The MV1 now has a proper lens:

[IMG]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Kingofthemountains/Landscapes/IMGP0920.jpg[/IMG]

An M 50mm f2 bought for £6 with a slight fungus problem. I decided to risk it as I know these lenses are easy to dismantle and it'd be useful experience in case I see a rarer one with the same problem. A quick swab with a cotton bud dipped in vinegar removed the fungus, after which I cleaned the surface with a fresh bud and lens cleaner then polished it dry with another bud. I'll have another look in a few weeks and see whether this has cured the problem once and for all.

There's a slight problem with part of the coating on the front element, but this didn't seem to damage image quality when I took a couple of quick test shots with my Km. Don't worry, I won't be leaving this lens on the Km for any length of time just to be on the safe side! It will also be stored in a well ventilated area well away from my "good" lenses.

I haven't tried post-production on any of these apart from nudging the brightness up a touch before printing the ones I wanted to keep. I might go back with a slightly longer lens and see if I can avoid the branch problem, as I doubt it could be removed electronically.

There seem to be an awful lot of fences, dense undergrowth, and steep banks with water at the bottom when you try to get around things like excess greenery. I'm always a bit worried about falling in!

Here are another two from the same day:

[IMG]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Kingofthemountains/Landscapes/IMGP0889.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Kingofthemountains/Landscapes/IMGP0897.jpg[/IMG]

I'm not entirely happy with the sky or the branches on the right in the first one, but I quite like the lighting on the background hills in the second. I just wish I'd shuffled around a bit to avoid the fenceposts in the bottom left.

The weather was barely cooperative, it pelted down with rain halfway through and I saw the sun coming through behind me while driving back down. A quick 3 point turn and back up the valley produced the second shot!

I spent yesterday afternoon dodging rain while trying to get a few photos to turn into christmas presents for relatives. Taken with my K-m and an A 50mm f1.7:

[IMG]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Kingofthemountains/Landscapes/IMGP0890.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Kingofthemountains/Landscapes/IMGP0894.jpg[/IMG]

This final one was pure luck - after stopping the car and hopping across a bog in an effort to take a photo of a very full river (couldn't get close enough for the right angle without risking falling in!) I turned around and saw this view:

[IMG]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Kingofthemountains/Landscapes/IMGP0906.jpg[/IMG]

That would fit. Remember that they were sold as compact walk-around lenses (I've even seen an official Pentax belt clip for an ME, presumably this was intended to go with a pancake lens) so they probably saw more than their share of rough handling.

I have just paid under £10 for a 50mm f2 with what the seller describes as slight fungus - aside from that it looks in good order so I'm viewing this as something of an experiment. If it works, I'll be happy to buy things like 50mm f1.4s with the same problem. I plan to unscrew the front element, clean the fungus out with a cotton bud dipped in vinegar, then follow up with lens cleaner and another bud before leaving it to dry out fully for a few days with as much UV light exposure as I can arrange. After that, it'll be blown clear of dust and reassembled to join either my chrome MV1 or the MV I have on the way.

I really must stop buying 50mm f2s - I've got three now! One stays on my K1000, another on the black MV1 in an ever ready case.

A friend of mine works as a manager for a security company and they get some real idiots applying for work as guards. There's at least a grain of truth to the idea that many of them couldn't become proper Police and now have a major chip about it.

Remember: A rent-a-cop is no different you or I in legal terms. They have no legal powers to detain or search.

Both my MV1s need new light seals/mirror bumper foam, but I'll definitely be testing them with film after.

As for the 40mm pancake, I'd be happy with one in the same condition as the Pentax-M 80-200mm zoom I bought a few days ago. Optically perfect, with worn paint but no gouges or dings. It looks as though it's been well used but by someone who cared for their gear - even had the original lens cap which is always a good sign!

Evidently I did the right thing in pouncing on my ME Super then - perfect working order, 50mm f1.7 attached, excellent to mint condition and cost under £30 before adding postage!

I have just bought a cosmetically tidy MV described as "shutter only firing on one speed". This will most likely be corroded battery terminals or batteries inserted upside down, as it looks far too clean to have suffered damage to the electronics from being dropped.

Note for original poster - most M series cameras default to their flash sync speed (with no viewfinder LEDs) if the batteries are dead or wrongly inserted. Check that first if yours mysteriously ceases to function. The MX is an exception as the batteries only power the light meter.

The 40mm lens would get rather more than £10 - the assertion on various sites that they aren't rare doesn't seem to have dampened the market for them. I dropped out of the bidding on one at £60 a few days ago!

I've looked at these but can't really justify spending the money on them. I find focussing manually with the plain glass screen on my Km simple enough, although admittedly it would be quicker with a split screen. I only use K mount lenses so don't have to focus stopped down.

For zooms I would stick to the Pentax-F or later. I do have one M series zoom (80-200mm f4) that I bought cheaply to use with my M series cameras, although having tried it on digital I'll probably repeat the experiment. The optics are perfect but it has some paint loss, so I'd say it has been well used but also well looked after.

The problem with old manual zooms is that they have no way of reporting focal length to the camera for shake reduction. Prime lenses are fine as you simply tell the camera what focal length of lens is fitted when you switch on, Pentax-A lenses will work as normal after this (with aperture ring in "A" position) apart from obviously being manual focus. With a zoom you'd have to switch off and on again then reset the length if you, well, zoomed.

If you fancy playing with older primes then look for the Pentax-A 50mm f1.7, it should cost around £45 on ebay and is a great lens. Simply switch to manual focus, fit the lens, select 50mm from the menu that appears when you switch on and enjoy. These lenses also appeared with some film SLRs which may be a cheaper way to obtain one.

Ahh, but with the war correspondent story come all manner of tales with the potential to impress...

"This ding was where a sniper just missed me in Sarajevo, if I'd used anything other than a K1000 I wouldn't be here today"