A few months ago I took a trip to Japan, a place I've dreamed of going for many years. The photographic opportunities there are essentially endless - it's a beautiful and very interesting country. I could have quite happily spent double the amount of time there and not run out of things to photograph.

I took my K3 and DA limited lenses but also shot four rolls of Ilford Delta 400 B&W film, and a roll of Fuji colour film which I haven't had developed yet, in my MX. I had the A 28/2.8, M 50/1.7 and M 120/2.8 with me but I'm not sure I used the 120mm at all on film and the 50mm was used for 90% of the shots.

This was my first time using Delta 400 and I like the results a lot. Good tones (not quite as good as Tri-X but close), fine grain and it dries exceptionally flat, which means scanned results are as sharp as my Epson V500 can manage.

Here are my favourite film shots from the trip, you can see more in my Flickr stream if you like.



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 018a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 149a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 146a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 141a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 137a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 125a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 120a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 116a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 115a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 093a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 079a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 075a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 068a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 056a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 037a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 073a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 036a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 032a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Japan Pentax MX Ilford Delta 400 017a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

I think a new film camera could potentially sell, though I myself use Pentax film cameras. The problem would be that it wouldn't be any cheaper than a decent digital SLR and there are still so many beautifully crafted and fully functional film SLRs out there. My favourite is the K2 DMD.

645 battery pack bought and received, in excellent condition and superbly packed. A pleasure dealing with John, as always.

I see an ad for the K-1, but then I'm only 36

Maybe Pentax have decided that Jessops are such a poor photography chain that they no longer deserve to stock their products?

I can't see any reason I'd ever buy from Jessops - SRS, Park, Clifton, Amazon... All are better.

Last year I bought a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 with an old film camera for €25. Both work perfectly and are in excellent condition.

It wasn't a K mount unfortunately, which meant I had to start buying more Canon (film) gear. Obviously there was no other option

The Sigma 17-50mm is reputed to be very good. If you're not getting sharp results (you said they're no better, but not why, so I'm guessing) then it may be that you need to fine-tune the focusing. The other possibility is that you have a faulty copy of the Sigma.

The Pentax 18-55 kit lens is fairly good when stopped down but an f/2.8 standard zoom should be better, no matter what brand it is. My Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 is as good at f/2.8 than my kit lens is at f/8, and the kit lens is pretty sharp at f/8.

The MX is a nice camera and it doesn't need batteries - they're just for the light meter. I believe that lens is supposed to be fairly good too.

The MX looks quite rusty on top though, which means it probably wasn't stored well, most likely in damp conditions which would favour rust in the camera and mould in the lens...

Beginners who have problems with built-in flashes would have even more with external ones. Flash exposure comp and trial & error should fix most beginner problems.

I don't know how much of a difference to price adding a GN 13 flash would make compared to adding a GN 6 one, but it surely can't be much.

Built-in flashes are very useful for fill-in when travelling (far more useful than a built-in GPS unit in my opinion) but have been getting steadily weaker over time. My old K200D has a GN of 13, as does the original K3.

GN 6 is virtually useless except for snapshots in poor lighting and even then very poor.

For a decent flash on a modern Pentax DSLR you need to get an external one. The AF201FG is the cheapest and smallest option and has a GN of 20 and is tiltable, but of course, takes up much more space than a built-in one, even though it's relatively small.

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