I notice they mention the Nikon lens mount as having "endured, with some operational changes, even until the present digital era—a remarkable example of non-obsolescence." No mention of the fact that the K mount is also still with us and is if anything more backwards-compatible than the Nikon!

I still cannot fathom the appeal of the K1000 (which regularly sees them go for silly money). I'd much rather have a KX or MX, used prices of the two being pretty similar and the KX/MX having more useful features.

To be honest I don't think there are many bad primes out there of any focal length (I know of an M42-fit Zeiss badged 50mm which is best avoided). Zooms are harder to design due to the inherent compromises, but most primes use designs dating back decades.

If you can buy the Vivitar cheaply then go for it. If they want more than about £30 then forget it and buy a good Pentax-M 135mm f3.5 or wait a little longer and get the earlier K series lens. I paid £40 or so for mine in minty condition with original caps, so that should be the upper end of the price range.

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.

Or go the simple route and wait for an SMC Pentax 135mm f3.5 - halfway between the SMC Tak and the Pentax-M, it's more or less an SMC Tak lens adapted with a K mount. They only made them from 1975-77 so they're not as common as the M lens, but they're just a little bit nicer.

Even better would be the SMC Pentax 135mm f2.5, but they're rarer still and more expensive as a result.

Opinions I've read suggest it's sharper than the M 100mm f2.8 (which is probably the only other K mount lens anywhere near it in terms of focal length and aperture).

I was watching one on ebay last week but the price rocketed out of my league. The seller was very coy about the actual condition of the lens (phrases such as "if you want a mint lens it would be better to give this one a miss" but no explanation of the exact faults) so I definitely wasn't paying the £40-£50 it went for!

Yep, "Clothe the third world" (I thought we were supposed to call them LEDCs or the developing world now?) but no mention of the fact that they'll have to pay for it!

Charities in general seem to have gone corporate now. I reckon the only way to guarantee that all of your donation goes to help the people they claim to be helping is to support smaller local charities such as hospices.

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?

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!

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!

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.