The problem is that there are lots of really nice ME Supers and if you can pick one up at the right price it will probably be more cost effective than trying to renovate a sub-standard one. It's a shame and I really don't like discarding anything that was once a fine piece of engineering, but sometimes the costs preclude repair and/or renovation.

On the other hand, if the camera works well perhaps it can just be left to work on until it fails. Spares are probably not available from pentax, but there are independent repair houses that no doubt cannibalise old cameras. Or a non-working but cosmetically excellent one might be found very cheaply.

Have you tried eBay?

Firstly, the screw mount lenses were referred to as Takumars. Then the name was resurrected in the bayonet lens era to designate an economy range with slightly simpler construction and lower cost. Hence we have the 135mm f2.5 available as a 6 element SMC Pentax and a 4 element Takumar. The Takumar bayonet lenses are not necessarily Super Multi-Coated either.

If quality is the aim, I would recommend the more expensive SMC Pentax lenses, although the Takumars are really pretty good.

Hi Kim

How could I disagree with that last sentence?

You have understood why I discounted, or at least relegated to second rank, the KX, and your reasons for disagreeing are equally valid. It just goes to show that there are few absolutes in phtography, it all depends on how you want to work and what sort of photography you want to pursue.

Kida makes life interesting, don't you think?

On the grounds that the spotmatic is a fully manual camera, then I would propose the following are more or less identical in handling: K1000, KM and MX. The MX I believe to be superior because it replaces the match needle metering with more robust LEDs. The alternatives all use different metering methods (LX, KX, K2 etc) or also have all sorts of additional features that stray from the original proposition (MESuper, MZ5, MZ3 etc).

However, if the traditional shutter speed dial is required and you don't mind the extra features then the LX, MZ5, MZ3, KX would all be splendid alternatives!

There should be a needle in the viewfinder - the meter is switched on with a black switch on the left side of the pentaprism - the needle is centred to indicate correct exposure. You will need a 1.35v mercury cell or equivalent and this is located in the baseplate of the camera. You might find that there is an extra click stop on the shutter dial beyond 1/500 sec, which will release the shutter at approximately 1/1000 second!

The 1000mm f8 lens is a monster all right, and originally came with its own tripod and special case all at some enormous price. I think the lens is too valuable to try a DIY repair - why not contact a Pentax repairer for a quote?

I recently picked up a SMC Pentax-A 20mm f2.8 in mint condition for around £180, which I thought was quite good.

The 15mm I have owned and it is a good if somewhat bulky lens. Distortion is low.

Maybe the new 12-24mm will be better, but it is a sad fact that often modern lens designers sacrifice accuracy of drawing in favour of other properties, especially sharpness and compactness.

Thanks, Matt, those results are better than I thought they might be. There's no substitute for actual experiment!

Thanks for that, Matt, I'll look forward to seeing the results.

I know the 16-45 is intended to cover the sensor size of the *istD, but has anyone tried it on a 35mm body to see what sort of vignetting effect you get? It could be interesting and I'd be very interested to hear how it works and how it is affected by changing the aperture.