Hello,

I don't know where you have been getting your kit, but Ebay is a great place for bargain film cameras, as well as lenses. However, be careful!

For films, batteries, etc., this is the cheapest place:

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=777

Good luck

I think JR is right. Hanimex sold all sorts of gear at the lower end of the price scale, not just lenses. I doubt if they actually made any of it themselves.

John has summarised the situation succinctly, but if you want more detail (lots more detail!), try here:

http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/

Calm down, Mutley's Owner, and try and think logically.

You said:

"How am I supposed to know what the equivalent camera is called in the US?".

You're not. That's why I told you. You didn't ask for the information, but I volunteered it because I knew you would need it. It's called being helpful!

You also commented on my spelling. Not ignorance so much as keyboard clumsiness, I fear.

You also made a number of other remarks, but who cares?

Happy shooting!

PS: Here's a link you may find useful:

http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/

Photogrpahers should use their eyes. Two threads below this one is the answer to your question.
The MZ50 is called a ZX50 in the States, for reasons best known to Pentax.

If negatives either side of those which were blank came out correctly, then it is almost impossible that the processing is to blame, unless you have some negatives that show an image on part of the frame but not right across.

The two most probable causes are the shutter failing to fire properly, and the lens diaghragm not stopping down properly, but in the latter case you are likely to get some sort of image on the neg, just an over-exposed one.

Of course, if you were taking the pictures in darkness with an out-of-sync flash, that would also explain it.

An over-exposed neg will be dark or black, and an under-exposed one will be very pale or completely clear.

It is also, I suppose, conceivable that the mirror could have failed to lift, but that would have been noticeable as you tripped the shutter, and some light might still get through under it.

The most likely cause in my view is shutter failure.

I wasn't knocking the MZ-S, especially in the context of this thread; I was simply taking issue with your "fiddly to use" comment. As I suspected, you did not get into the habit of using the camera the way it was meant to be used because you were using it the way you used the LX, and fair enough. Had it been your only camera, you might have developed a different opinion.

Kim C
Fiddly to use? The Z1-P? Are you one of those who still sets the aperture on the lens? Personally, I find the Z1-P easier to use than any camera I have ever owned, and that's a lot, going back to a folding Kodak in the fifties, and using all sorts of things since then.
The tragedy of the MZ-S was that they dropped the Z1-P user interface. Fortunatley, Pentax has seen the error of their ways and reintroduced a version of it on the *ist D.

My thoughts:

1 Don't change brands without a very good reason. Your existing lenses will work on an MZ-S. They won't on a Canon.

2 No affordable autofocus camera will be more robust and less likely to fail than your MX. Do you really need autofocus?

3 When travelling on foot over difficult terrain, small, light cameras/lenses are preferable to bulky, heavy ones. Remember, too, that autofocus cameras use big, heavy, expensive batteries.

4 Don't buy a new film camera now, unless you are absolutely certain that you will use it and keep on using for all its useful life. It will be worth very little second-hand.

5 Digital cameras are as good as film (covers head and waits for the onslaught), cheaper to use, and much more versatile. However, they do require access to a computer to get the most out of them.

6 If you are going to the Himalayas, forget my remarks about digital. Take a film camera. I've bought film from a shop near the Tibetan border, but I didn't see any fancy batteries or memory cards on sale.

7 Sorry to say this, but in your position I'd stick with what you've got! Perhaps buy a spare body and treat yourself to a couple of really good lenses! The extra quality and speed of a good prime lens will do much more for your pictures than an autofocus camera.

8 If you wish to ignore 7, consider a Z1-P. They're in some respects better than an MZ-S, and can be bought for much less. Spend the money saved on lenses.

There, that should have confused you!

Don't have the camera yet, but just bought two M lenses in readiness!