just bagged a Pentax Mx

lxmike

lxmike

M2 fan.
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Although my user name is LX Mike, (I used to shoot a lot of film with a LX in the 1980s), my favourite manual focus SLR is the Pentax MX, well its been a while since I owned one and I hoped (when funds allowed ) to grab one. Well today I was walking arround a fea market when in a bag I came across a Pentax Mx, in superb cosmetic condition, and mechanically sound, apart from a dead meter, it came with a hrdly used mint- Pentax SMC M 50 1.7 lens. I got it for £35, and despite the meter problem I feel this is a bit of a bargain, the lenses go for £35 on ebay anyway. Cosmetically its a nice camera and the shutter speeds fire ok, so its usable but I plan to senfd it to a repair centre that specialses in Pentax for a CLA and hopefully breathe life into the meter. As soon as I picked up the MX it brought back loads of happy memories, especially one in particularly, picking up my first Mx in december 1981, happy days
 
Good for you! It's a straightforward and simple camera with a nice big viewfinder. I also enjoy its aperture-priority stablemate, the ME Super. Have fun!
 
First...congrats on your great find...
I bought my first of two black body MX's around the same time you did in the early 80's...
I still own those two bodies along with the Vivitar Series 1 lenses I bought for them...
I do love the sound of that shutter...
 
Thanks sam, what I like about the MX is the size, fits my hands perfectly, black MX are superb by the way, very cool looking
 
I have two MX bodies. The first is a black body I got at a yard sale many years ago. I liked it so much that I searched and a few years ago found a mint chrome MX. The meter circuit on the black body was replaced by this place in the US - http://www.pentaxs.com/.

These are wonderful cameras with excellent prime lenses. I have Pentax-M lenses 20mm, 50mm (1.4 and 1.7), and 150mm. I also have a surprisingly good Vivitar 28mm and the second generation Voigtlander SL (second series) 40mm.

This topic just reminded me that I have a roll of film to finish in the chrome MX. I'd better get to that instead of chatting here all weekend ;)

Tom
 
Mike...although I like the size of the MX bodies I had to have the Winders for mine...they balance out the camera and also make them easier to handle...
 
A small secret -the early Zhou cases for the Bessa R (marked Rangefinderforum on the bottom) fit the MX very well. Looks great and works well. The MX grip from Korea is also very good, usually found on ebay or from Ffordes in the UK from time to time.
 
You did better than me! I paid $50 for a battered MX with 50/f2 that rattled! Was my first real camera. Wouldn't mind getting a black one...
 
I forgot to mention: the meter problem is often a mechanical fault that is easily fixed by removing bottom plate and bending/adjusting the "prongs" (not sure of the correct term). The instructions are somewhere in cyber-space; Google is better than my memory.
 
I had three MX's but down to two now as ex-Wife went off with one ! I used them with electronic flash so much that the flash contacts burnt out in one body. I have ME Supers and no trouble with flash contacts on them. I also lost my 120mm f2.8 SMC Pentax-M lens -- she in somewhere in MALTA now !
 
Anyone know of a good repair person in the US for Pentax SLR's? I have an ME Super that I bought in about 1982 and it has a stuck shutter. I'd like to get it working again.

Thanks

Ed
 
What about the winder?

What about the winder?

I reckon a black MX is the nicest looking camera around - so classy and cool. However, although I like the handling of my MX with the winder attached, the winder does make the weirdest noise. It's unlike any other winders I've come across for any other cameras. Even with fresh batteries it sounds sluggish and doesn't have the zippy feel or sound of other winders. It still rattles through film at about 2fps but it just doesn't sound very healthy. I used to think this was just the way the MX winder was but now I'm not so sure. Maybe mine is on its last legs. Certainly other winders such as those on my Yashica FR1, Pentax ME Super or Contax 137MD all sound much zippier. Any thoughts?
 
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