about the old Pentax KX

Chan Tran · Sep 19, 2012

My newly bought Pentax S3 can do the pre release thing. When I first got it it was so servere that if I didn't hold down on the shutter release it would not complete the cycle. It's much better now after a lot of excercise.

PentaxBronica · Sep 21, 2012

I wouldn't worry about the electronics in the KX. They've lasted this long with no problems so should carry on for a while yet, and they're of the age when you could spot individual components on the PCBs so it should be possible to rebuild the electronics if they fail.

IIRC the K2 and KX had a better light meter than the KM/K1000. Certainly my KM and K1000 have very interesting ideas of accuracy while the KX and K2 are dead on.

Pretty sure I've seen mention of Spotties with MLU as well. The article suggested that it was a factory option and that if you ordered it you ended up with another switch on the lens mount, like the meter switch but on the other side.

Hatchetman · Sep 21, 2012

PentaxBronica said:
Pretty sure I've seen mention of Spotties with MLU as well. The article suggested that it was a factory option and that if you ordered it you ended up with another switch on the lens mount, like the meter switch but on the other side.

I have seen them on eBay for like $750. More of a collector's item given their rarity.

John_Nikon_F · Sep 22, 2012

Hmmm, out of curiousity, has anyone seen if a Pentax 6x7 will do the mirror prefire? I know that they usually have MLU, but it might be interesting if, like the Spotties and other mechanical Pentaxes, they can do it.

Re: the $750 Spotties with MLU, I think I'll stick with my $5.00 black Spottie with the mirror prefire feature.

-J

PentaxBronica · Sep 22, 2012

At that price you begin to wonder how hard it would be to modify a Spotty to include MLU...

I've seen a K-mount Spotmatic before now, using a KM chassis with swapped top plates and adapted lens mount surrounds.

Chan Tran · Sep 22, 2012

I really hate this mirror pre fire feature it's a problem not a feature. Most of my cameras have MLU but I never use that feature.

lxdude · Sep 22, 2012

Chan Tran said:
I really hate this mirror pre fire feature it's a problem not a feature. Most of my cameras have MLU but I never use that feature.

Your camera needs a CLA. Getting better with use usually means the lube has thickened.

The mirror pre-release takes a deliberate action to accomplish. Just depressing the shutter button will not do it; the camera will go through the whole cycle.
On a healthy camera, the shutter button must be "flicked' very rapidly. The flick depresses the the button for a fraction of a second, enough to release the mirror, but the button goes back up before the rest of the cycle can commence.

Chan Tran · Sep 22, 2012

I know that but my camera is ok now. But if you can do the trick to me it means a design problem rather than a feature.

lxdude · Sep 22, 2012

Chan Tran said:
I know that but my camera is ok now. But if you can do the trick to me it means a design problem rather than a feature.

Not a problem- a characteristic. If the machine works well, and reliably, which the Pentaxes certainly did and still do, how is it a design problem? It takes a deliberate action to trip the mirror but stop the rest of the cycle. Operated normally, it works normally.

PentaxBronica · Sep 22, 2012

I've only managed to have the sort-of MLU once, on an MX which I think had probably been sitting in someone's wardrobe for decades (judging by the batteries in the flash it came with - they hadn't leaked but had a Duracell logo I hadn't seen for years). Hasn't done it since, and neither have any of my other Spotmatic-derived cameras (Spotty, KX, and another two MXs).

about the old Pentax KX

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