pentax MV

[peters8]

what do you think about this camera?is it better than the k1000 (noisy shutter,dimensions ecc.ecc...)

 

[Chan Tran]

what do you think about this camera?is it better than the k1000 (noisy shutter,dimensions ecc.ecc...)

Well first I never paid attention to how noisy the shutter is so I can't tell you there. It's has the same dimensions as the ME which is about as small a 35mm SLR gets. It's an aperture priority auto camera only. You can't set the shutter speed manually. As a less expensive version of the ME, the shutter speed set by the camera isn't shown in the viewfinder like in the case of the ME. It has somewhat less viewfinder magnification compared to other Pentax of the same era. It's battery dependent.

So in this case I have to say the K1000 is better because it's usable because if I use the MV it would drive me nuts for not knowing what it is doing.

 

[John Koehrer]

What Chan said, I seem to remember the M series cameras as being pretty quiet(looooong time ago).
If you're looking for an automatic camera the ME or ME super are similar. The Super has both automatic and manual operation.

 

[PentaxBronica]

The MV and MV1 are pretty useless other than as snapshot cameras for the reasons detailed above.

My suggestions: If you like the K1000 but not its size, look for an MX. If you want a lighter camera which still has manual control, look for a P30 series. The first batch P30 lacks a cable release socket so if this is important to you look for a later P30 or the P30n/P30t models. Yes they're battery dependent but they're now cheap, lightweight, and have more accurate metering and shutter speeds than a K1000. I've paid as little as 99p for a tidy P30 body in full working order before now, put a roll of slide film in and got 39 perfectly exposed slides back. They are very under-rated.

My main objection to the ME Super is the buttons for shutter speed, I much prefer a proper control dial (which the P30 has). You could also consider a KX or K2 but they're about the same size and weight as the K1000!

 

[Ian Grant]

Like others have said already forget the MV, I bought one for my mother and it was perfect for her as she wantend something simple.

If you can live with DX coding and no override the P30 is a good camera, my favourite was a Chinon CE4, a great manual/auto K mount SLR that had all the features not found in the Pentax cameras aside fom the K2. I found the ME & ME Super awkward to use.

Ian

 

[Steve Smith]

Another good third party K mount body is the Ricoh KR-10x. I have one which we bought at work to use on the microscope but was never been used. After a re-organisation and tidy up which resulted in this body heading for the rubbish dump, I grabbed it for myself.


Steve.

 

[Chan Tran]

I am not sure why the op is so concerned about shutter noise in an SLR.

 

[PentaxBronica]

There are a couple of ways around DX coding. You can:

Alter the code on the film, either with tape/conductive copper tape or with a new sticker.

Leave the film alone and remember to always expose it by the desired value above or below what the meter is telling you.

As I've never felt the need to push film I'm not overly bothered, the price of used P30s at the moment is so low that it's no great hardship to buy a few re-coding stickers if you really want to push or pull.

 

[cliveh]

I think the K1000 was the best Pentax ever made.

 

[Pioneer]

I certainly use the daylights out of my K1000 and I love it.

But...if you are looking for a quiet shutter...keep looking. Even with new mirror bumpers it sounds like a gunshot going off when it's quiet. Although some SLRs are quieter than others they are all a noisy breed.

If you want quiet, go with a leaf shutter 35mm. Even a Leica sounds noisy next to those cameras.

 

[Chan Tran]

I think the K1000 was the best Pentax ever made.

Yeah right! It's about the least expensive Pentax when it was introduced. So I can say that Pentax cheated their customers with other models for giving them what were worse than the K1000 and charging them more.

 

[PentaxBronica]

I just find the K1000 over-rated. It's hair shirted minimalism for the sake of it.

Pentax had already offered the KM, which had a self timer and DOF preview. The K1000 borrowed heavily from this model but simply didn't bother with two very useful additions.

The KX is much, much better than either. The metering is more accurate, it has MLU, and the viewfinder tells you more. I just wish I'd known they existed in the 1990s when I bought a K1000 as it was the "beginner" SLR (in a pre-Internet age all I had to go on were magazines, which didn't often publish a list of old cameras with their relative features). The KX is a tough, completely manual camera but just makes your life a little bit simpler.

I regularly see KXs (and even K2s) for the same money or less than some K1000s. Unless you're a collector then why bother with a K1000?

 

[Chan Tran]

I just find the K1000 over-rated. It's hair shirted minimalism for the sake of it.

Pentax had already offered the KM, which had a self timer and DOF preview. The K1000 borrowed heavily from this model but simply didn't bother with two very useful additions.

The KX is much, much better than either. The metering is more accurate, it has MLU, and the viewfinder tells you more. I just wish I'd known they existed in the 1990s when I bought a K1000 as it was the "beginner" SLR (in a pre-Internet age all I had to go on were magazines, which didn't often publish a list of old cameras with their relative features). The KX is a tough, completely manual camera but just makes your life a little bit simpler.

I regularly see KXs (and even K2s) for the same money or less than some K1000s. Unless you're a collector then why bother with a K1000?

I couldn't agree more! My guess is that most people who think the K1000 is such a great camera weren't aware of its existent in 1976 when it was introduced.

 

[John Koehrer]

Most beginners weren't interested in spending the extra $$$$ and wouldn't have known better until they had some experience under their belt.

 

[kb3lms]

+1 for the P30. Have two and they haven't let me down yet.

As for the opinion about Ricoh, I bought my oldest daughter a "bargain" rated A-100 from KEH about 2 years ago and it has been a workhorse. Would not hesitate to get another.

-- Jason

 

[Pioneer]

I just find the K1000 over-rated. It's hair shirted minimalism for the sake of it.

Hmmm. That is an interesting opinion. A guy picks up an M3 and shoots it and he is an artist but if a guy picks up a K1000 it becomes "hair shirted minimalism." The K1000 is arguably more versatile than the Leica and cost a heck of a lot less to buy. Face it, what more do you really need to take a picture?

If I needed a self-timer then I wouldn't use the K1000. If I needed a depth of field preview the K1000 wouldn't be my first choice. But I rarely use either of those features, so the lack of them hardly bothers me. It just means there are fewer things to go wrong.

But if you do need a very, very reliable manual camera that can use just about any of the very wonderful lenses that Pentax has manufactured over the years then the K1000 is terrific choice. I bought mine in the early 80s and have never regretted it. It has shot pictures steadily and reliably since I bought it and it has never let me down. Let me repeat that. It has "Never Let Me Down." If I had film in the camera, and my exposure settings were correct, I always came away with a picture. I have owned a number of other cameras since I bought the K1000 and I cannot make that statement about several of them, even a couple of Leicas that I spent a heck of a lot more money on.

Based on my personal experience with it this camera is hardly over-rated. To the contrary, I find that lots and lots of people are more than happy to under-rate it at every possible opportunity. I can certainly agree that the K1000 is not for everyone. There are lots and lots of very nice cameras in the world so take your pick. Some want auto exposure options. Others want a different meter readout. The lack of auto focus turns some people off. A few people want mirror lock up. But it still is a very capable, very tough, camera. Just because you don't want one, don't run it down.

Like a lot of other people, I seriously doubt that I have learned enough to outgrow my K1000 yet. And since I am a very slow learner it is likely that I never will.

After all, everyone knows, it is the perfect students camera.

 

[Steve Roberts]

I just find the K1000 over-rated. It's hair shirted minimalism for the sake of it.

When the K1000 first appeared it was a marketing ploy as basically a de-featured KM. Nothing wrong with it, but I can't see why anyone would buy one when for less money they could have a KM with DOF preview and delayed action. Being essentially a bayonet-mount version of the Spotmatic-F, I'd put the KM as probably the most UNDER-rated Pentax 35mm SLR, up to and including the M-series (much beyond that I lost interest in Pentaxes when they became too plasticky).

Steve

 

[PentaxBronica]

My only complaint with my KM is that the light metering is a bit off the wall. If you set the film speed "incorrectly" it pulls the metering back into line, the K1000 seems to be the same. Meanwhile the KX and K2 are spot on. I'm not sure if this is normal - I have seen others mention a need to adjust it this way.

The K2 also has a fairly dramatic advantage in that it offers timed exposures up to eight seconds (or up to thirty seconds in auto mode). Now, fifteen seconds and longer I can happily do with my watch and a cable release, but two or four seconds is very tricky to get spot on (and more crucial that you do, as an extra half second will count for a larger percentage of the exposure than it would with a thirty second one). I've grown to enjoy taking long exposure shots at night, or of flowing water. Both of which the K2 is much better at than a K1000 thanks to its MLU, self timer, and electronic shutter.

And before lines about "not outgrowing" and their rather strange undertone that you shouldn't have more features until you've somehow earned them come in, I can quite happily shoot with an SV and Sunny 16. I just think the K1000 is bought by a lot of people who've absorbed the idea that it's the only way to learn to take decent photos, when they'll learn just as much with a P30 and have more to spend on film.

Going back to long exposures, weirdly this is something the MV/MV1 are actually quite good at. Both have the undocumented ability to give exposures up to thirty seconds or so, and providing you're sensible with aperture settings they'll produce a very pleasing image.

 

[Les Sarile]

Hmmm. That is an interesting opinion. A guy picks up an M3 and shoots it and he is an artist but if a guy picks up a K1000 it becomes "hair shirted minimalism." The K1000 is arguably more versatile than the Leica and cost a heck of a lot less to buy. Face it, what more do you really need to take a picture?

If I needed a self-timer then I wouldn't use the K1000. If I needed a depth of field preview the K1000 wouldn't be my first choice. But I rarely use either of those features, so the lack of them hardly bothers me. It just means there are fewer things to go wrong.

Good point. In an old Leica ad, Leica calls the users of the M3 as intelligent users to try and stem the tide of SLR migration!

Lack of self timer then use an external type . . .

You want DOF, then set the aperture, unlock the lens and turn until it is almost off.

As Crosby, Stills & Nash sang, "if you can't be with the one you love love the one your with"

 

[GarageBoy]

The K1000 is overrated in the sense that since it has become famous for being no-frills to the point where it commands more $$$ than the premium model KX (honestly, how does the addition of a self timer/DOF preview go wrong?)

Also, can't see a self timer, DOF preview, AE automation, etc "getting in the way"

 

[Steve Roberts]

My only complaint with my KM is that the light metering is a bit off the wall. If you set the film speed "incorrectly" it pulls the metering back into line, the K1000 seems to be the same. Meanwhile the KX and K2 are spot on. I'm not sure if this is normal - I have seen others mention a need to adjust it this way.

I suspect that the difference is that IIRC the K1000 and KM are both average CdS metering systems whereas the K2 and KX are centre-weighted silicon cell systems. I can't say I've noticed any difference myself, though of course in most cases the need to open up or shut down a little compared to the indicated reading must always be watched out for.

Steve