There are some zooms available for 42mm screw thread, but older ones may not be technically as good as modern lenses. There are some very cheap and nasty ones around on the second hand market.

Try the Tamron Adaptall 2 range which may well include the appropriate adapter.

There is much better choice if you use the K mount camera bodies and the KM and MX operate in the same way that your Spotmatic does. If you do replace the camera body, using the K mount adapter would enable you to continue using your screw thread lenses whilst opening up all the modern high quality zooms to you.

Which zoom? It depends on the sort of photography yiou intend to pursue. What sort of pictures do you take?

In the UK, I would suggest replacement rather than repair because the cost of a second hand 60-X would be very low indeed. Even a new Pentax compact of better specification could cost less than a repair.

Why not try eBay to see if you can bid for a replacement camera, perhaps for a very small outlay?

If you do try to repair the camera without specialist knowledge and equipment you may not find it too easy...

Best wishes

First, set the shutter dial to X, this is to prevent long shutter speeds during the loading process.

Lift the rewind crank to enable the film cassette to be placed into the film chamber, then push it back in place.

Gently pull the film across the film gate (Don't touch the shutter curtains!) and insert the film leader firmly between any of the white "magic needles". The film will be safely gripped. Wind on and ensure that the film is flat across the film gate and also engaging the sprocket wheel in the film perforations.

Alternately wind on and release the shutter until the film is fully engaged at full width on the sprockets. Close the camera back. Gently rewind the rewind crank to make sure the film is therefore tight. Wind on for at least tweo blank exposures, put the shutter dial back to auto and you are ready to go!

Sounds very complicated to descibe, but it is truly very easy and reliable!

You will know that the film is transporting properly because the rewind crank will rotate as the film moves on, and on the ME?ME Super a small window near the wind on lever will flicker as well.

Knowing when to wait and when to jump in is a difficult one - sometimes we do indeed see dramatic price reductions on some lines. On the other hand, how long can we wait?

There are already some lower prices on the MZ-S but then there are on the *ist as well. Personally, I would go for the moddle ground and try to find a good offer on the MZ5n or MZ3 and then spend the extra money on more lenses or accessories. SLR cameras have their strength in versatility and a wider selection of lenses will add to that. You can now get the MZ5 for a lower price than the *ist.....

I agree with you, Stephen, the traditional lenses, particularly the M series, are a joy to use. The engineering is gorgeous, the focusing silky smooth and they are just a pleasure.

And they take great photos too...

The *ist is a very nice camera, go for it unless you want a traditional shutter speed dial in which case go for the MZ5n or MZ3. My opinion is save the money by not buying an MZS and buy more lenses instead!

A general comment: I believe it is best to always stick with genuine pentax lenses and accessories.

Lenses: It depends what sort of pictures you want to take, but my line up has evolved into:

15mm/20mm/24mm/50mm/100mm Macro plus 24-90mm zoom. That covers very well all the photography I wish to do, but I could manage with much less if I needed to.

Hello Mariana, welcome to the site.

If you are looking for better manual control of your camera, then perhaps you could consider the Pentax MZ5n or MZ3 bodies - I do not think there is any need to spend more money than this.

If you are looking to explore your photography in new ways, then perhaps it would be worth thinking about buying new lenses. Such as a wider angled one, if you are interested in landscape or architecture. Or a longer telephoto if you like sports. Or perhaps a macro lens if you want to get closer.

I think that before you make a new purchase it is perhaps worth thinking about what sort of pictures you want to take and then buying what is appropriate.

I hope this is helpful to you.

Best wishes

The techniques I have seen and use for digital infra-red effects are created in Photoshop, so you can start with any RGB file from the camera.

If you wanrt the effect to look really authentic, then it's worth remembering that infra-red film has no anti-halation layer. This means that highlights spread and "bleed" but the shadows don't, so it's not just a matter of tonal values and grain. It's not that easy to make digital IR look as good as film can. The real beauty of digital is that you can decide to shoot IR after the event!

It is possible to obtain a sensor that will measure the output of the monitor and calibrate it, but we are talking expense!

Secondly, someone advertises a CD with print that you can use to correct overall colour casts in the print. The idea is that a standard print is supplied and you make adjustments until you can produce the same on your system.

Or you can do what we do - correct by trial and error until happy! Actually, there are simple areas to look at. I suggest you always use the proper inks for your printer - cheap refills are a common source of dissatisfaction. Then try different papers until you find one that complements the ink set. Then final adjustments can be made in Photoshop to correct casts on the prints. We often have to correct for a slight magenta bias, but very much less so on some papers.

Finally, check the whitebalance setting in the camera to make sure it matches the light source. For example, if you shot pictures under fluorescent lighting without correction you might well get a greenish cast.

I think those lpm readings are within the bounds of experimental error, as well as being from just one example of each lens. This has always been a problem, and although getting hung up on such data is meaningless, these days the effort has been completely abandoned by testers, which I don't think is good either. Modern lens and camera tests are too often more user reviews than tests.