It's my favourite mono choice as well.

Metal feels heavier, more substantial and is often interpreted as higher quality, but it's more the right materials for the right job that matters. A metal lens dropped onto concrete won't be happy. A plastic one might bounce. The right sort of plastics are fine in the right place and any manufacturer will have varying successes and failures within the range. I wouldn't try to compare "chalk with cheese" as there are no absolute rights and wrongs.

When we talk about quality it depends. It's possible to get amazing quality out of a 12MP MX-1, and if the destination use is the web that might be enough. Having said that, there is better quality to be had from the bigger cameras, but each step up is, for web, subtle. For big prints that's another matter, and the bigger cameras do make a difference.

645 lenses are OK, but to be honest I've been disappointed with some, such as the 80-160mm zoom. The wide angles may not be the best for digital as they are not telecentric designs and the edges suffer. Maybe my technique was not up to it when I had a 645, but I could get better results from 35mm format.

Now, give me a Pentax 67 and we're really talking quality. The one Pentax camera I would have loved to own but never had. Not digital but the lenses can be used via adapters.

Another great image, dark and moody.

Beautiful light and a skilled photographer make beautiful images!

The idea is great and so are the images. I am liking the way you have not been tempted to make them too light. Dark is perfect,

My trusty Pentax MX-1 has been with me everywhere, pretty much all the time, ever since 2013. That makes about 12 years of continuous use. There has been time for the black finish to wear on the edges to reveal the brass top and bottom plates, just as the ads promised back in the day. It has remained capable of delivering sharp, colourful images from 1cm macro shots to landscapes, a truly universal compantion.

However, the built in memory battery has now died and every time I change battery everything needs a reset, including the date and time and all my preferences. That I can live with, but it has also started to become slightly unpredicatable, so sadly it looks as though it is time to move it to its display position.

It made me wonder how many of us also have had a long lived constant companion - how are all those other older Pentax digital cameras getting on?

We went out specialy this afternoon for this competition, so I'm just about to look at my pictures now. Hopefully the result will be posted later today.

Great images, superb lighting!

Thanks Rick!