Not that I've ever seen - you have to actually go to the shop and have a rummage. There was lots of nice things in there when I popped in a couple of weeks ago, like a little Aladdin's cave.

Hi Gromit, I think John's covered all the important points regarding use of older manual lenses (and they work well with modern DSLR's).

As for getting a camera the size of your ME Super that has no "crop" effect on the focal length of your lenses, I'm sorry to say such a thing doesn't exist - from any manufacturer!

The great majority of DSLR's (including all the current and former Pentax designs) use a smaller-than-35mm sensor. The handful of DSLR's using a "full-frame" sensor (currently only made by Canon, Nikon and Sony) are all top of the line models that cost £thousands, are very large / heavy and won't take your old K-mount glass anyway.

The new Pentax K-m to which John referred is a very compact DSLR by most standards and probably the closest you'll find to your ME Super in terms of size and weight. A discontinued model (like the K100D that John also mentioned) would certainly be cheaper and just as capable, but a little larger / heavier than the K-m physically. Having said that, it's not as big and heavy as a Nikon D80.

A quick comparison of relative sizes / weights (W(mm)/H(mm)/D(mm)/weight(g))

Pentax ME Super - 131.5 / 83 / 49.5 / 445g
Nikon D80 - 132 / 103 / 77 / 668g
Pentax K100D - 129 / 91 / 71 / 646g
Pentax K-m - 123 / 92 / 68 / 525g

Of course the digital bodies have heavy battery packs that account for a proportion of the weight gain over the ME, but then there's much more built-in gadgetry to power.

Hope that gives you an idea though.

Bonjour Ben, welcome to the forum

I concur with Mannesty, you'll get more by splitting them up. If it was me I'd be tempted to keep the 50/1.7 - a perfect lens to use on bellows for macro work.

Hi Pete, welcome to the forum.

If, as Mac says, the problem is down to sticky light seals in the mirror box then it won't be the end of the world - they are replaceable after all.

If it turns out to be something more complex then there are specialists who can fix and service such cameras - it won't neccessarily be cheap but a good service will soon have it running like the day it left the factory (and it'll cost much less than replacing it!).

If you tell us where you're from we'll be better able to recommend somebody local to you.

Hi Rataegeoff, you've come to the best place for Pentax-related help

Using a tripod isn't an offence, obstructing a public highway is though.

Use your common sense and if challenged by an over-zealous police officer be polite and explain what you're doing, back down if need be and you'll live to shoot another day (or 10 minutes later when he's gone).

If you try and use a tripod in Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon (or any busy time of the day) I can pretty much guarantee you'll be told to sling your hook in no uncertain terms.

Nope, 'fraid not.

The only film K-mount I have is the MX which can't control the aperture on DA lenses, I don't have a more modern body to experiment with I'm sorry to say...

There's a thread on the "other" Pentax forum where various people have tried DA lenses on film cameras with variable degrees of success - probably worth a look through.

I've never used a P30 to be honest...

If you can control the aperture from the body you should be OK, if not then it'll be stuck at f32.

Beaten to it again!