You have Konica-Minolta film rebranded as Mitsubishi - I've been scanning in some Centuria 200 film from 1998 and it's nothing to complain about.

Depends on how cheap it is - you may find buying some Fuji Superia film is only slightly more expensive.

Thanks for the tip Josh - something for me to try while Hollyoaks is on downstairs.

Matt,

The viewfinder is brighter than the ME Super!? The hunt to find a shop which stocks Pentax DSLRs is now on (although I'll be waiting for the new model coming out most probably).

Whoops!

Round where I live (Reading) there are not Pentax DSLRs to be handled and looked at so I was basing my comment on the Nikon D70 and Canon 350D and 20D that I had a play with in Jessops.

If Pentax DSLRs have the same bright viewfinder and split-screen focussing screen as my ME Super I'll switch my savings effort from a Canon 20D (or 30D now) plus Sigma 30mm f/1.4 to a Pentax.

Can you get a low-light, everyday lens fully compatible with the new DSLRS BTW? (or even with just stop-down metering would be fine - just not as long as it is focus then meter)

John, I bought your scanner a few weeks ago.

EDIT: Sorry, I have the V not the IV.

Is yours 'noisy' (sound wise) as well? That's quite subjective, I know...

Other than that - wow, I had been thinking of getting a digital SLR but I wanted to scan in all my old negatives (and my dads and my g/fs parents) and I think I have something that will tide me over until they make DSLRs with proper viewfinders. The scanning quality/detail is astounding.

I'm finding I have to keep GEM on 3 to cut down on the grain in C41 film, I'll be taking some Provia out of the freezer when the sun comes out to see what difference that makes.

As for B&W, completely agree that DICE is a big no-no.

Both Epson and Canon allow you to upload a photo which they'll then print out and send to you (normally within a few days).

I went for a Canon IP4000 which I've been more than happy with for the past 7 months. I was going to spend more, but the photo quality at 5x7 and A4 wasn't worth the extra money. However, if you are going to be printing black and white I would recommend the R800 or another printer which has more than just a black ink cartridge, the test prints from Epson were much closer to film prints than I got from my IP4000.

Eight month report on the K200 I bought back in September 2005.

I only ended up paying £14.99 for the body and I've been using it with a 50mm/1.7 Pentax-M and a Centon of the same.

As the camera came with a two-year warranty I decided to be as horrible to is as possible. So it's been everywhere with me (beer festivals and pub crawls in my pocket and out and about on walks).

The good news is that the meter is accurate (Provia 100F) even in low light (Delta 3200) and it has not stopped working, even after being dropped on a number of occasions and having beer spilt on it.

That's the good news, the bad news is that the anti-reflective coating is not sprayed-on inside but stuck on (some kind of matte rubber) and that has started to peel off. Other coverings on the outside have also started to come off. It also has quite a lot of mirror slap and there is lag if you try and fire the shutter when the metering system isn't powered up.

I'm happy with it for the money I paid for it, but there is no way this would have been worth the £99.99 Jessops were once asking for it.

I now have no Pentax bodies and I miss their small perfection. Oh well, I won't be getting any more - I've discovered rangefinders...

Thanks for the links.

I've already emailed the nice man and he's going to take my cameras and make a working one from the two.

I'd rather have an original "machined" Pentax too.

However, with two dead Pentax ME Supers now, and Pentax (UK) telling me that they can only repair winder mechanism problems - a Centon (the K100 is, I'm told, made by Pentax to a lower-spec K1000 design) will mean I can keep my lenses in use until I can build up enough cash for a Pentax DSLR.

And I much prefer the Centons to the current Pentax 35mm offerings.

I find the K200 and K400 a little too large, but I have my faithful K100 which has taken over duties 'til the ME Super is back from camera hospital.

Anyway, to the point, Jessops are selling new K200 bodies for £35 and the bloke said all their Centon cameras are at least 50% too.

Something to keep your PK lenses going when the old Pentax bodies die..

I can't see how that would work...

Surely, even on Canons , the focussing mirror is taken out of the picture when the mirror flips up....?