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What (P)K-mount 35mm SLR to get?
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 2:04 pm    Post subject: What (P)K-mount 35mm SLR to get? Reply with quote
Looks like I have slowly increasing pile of PK mount lenses, so I thought it would be nice to get something to shoot film with them. What (reasonable cost) slr would you recommend? I don't care about manufacturer, as long as it is durable. I would prefer classic look and manual controls. I don't need program mode but integrated metering would be nice.
I have read nice words about

Pentax MX
Chinon CE/CM (which is best of these I have no idea)
Ricoh XR-series (their top of the line?)


Looks like Chinons are cheap as chips and Pentax is most expensive of these.

What camera you would recommend?


PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 2:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I use a Pentax MZ-M which I can recommend. Not as metal bodied as the ones you mention but still durable. I've been using mine for years and it still looks as good as new!


PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 3:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Pentax ME Super, from your preferences. If you could stretch to an MX, then get that, but make sure you get a case for it as the top and bottom casings are a bit thin. If you don't get on with small cameras, then look at the KX.


PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 4:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I like the Chinon CE5, it is a bit heavier than the Pentax's - but it is much more robust, it's a camera that feels as though it would survive some abuse. And they have a decent specification. I had two and sold one, I could have sold it ten times over. It's a popular users camera.

I've also got a Pentax P30 that is a nice camera ( and for sale ) from the 1980's. It's a basic camera, simple and easy.


PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 5:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Not a recommendation, but just a point to consider, the Pentax *ist 35mm camera is incompatible with infra-red film as it uses infra-red for frame counting. Other bodies may use the same technology, so possibly worth checking Wink


PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 6:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thank you for ideas.

I can see myself leaning towards older cameras just for looks and lack of plastics in body construction.

Looks like my list for search is Pentax MX, KX, ME Super

If I don't find one with decent price, I try my luck with Chinon, those things are so cheap


Good point kypfer. My current 35mm camera is good old AE-1P which I can use if I feel need to use ir film. But need to remember that Very Happy


PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 7:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I like the trio you mention - MX is very nice, I keep giving mine to nephews/daughters though. KX is a very nice camera, essentially a Spotmatic turned K-mount, similar heft and size. The ME I haven't used as much, but I have one somewhere... will need to dig it out.

From the next gen electric cameras, people mention the top model, Super Program, but you get pretty much everything you need much cheaper with a Program Plus. Neither of these, nor the similar style P 645, is a good cold weather camera as the batteries go flat and take the shutter with them


PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 2018 5:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
What is most desirable of these three cameras, prices are all over the place? I kind of liked idea of little larger camera body, but seems like KX is most expensive of bunch. I thought MX was most wanted since it has that "professional" tag in it's story.

On the other hand I am just thinking to buy more glass for my AE-1P. Looks like for some funny reason lenses for FD are much cheaper. I am just worried if I can find cheap FD mount film camera after my current canon dies.


PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 2018 9:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It is important to mention condition of body in case of MX. I was not so lucky and mine has not so shiny ground glass inside plus shutter is going not too well. Looks was used a lot. So depends if you choose from known seller and so on. Otherwise is beautiful mechanical camera with large prism inside and diodes metering. If you find good one go for it.


PostPosted: Fri Aug 24, 2018 1:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Either the MX or the KX. I like the match-needle metering of the KX better than the MX's diodes, but the MX has interchangeable focusing screens whereas the KX doesn't. The MX also takes a winder/motor drive, whereas the KX doesn't. Still, the KX is a tank, an original workhorse. The MX is also very durable, but not quite as much as the KX. Oh, also the KX has mirror lock-up and the MX does not.

If it were me, I'd get both. In fact, that's what I did! Cool


PostPosted: Fri Aug 24, 2018 6:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Not an old style manual camera...but I like the Chinon CP-7M. Read up on some of the features it can do e.g.


INTERVAL TIMER
The CP-7m features a unique interval timer that can be set for intervals of up to an incredible 90 minutes

...and you might like the camera too Like 1


PostPosted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 4:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thank you all for ideas, looks like I ended buying some new lenses for my canon. First in post is well, Vivitar S1 70-210 first model.

I will continue looking for good pentax deal though.


PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 6:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
ME Super is a weak camera - they tend to develop a shutter issue that's not necessarily always easy/possible to correct.

MX - I don't know the reasons for that but the majority of MX's I see have the beejezus beaten out of them.

My personal preference, if I were to buy a K-body, would be either one of the original generation, K2 or KX and a Super Program.


PostPosted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 3:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
MXs have had the beejeezus beaten out of them because they were the Pro Pentax for a number of years before the LX was released, and even after it was stil a very popular back-up camera, probably getting the abusive treatment that the pros didn't want to subject the expensive LXes to.


PostPosted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 7:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Gardener wrote:
ME Super is a weak camera - they tend to develop a shutter issue that's not necessarily always easy/possible to correct.

MX - I don't know the reasons for that but the majority of MX's I see have the beejezus beaten out of them.

My personal preference, if I were to buy a K-body, would be either one of the original generation, K2 or KX and a Super Program.



Indeed. My MX obviously led a professional life before coming into my hands. Engineers of some sort judging from the focussing screen that was in it. The hundred or more small scratches, nicks, and scuffs it's received can only be described as a patina! Works lovely though and I got away with only a lube and an 'Italian tune-up'.


On the ME Super - Do you mean winder problems rather than shutter? Mine has just developed the dreaded winder problem after 38 years ownership and adventure.


PostPosted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 2:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's one and the same - the explanation that I read and which sounds entirely plausible says that wear and/or lube deterioration knocks out the little lever that cocks the shutter during the winding.


PostPosted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 3:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Pertsa wrote:
Thank you for ideas.

I can see myself leaning towards older cameras just for looks and lack of plastics in body construction.

Looks like my list for search is Pentax MX, KX, ME Super

If I don't find one with decent price, I try my luck with Chinon, those things are so cheap


Good point kypfer. My current 35mm camera is good old AE-1P which I can use if I feel need to use ir film. But need to remember that Very Happy


MX bodies should suit your needs. That said, one cannot but agree with those who have observed the poor condition of many MX bodies on sale. It could be that the brass sheet used on Pentax MX bodies was thinner than that on the Olympus OM1 or the Nikon FM. Although I used Pentax MX bodies from 1981 to 2008, I felt that the Nikon and Olympus competition had sturdier bodies. Also, Pentax users appeared to treat the MX bodies like pocket cameras, which they were not. I once had a written reprimand from a camera mechanic who had to restore one of my bodies. Other MX problems are light leaks from the shrinking rubber in the light seals and, occasionally, soldering in the contacts of the light meter failing.

One more precaution. If you buy an MX, please make sure the film is winding out after a stroke of the rewind lever before closing the back. I lost some valuable pictures and suffered not a little embarrassment when a friend using the camera also lost a roll because the film did not wind inside the camera.

The KX is more expensive because fewer were made. I used one which belonged to a friend around 1980 and liked it.


PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 12:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nowadays I am satisfied with K2 body. Not better DMD. I had luck on one with K 50/1.4. That A priority suits me well. Although my technician made live again one body in desolated condition. This I have for couple of months and I am happy with it. Use with that also M42 glass with original adapter.

One with K 50/1.4 and Tri-X pulled to 160asa shotted at Prague
Untitled by Martin Hruboš, on Flickr


PostPosted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 4:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
chhayanat wrote:

The KX is more expensive because fewer were made.


I have found just the opposite to be true. The KX is a somewhat obscure camera. Not as many Pentax users know about it, so it often goes unnoticed -- and thus under appreciated. The MX, on the other hand, has a strong cult following, which keeps its price value up.

I just took a quick look on eBay to see for myself. Prices for these old cameras are definitely on the rise! Wow. But I was finding the cheapest KXs for going between $50 and $60, whereas with the MX, the cheapest one I could find -- body only -- was a bit over $90.

I think that, if one wants to shop for good deals on eBay, the best way is to watch the auctions and to forget about the Buy It Now listings. Often the auctions can be slow with few bids and it is not unusual at all to be able to pick up an item for much less that the BIN listings.

I bought my KX off eBay, I guess probably about 8 or 9 years ago, when prices for these kinds of cameras were still very low. As I dimly recall, I paid about $40 for it. It's chrome, unfortunately -- I'd much prefer black, but oh well -- but its cosmetic condition is beautiful. Mine was a very lightly used camera.

I bought my MX from goodwill's auction site. It's a bit of a crapshoot buying from Goodwill, but sometimes the deals are so good, you just can't pass them up. So anyway, I don't recall what the auction cost me. The MX came with a bunch of other stuff. But if I would factor the costs of all the items, I probably had less than $20 in it. And for that price, I got a very nice looking MX. The only problem with it that I've found is the little plastic insert that fits into the shutter button lock switch. It's missing.

So I guess the moral of the story is, if you're patient and you keep your eyes open for good deals, even in this climate of increasing prices, it's still possible to find good deals.


PostPosted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 10:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Sadly many of those good deals seem to be in US. Shipping cost to Finland destroys good part in deal. Well, search goes on.

On the other hand I hit to OK deal of Canon A-1 (almost none marks of use) with MA motor drive and ended buying it.


PostPosted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 11:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Zenit KM. Smile

edit: or 122K if you want something simple Click here to see on Ebay


PostPosted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 11:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
tuoltakin voi kysyä:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1518452998382818
porukalla on paljon ylimääräistä tavaraa, jota myyvät joskus sopuhintaan


PostPosted: Tue Jan 01, 2019 12:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Earlier this year i got a nice Pentax LX for about CHF 100.-- / EUR 90.--.

Why take a lesser camera ...?

Stephan
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