| Author: | | Pentaxian Registered: April, 2009 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 10,897 | | Review Date: April 29, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 6 |
| Pros: | Small, light, cheap, fun to use | | Cons: | Fragile, very little control | |
I got this, in excellent cosmetic condition and mechanically fine, with a lens I wanted and ran a roll through it just to try it out. It's a nice little camera for general film shooting but it's missing a lot of manual controls so difficult lighting etc can only be compensated for by changing the ISO setting accordingly.
I enjoyed using it but I think I was only able to put one roll through it before the whole rewind/ISO dial assembly just fell apart, demonstrating that it suffers from the same fragility as all the other M series cameras bar the MX.
I'd recommend it but not for anyone who wants to take real control of their camera or anyone who values build quality over small size and light weight.
| | | | | | | Forum Member Registered: November, 2007 Location: Gwynedd, Wales Posts: 89 | | Review Date: April 28, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $5.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Size, simplicity | | Cons: | none really for a camera at it's level. It's a point and shoot with a bit extra | |
Does what it says on the tin. It's small (mine normally has the pancake M-series 40mm attached) and you can use the LED display just like the needle on a K1000 or a Spotmatic. And it has the feel of quality unlike some of the later film Pentaxes. Also, I believe it it the last Pentax with Asahi Pentax proudly on the top cover.
You wouldn't want it as your only camera but as a pocket device for things that occur when you aren't carrying your main camera it's fine. If it was digital it would be even better but hey, it's getting on for 40 years old.
It helps that mine cost virtually nothing. Bought it in a job lot of non-working Pentaxes and given a bit of silicon lube to unjam the shutter its been fine ever since.
| | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2017 Location: London Posts: 3 | | Review Date: February 19, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $80.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Simple, Cheap, Sturdy | | Cons: | Sometimes you just need more control | |
An MV-1 was my first 'proper' camera, age 15, back in the late 80s. Mine was slightly tatty used one, bought cheaply from a local camera shop with my savings (I couldn't wait until I was able to afford an ME Super or whatever). I used it around and about with a 50mm f/2 and at airshows with a cheap Hanimex 75-10 zoom.
It was easy to get decent exposures and the 'traffic light' system was helpful in ensuring that I didn't hand hold at too slow speeds and the small size meant I could carry it where I wanted. Later, at University, I added an MX & 50mm f/1.4, which was a great partner to the MV-1 as I expanded my understanding of photography.
Even then I still turned to the MV-1 for snapshots as, for it's intended use as a simple auto camera - point/focus/click - there's a lot to like about the MV-1.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: December, 2015 Posts: 147 | | Review Date: March 27, 2018 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Simple, easy to learn | | Cons: | at the time none | |
This was my first SLR camera. It is a great camera to learn the basics of photography. No frills to confuse you. It has its short comings, but the ease of using this camera out weights them. I have had this camera for 37 years.
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: July, 2014 Location: Nagoya Posts: 577
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 23, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Simple, easy to use, viewfinder | | Cons: | No exp. comp., not great for tele lenses | |
Used the right way, this camera is a real pleasure to shoot with. It's a perfect camera for walking around and street photography - light, compact and simple. There is absolutely nothing there to distract you and cause you to miss that shot while poking away at buttons or twiddling knobs. Load it with forgiving negative film, slap a wide-angle lens on the front and just get out there and take some photos through that lovely big viewfinder, which is also completely devoid of distractions. This is a properly fun camera that takes you right back to basics.
The one issue is the viewfinder exposure indicator light - 'green' means a correct exposure will be obtained without risk of camera shake, but I assume that it is based on a standard 50mm lens, which means that it can't be relied on for tele lenses. If you need to know the shutter speed you're better off with an ME, ME Super or MG from the Pentax stable, or a Chinon CE-4 or CE-5.
| | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2013 Posts: 14
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 18, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $10.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | very easy to use for children, green and red light indicator in viewfinder | | Cons: | | |
very small, easy to use Pentax film SLR.
You may compare it to a simple Spotmatic with K mount
without batteries 1/100 sec usuable.
Great advantage in time of digital, if batteries are empty
for all K-lenses
a very good performer in extreme temperature
for wide angle photos, because full frame isn't yet possible by Pentax
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: April, 2011 Location: Lost in translation ... Posts: 18,076 | | Review Date: March 11, 2013 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 6 |
| Pros: | Simple, bright OVF, quiet, (inexpensive - for me) ... | | Cons: | See Sluggo's review below ... | |
Bonjour,
Sluggo's review is spot on for me, thus I do not have a lot to add.
I received this SLR as a gift for a friend (including a SMC M 50/1.7 lens), so no price to enter here in the database.
I have shot only 1 roll of film with this MV1, but overall this is an "OK" camera for was it is ... no frills, but fun to use all the same.
Salut, John le Frog | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2006 Location: Ames, Iowa Posts: 774
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 17, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 5 |
| Pros: | lightweight; uncluttered viewfinder; quiet operation | | Cons: | lacks shutter lock, DOF preview, exposure compensation | |
| Pros | lightweight; uncluttered viewfinder; quiet operation | | Cons | lacks shutter lock, DOF preview, exposure compensation | | Rating | 6 | | Price | $25 including M50/1.7 lens | | Years Owned | just a few days |
I can recommend this camera: Yes
Value, Features, Performance & Size
Small, basic aperture-priority camera.
Camera Review
If the K1000 is Pentax's baseline, no-frills manual camera, then the MV could be considered their baseline, no-frills automatic camera. The MV-1's advantages over the MV are a self-timer and the ability to attach a power winder. Neither of these features gets in the way if you don't use them.
There are three exposure modes: auto, 100x (flash sync), and bulb. Users are expected to leave it set to auto almost all the time. When a Pentax-dedicated flash is attached and charged up, the shutter speed will switch to 1/100 automatically and an indicator in the viewfinder will tell you it is ready.
In my short time shooting with the MV-1, what has impressed me most favorably is the simplicity of the viewfinder. There are many photographers who feel differently, but I prefer that a viewfinder let me concentrate on composition only, and present no inessential information to distract me; and in my opinion, almost all information is inessential! That is one of my favorite things about the K1000/KM/Spotmatic as well -- no numbers, just a needle -- but the MV1 seems to go a step further. It has a small LED bar on the left edge of the window that forms a very simple quasi-meter. The bar does not intrude on the composition frame.
When the light is green and centered in the bar, it means the camera can make a proper exposure at a shutter speed suitable for a hand-held shot. It doesn't tell you what that speed is. Do you really need to know? Well, maybe, and maybe not (more on that in a moment), but if you don't need it, then by withholding that information, the camera stays one step back from getting between you and your subject.
When the light is red and appears at the top of the "meter," then the aperture is too wide, and a proper exposure would need to be faster than the 1/1000 second limit. If it's yellow and appears at the bottom, the aperture is probably too narrow, and the shutter will be slow.
This is a similar scheme to the one found in old Yashica Electro rangefinders, which showed colored arrows in the viewfinder to direct you in which way to turn the aperture ring. Also like the Yashicas is the MV-1's lack of exposure compensation. The only way to adjust exposure is to temporarily change the ISO setting; afterward you need to remember to put it back where it was, and that's easy to forget.
Since the camera does not know what lens is attached, it can't really know what a safe shutter speed is. 1/60 second is okay for the 50mm lens that came with the MV-1, but when you're shooting a 200mm telephoto, the same speed is too slow for handholding, and you risk blur. So if you spend much time shooting telephotos or long zooms, you would probably be better off with an ME or MG, both of which tell you the shutter speed it is about to use.
The MV-1's 0.85x/92% viewfinder is bigger and more involving than those in the Super Program and P30n/t, and much better than those in the ZX-M and other pentamirror-equipped models, but still a little less generous than the exceptional viewfinders in the ME, ME Super, and MX.
The shutter/mirror sound, just as with all M series bodies, is very unobtrusive.
A relatively minor complaint: there is no shutter lock, so you will want to get in the habit of winding before each shot instead of immediately afterward; this helps avoid accidentally firing off a shot while, say, pulling the camera out of a bag.
In summary, the MV-1 is quite basic, but basic can be a good thing -- depending on what the limitations are, and what you need to do. It's easy to recommend that a Pentax collector have one of these on hand, but you probably won't want it to be your only film body. I expect it will be a good one to grab when I know I will be shooting a 40mm or 50mm lens outdoors, hiking or camping; it could also be expected to work well with a 28-70mm zoom. I've never been able to stand using point-and-shoots (mostly because of their lousy viewfinders), and the MV-1 is an apt replacement for that role; hence my somewhat qualified recommendation.
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