Pentaxian Guidance: What's your favorite Pentax SLR body?

[Klainmeister]

Hello and long time no see! I'm in search of my next 35mm SLR body and am wavering between options and am seeking guidance from the community. To date I've owned Minolta SRT, Nikon FE (really loved that camera!), Pentax ME, Canon A-1, etc...but for some reason I keep coming back to Pentax.

Recently a Super ME landed in my lap with the venerable 50mm 1.7 SMC and have been enjoying the hell out of the camera which has rekindled my love for the SMC M and A lenses. The only negative I can claim is the prism itself is hard for me to execute correct focus. A lot of front-focus for me, but I am slowly getting used to it. With that said, I want to purchase a second body to attach my newly acquired 135mm 2.8 SMC to and seeking out a wide angle option to complete the bag.

So for you Pentaxians out there, what's the best body to look for? I prefer the small size of the ME series and love the aperture priority and 1/2000s ability. I've never held a LX and they certainly look nice. What's your take on best focusing screens and a good 'lifer' body with some style?

Your wisdom is greatly appreciated. Here's a few frames from the first roll through the recently acquired ME Super. Fuji Acros @ ISO 64 in Pyrocat HD 1:1:100 for 17 minutes.

 

[Craig75]

Mz5n for me

 

[Chrismat]

If you like the small size of the ME and want to eventually get a manual slr, check out the Pentax MX. Great viewfinder for a small camera. Personally I like the larger versions like the KX and K1000. I purchased a Pentax LX with a right hand grip and I love handling that camera. Size wise, it's larger than the ME or MX, but a little smaller than the K1000 and the KX.

 

[Klainmeister]

How is the viewfinder on the MX and LX compared to the ME? Seems like they're interchangable so that at least opens up options. Does the MX have a matching needle/LED in the viewfinder for quick exposure decisions?

 

[Paul Howell]

The closest I came to trading in my F3 was for a LX, over the years I've collected a number of Pentax bodies, in AF I like the PZ1, in MF bodies I still pull out my Spotmatic.

 

[removed account4]

Klainmeister
MEsuper for me, perfectly sized titanium shutter, great camera .. my #2 is a k1000 one of the old ones cause well, its indestructible .. great to see. you followed the breadcrumbs home
John

 

[Klainmeister]

Ha! Thanks, I never quite left (lurked in the shadows), but ended up doing a lot of shoots on digital and felt dirty coming in pretending to be clean and pristine any longer. Recently acquired, other than the Pentax, a Bronica S2a kit and a Fuji GW690ii that I reconditioned. I'm back baby!

 

[Chan Tran]

I am not a Pentaxian and never have an LX but I would think the LX is best. Otherwise it's the MX or KX which I have owned both. I don't think I even want any of the AF models.

 

[beemermark]

I am not a Pentaxian and never have an LX but I would think the LX is best. Otherwise it's the MX or KX which I have owned both. I don't think I even want any of the AF models.

Agreed. I like the size of the KX. But the MX is basically the same camera in a smaller package.

 

[narsuitus]

The Pentax Spotmatic is my favorite Pentax SLR body.

The Pentax ME is my second favorite.

If I had to get rid of all my film cameras and replace them with just one, the Pentax 645 medium format camera would be my first replacement choice.


Pentax System by Narsuitus, on Flickr

 

[Klainmeister]

Interesting. So in a way I may have landed on the body (ME/super) by accident. Other than the LX which still seems to be a crowd favorite, although fewer users.

I shot a bit with the 645 and completely agree, that is possibly the most ideal camera next to the Mamiya 7ii, at least in my experience.

Looking at M and A lenses, i have the 50mm 1.7 and the 135mm 2.8, 28mm 2.8 next?

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I love both the ME and ME Super. My K1000 is getting jealous. Looking for a wide angle lens...

 

[BobD]

In 35mm:
My favorites are the K-series (except for the Chinese-made K1000s)
The MX and LX are also very nice (when working)
I don't care for the push-button models (ME, Super Prgrm, etc). Those buttons are a pain.
I've never tried any of the AF models. Too much plastic for me.

 

[titrisol]

Spotmatic for me, and from the bayonet mount the KXis similar and feels good.
The MESuper is a great camera, lots of fun fater you get used to the controls; I haven't had an MX to compare.

The MZ series was fun as well, I took great pictures with the MZ7 for a while. But not my favorite

BUT the 645 mmmmm

 

[Les Sarile]

How is the viewfinder on the MX and LX compared to the ME? Seems like they're interchangable so that at least opens up options. Does the MX have a matching needle/LED in the viewfinder for quick exposure decisions?

How do you like the gigantic 0.95X viewfinder magnification in the ME Super? If you want bigger then the MX is 0.97X which is the biggest among all fixed prism SLR's. The screen is changeable and the metering is LED.

The MX also happens to be the smallest.

The LX on the other hand is an interchangeable viewfinder body with the widest selection as well as range of magnification/eye relief.

For myself, the LX's main advantage is the fact that it is the only camera ever - past or present, that can aperture priority autoexpose a scene for as long as it takes - or batteries die, all the while monitoring the scene for changes in light and adjusting accordingly. This means you can autoexpose scenes lasting hours . . .

 

[Huss]

I have the LX, MX, SuperA, ME, P30T and K2.

The K2 has the best focus screen, the image really snaps in and out of focus. It is a really nice, solid body only bummer being the 1/1000 sec top speed. I'm not impressed with my MX the way some people are. The huge VF image is very hard to see all four corners at once unless you jam your eye into it. And if you wear glasses, forget it. Also the diodes are very hard to see in daylight. I've handled a KX, and if someone offered me a black one in a swap I'd be all over that. The exposure readout is far better and I like the size more.
The LX really is excellent if you get a reliable one. The size and density feel is unlike any of the other Pentaxes and really feels premium. It's the one I like to hold as much as I like to shoot. But the harsh reality is in day to day use it really is no different to my SuperA or an ME Super as it speeds are still up to 1/2000 sec, and it DOES NOT HAVE AE LOCK!!! The P30T does.
The SuperA is a very sweet camera, just fun to use. Like the LX no AE lock, but just like with the LX I use the exp comp dial instead. The SuperA is better than the LX in this regard in that you just turn the ISO dial. With the LX you have to hold down a button to unlock it which makes it clunkier in operation. But the LX indicates in the VF that you have AE set.

After that long winded diatribe... the LX is the best one as long as it works.

 

[GRHazelton]

As a dyed in the wool Pentaxian I will state that my favorite body is the LX, evidenced by the fact that I am custodian of THREE of them! The form factor is, for me, ideal. With the winder and a fast 50, like my f1.2, it is an ideal street camera. About the only thing the designers omitted was an AE exposure lock. What weren't they thinking! After the LX would come the MX with a winder; the camera marred by a shutter speed dial difficult to turn. Then the MX Super, again with winder, although the push buttons for shutter speed I find clumsy. BTW, the ME Super and its winder are inexpensive in today's market. In a "full size" camera, how about the KX, what the K1000 should have been: center weighted meter, full exposure info in the finder, depth of field preview, mirror lock-up, and a meter on-off switch, although the switch is in the ready position of the rapid wind lever. Bad for left eyed users! The camera just feels good in the hand, and as a bonus will work without a meter. A winder and changeable viewfinder screen would have been welcome, but let's be thankful for what we've got. As a "beginner camera" it far surpasses the K1000, which seems to have become a grossly overpriced favorite of the photo classes. I scored my very clean KX for, IRRC, about $130 with a spotless f1.4 50mm.

 

[Michael Firstlight]

I still have my old MX from my youth on my camera collection shelf, but after getting my Pentax 67II with the AE finder, rosewood grip, and lenses there was never, ever any going back to 35mm format.

 

[Les Sarile]

Of course if you want some style, then it can only be the original Asahi Pentax since it created the style of millions of 35mm film cameras to follow . . .

Cameraquest on the original Asahi Pentax -> https://cameraquest.com/pentorig.htm

 

[Chan Tran]

Of course if you want some style, then it can only be the original Asahi Pentax since it created the style of millions of 35mm film cameras to follow . . .

Cameraquest on the original Asahi Pentax -> https://cameraquest.com/pentorig.htm

Which model is it? I have the S3 and it doesn't have the dial in front.

 

[Autonerd]

The KX was my first "real" camera and has always been my favorite Pentax -- it was my grandfather's, I got it for my first photo class in the early 90s and still use it today. I love the match-needle meter and having microprisms as the primary focusing aid. I've been shooting with it so long that I can set the exposure pretty quickly, so not having an auto mode doesn't slow me down.

A close second is the ME Super, which is a great walk-around camera, but not great for shooting manual (IMHO). I think of it as an automatic camera with a manual mode rather than vice-versa. I love its small size and light weight.

A lot of people love the MX -- I got one from a friend and have never really taken to it. I find the shutter dial too hard to reach and turn and I don't like the LED meter display. When it's red, you could be 1.5 stops off or 4 stops off. A match-needle meter tells you right away if you're in the ballpark with an aperture adjustment or if you have to change shutter speeds.

Funnily enough (since you mentioned the Nikon FE), one of my favorite Pentax cameras is not a Pentax -- it's the Ricoh KR-10, which takes Pentax K-mount lenses. I got one in good shape from a friend (the "companion camera" to the beat-up MX mentioned above) and I fell in love with it. The feature set reminds me a bit of my FE -- electronic shutter, 4 sec to 1/1000 + auto (with a proper shutter dial), match-needle meter, mirror lockup. The Ricoh XR-2 is basically the same thing but adds a DOF preview and aperture preview in the viewfinder, completing the FE illusion. The Ricohs lack the small size and light weight of the Pentax Ms, and they feel a little cheaper and less refined than my Pentaxes, but what great cameras they are! And they're dirt cheap. Ricohs were rebadged as Sears, and I recently bought a Sears KS Auto (Ricoh XR-2s) for <$16 shipped with a Sears (Ricoh) 50/1.7. The Ricohs also have the split-ring focusing aid set at a diagonal, which I think makes it much easier to use. I'm amazed more camera manufacturers didn't do this.

I've also acquired a Sears KSX Super, aka Ricoh KR-10 Super. Don't like it as much as the KR-10. Hair-trigger shutter and the LCD meter display isn't as good.

To me, the ultimate Pentax would be a metal-boxy camera the size of an M, but with the XR-2's feature set -- match-needle meter, good shutter speed range plus auto controlled by a proper dial, DOF preview and a mirror lock-up. Pentax never made a camera exactly like that, but my KX and ME Super come close enough.

Aaron

 

[Les Sarile]

Which model is it? I have the S3 and it doesn't have the dial in front.

Asahi Pentax is the model as it was the first Pentax after Asahiflex. Listing on Asahi Pentax slrs can be found at http://www.aohc.it/catalogo.php?catalogo=reflex

The dial in the front was in the original, S and K models. I have the original and the K.

 

[George Mann]

My favorite Pentax is the ESII, being that it is the most advanced and reliable electronic screw mount body in their lineup.

If you are looking for a body the size and weight of an SRT, but like the FE, then you should check out Nikons EL series.

 

[R.Gould]

My favourite Pentax has to be the ME Super, such a small camera, and Pent5ax lenses are no slouch either

 

[dynachrome]

Of the M42 models, my favorite is the Spotmatic F. It offers full aperture metering with SMC lenses, takes a regular MS-76 battery and is reliable like the other mechanical Spotmatics.
Of the K mount cameras I think I like the KM best. The viewfinder is simple and uncluttered. It has a DOF preview button which the K1000 lacks. I have working KX and K2 cameras but I just like the simplicity of the KM.
What about the MX? In general I like it but I was disappointed by how dark the finder became when I put in a grid screen. If I need a shutter speed higher than 1/1000, I use the ME Super.