body I'd say MZ-7 or MZ-6, maybe MZ-5 if you like the knobly dials aproach to settings. New enough to have really good metering and focussing, but old enough to be fully compatible with every lens ever made and to allow proper aperture ring support.

The MEF lenses are unbelievably slow. They are also very cumbersome with the batery compatment for 4xAAA. About the only nice thing I can say about them is that they are a constant f2.8 and perform reasonably well. Somehow I managed to aquire 2 and haven't the gall to sell one of them

Kim

As a matter of interest, wasn't the Olympus OM30 a bit of a rip-off of the ME-F?
I seem to recall that it was very similar and had the same sort of AF lens - I wonder which was the better performer


Ah, seems I was right:
http://zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~rwesson/esif/om-sif/bodygroup/om30.htm

.....memory not completely gone yet then

If anybody needs one of the MEF auto-focus lenses for spares and/or fancies having a go at repairing one, I have one that doesn't want to focus... Robin at Harrow Technical had a look at it for me 18 months ago but couldn't get his hands on any spares. PM me if you fancy having a play with it...

Will

Yeah I know, they aren't really usable, but the camera body is lovely with any other lens on it. The finder even tells you which way to turn the lens to achieve focus (same as the SFX, but dropped from Z series on).

if you ever come to sell one of those lenses drop me a line! I'd like to get hold of one at some point to "complete the set" so to speak.

I always found the focus indicators in my SFX very useful with manual lenses.
Mind you, only really useful with lenses that focus in the same direction as Pentax ones!

I'm clearly a misfit here, still using Spotmatics with their wonderful Takumar lenses. I've also got a istDS, and of course use the lenses on it. Quite a cheap way to go. K10D will be my next purchase.

Hi Ted!

Anotrher misfit from the other , old Pentax forum. Three Spoties with about 9 screw mount lenses.

I too lust for a K10D and am snapping up conversion rings.

How's everything down your way?

Hello, Mac.

We are truly on the same wavelength. I have exactly three Spotmatic bodies and exactly 9 Takumar lenses. Latest being a junky looking 50/4 Super Macro Takumar that's so beat up you can't get a filter to screw onto it. But it takes wonderful pictures, so it was $60 well spent.

Down here it's HOT. Five miles from the Mexican border. But the monsoon season begins in 10 days and will cool things off.

Probably cool and rainy up your way.

Cheers,

Ted

PS: K10D bodies seem to be getting less expensive each month.

In 1980, I researched and thought and thought and researched, asked advice and eventually spent my hard-saved pocket money on an MX. The other model I had considered was the K1000.

I had handled both in shops for weeks (while waiting for my funds to be sufficient) and personally preferred the MX.

Super cameras. I learned the principles of SLR photography via mine, it is my backup camera to my Super A (another great 35mm Pentax SLR).

I hope you get the one you want, and I hope it gives you the faultless service I have enjoyed from mine. They are popping up on Ebay (if you dare) and in camera shops all over the country now, you'll find a good one for £100. I paid a little more than that when I bought mine!