| Author: | | New Member Registered: March, 2024 Location: Adelaide, Australia Posts: 1 | | Review Date: April 1, 2024 | Recommended | Price: $327.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | good size (for my hands anyway), K mount, good light meter, well-built | | Cons: | stiff shutter speed dial, loud shutter, light meter can be hard to see in bright light | |
This is genuinely such a good camera, I love taking photos with mine. I went through a lot of trial and error and a few cameras before I got to my MX but I'm so glad I did.
Since it's so small (as far as 35mm SLRs go) it fits in my hands well and is easy to carry around. It's also really well-built and feels refined and sturdy, even over 40 years later. The MX also has the K mount, so there is a massive range of lenses for it, although its small size makes it a bit easier to unbalance with heavy/long lenses.
That being said, the MX does have a few flaws. Its shutter is fairly loud, its LED light meter can be hard to see in bright conditions, and its shutter speed dial is fairly stiff. Personally, none of these things really affect the camera too much and I still really enjoy shooting with it.
The MX is such a nice camera to use, I can't really fault it, but YMMV.  | | | | | | | New Member Registered: August, 2017 Location: Ronneburg Posts: 1 | | Review Date: February 10, 2024 | Recommended | Price: $105.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Size, classic design, viewfinder, mechanical, 3 colour meter reading array | | Cons: | no mirror lock up | |
Pro: size, classic design, large and bright viewfinder, battery independent, good lightmeter, easy to handle
Cons: shutter dial diffult to move, not the smoothest film advance action
conclusion: the pure feeling of taking photos without unnecessary gadgets
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: December, 2021 Location: Ancona Posts: 83 | | Review Date: August 23, 2022 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | practically perfect | | Cons: | nothing | |
I found this MX with the Pentax smc m 50mm f1.7 lens and paid everything for Euro 180  | | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2020 Location: Oregon Posts: 3
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 4, 2022 | Recommended | Price: $140.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Compact, Lightweight, Sturdy, Simple, Superb Viewfinder | | Cons: | None | |
Oh, where to begin.
The MX was my first mechanical camera, and it's left quite an impression. It may be small, but it feels very rugged. The viewfinder is really second only to the LX, which has the best viewfinder of any 35mm camera I've ever used. It's giant and as clear as it gets, and the aperture readout window is miles better than the Nikon FE2 I had. I also love the SA-3/SA-23 focusing screens for fast lenses. Being fully manual, it just stays out of your way and lets you focus on photographing. I would call it analogous to a fine musical instrument.
One thing that I really had to get used to was how sensitive the shutter release button is on this camera. Coming from a Canon A1 and new digital Nikon bodies, this one felt like a hair-trigger. The meter on mine has unfortunately stopped working, but it doesn't really bother me. I just use a handheld meter or meter by eye. Otherwise, I can't say I have any real complaints.
Overall, if you can find one in good working condition, you can't really go wrong with an MX.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: April, 2020 Location: Lincolnshire Posts: 7
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 19, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Compact size, rugged and robust construction | | Cons: | None | |
I have owned my Pentax Mx since 1979, it was my first Pentax SLR and has been a fathfull companion over the last 41 years, I had looked at the Olympus OM1 and Canon AE-1 as well but settled on the MX as it felt right. The compact size had been a bonus when traveling which it has over the years, USA, South Atlantic, Middle East, and around Europe. The mechanical construction means no worries about batteries running out, but they last for years anyway. Maintenance wise it's had a couple of CLAs in its life. Back in the 1980s it was used to cover motorsports coupled with a 2fps winder and I would have loved to have the motorised film rewinding that the LX has but that is the only improvement I would have to this fantastic little camera.
| | | | | New Member Registered: February, 2016 Location: lake constance Posts: 1
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 17, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | absolute pure, mechanical independance, sturdy, light, beautiful | | Cons: | viewfinder is not suitable to the rest of the camera ( plastics ) | |
This is my favourite analogue camera for infrared photography. Solid and really beautiful in black and chrome. I also use it as alternative camera in my holidays in the alps, if my digital camera doesn´t work because its battery is exhausted. It is light weighted and all my lenses are useable on the MX and my Sony A7 with Novoflex adaptor unit. Ok, 500g additionally in my backpack, but you´ll never walk alone with this good oldschool "friend" - safety first!
In connection with the M series lenses, there are only less subjects, you can´t manage with the MX.
The only point I don´t agree with the Pentax engeneers of the seventies is the
beginning influence of plastics. The viewfinder window of the MX is very poor and doesn´t suit to the sturdy body of camera. The viewfinder itsself is very bright, I like it very much in using it with dark filters, because I am always able to see enough to shoot.
A really legendary camera - similar to the Nikon FM and the following FM2.
Its a great pity, that you have to buy such cameras in used condition, because
you must have a little bit luck to get a long lasting one.
Good luck!
 | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: January, 2008 Location: Land of the Salish Sea Posts: 3,343
5 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 22, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $120.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Diminuitive size, fully mechanical, ultra bright viewfinder, ruggedly build and extreme reliability | | Cons: | None worth mentioning | |
I've owned and used 4 different MXs in the past 5 years, two early models (one black) and two later models. There are enough reviews of this camera but I wanted to add my six cents for two reasons: I've owned 4 of them, and more importantly, over the years this camera quickly became the one-camera-I-would-keep-if-there-could-be-only-one camera. I've a lot of cameras and a few have tried to unseat the MX, but most have fallen incredibly short and a few have come reasonably close (the LX, the SV).
It is incredibly well built. I've watched my black early model ("my camera - my main one) tumble down a hiking trail and be perfectly fine. It's gotten a bit wet (not drenched, but wet) and not skipped a beat. The only thing the battery controls is the meter itself which has no bearing on operation of the camera's functions, which are entirely mechanical. The battery is unneeded except for in-camera metering. The meter is very accurate. Initially the LED type metering display was a bit annoying but I quickly grew to like it very much simply because I can see it in the dimmest of scenes which is just not true of nearly every other needle type viewfinder display of the era. Certainly the LEDs may be prone to failure eventually but none of my copies have ever had a problem nor shown any signs of one.
Two of my bodies were CLA'd (by Eric Hendrickson) and two have simply not needed a CLA yet (a testament to them). One was sold and another given to my sister. I currently have the older CLAd black model which is my daily-driver and quite frankly completely beat to hell... And I've a newer bright-capped version that is practically mint. Both operate flawlessly.
There is something simultaneously scrappy and elegant about the MX - it's quite utilitarian and rough in some ways, yet diminuitive and refined in others. With the MX Winder attached it is an entirely different beast and handles like a literal pro. Without the winder and with a small M series attached it is as small as any Leica (or smaller) and the only thing to give it away is its shutter/mirror noise which is not subtle, but far quiter than many other SLRs.
The viewfinder is the star of the show; it is gigantic and bright, and with a fast 50 attached the magnification is such that you can experience the rare both-eyes-open shooting which is truly the pinacle of 35mm SLR use insofar as I am concerned. In this way you experience every benefit a rangefinder window has to offer combined with TTL DoF feedback and (nearly) exact framing that is the benefit of shooting an SLR with a prism and mirror, all at the same time.
Shutter speeds go only to 1/1000th which isn't great, but is customary for the era in which it existed and more than sufficient. The dial has been often criticized as too stiff and I partially agree -- it is a bit stiff -- however many characterize it as "impossible" to operate without removing your eye from the finder and using more than one finger. This just isn't the case. Spend time with it and it becomes easier and second nature. The dial is stiffer than that on many other cameras, but (see video links below) it can absolutely be operated with a single index finger, or even still with a two-finger pinch grip whilst still looking through the finder.
Another, though less frequent complaint is the lack of a mirror-lock up but as you may have heard there is a workaround known as the "flick trick". I didn't try it for years and wish I had (I just don't have need for MLU very often as long exp for me are usuallly done on medium format) because it is ridiculously easy to do and takes just a few tries to get the hang of it. I've added a video for that below as well. Give it a try.
Camera bodies are personal, very subjective things in the sense that what "works" for one photog may not for another. But the MX, taken as a whole, "works" for me better than any other (though there is a particular Konica that comes very close, but that's another discussion entirely). The "one-camera" title would fall to the LX in a perfect world, but that will never happen due to that camera's suspect, early printed circuit boards that are begining to fail and negatively affect AE and shutter timing/operation as those models age. For that reason it's less reliable despite its near-perfect operation, and the MX remains "my one camera".
Pentax MX one-fingered shutter dial operatios - part 1
Pentax MX one-fingered shutter dial operatios - part 2
Pentax MX mirror lock-up "flick" trick
 battle tested by Kevin Rosinbum (Eyewanders Foto), on Flickr
 35mm eyewandersfoto kit by Kevin Rosinbum (Eyewanders Foto), on Flickr
 double your pleasure by Kevin Rosinbum (Eyewanders Foto), on Flickr
 watch the family grow by Kevin Rosinbum (Eyewanders Foto), on Flickr
 everyday shooter, now and then by Kevin Rosinbum (Eyewanders Foto), on Flickr
 an experienced professional by Kevin Rosinbum (Eyewanders Foto), on Flickr
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: October, 2006 Location: Belgium Posts: 476
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 7, 2017 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Ergonomics, feel, compactness | | Cons: | Shutterspeed dial a little too stiff | |
Where to begin? Since this was my very first camera, the one I learned photography with, I guess this will be positive all round. 40 years old and still going strong. What I really love is how much thought it has put in this camera. The viewfinder is great (surely given its' generation with everything you need to compose and shoot, without cluttering it. There is an indication of which ss and aperture you're at and the traffic light used to indicate exposure is both smart and easy to grasp.
After 15 or so years of non-activity, I had to send it to Harrow Technical, London to have it serviced. They did a great job.
My only gripes would be that the SS dial a little stiff.
Here is a photo made with it 25 years ago while visiting Cuba:
 | | | | | New Member Registered: December, 2012 Posts: 17 | | Review Date: June 15, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | The feeling of using a precision piece of equipment | | Cons: | None | |
I've just taken delivery of a Pentax MX bought from ebay. I bought one in 1979 to replace my K1000- it was the traffic lights in the viewfinder that tempted me, plus the extra features that Pentax thoughtfully included, such as the aperture readout, depth of field lever and the holder on the back so you knew what sort of film you'd loaded into it. I really was the best-handling camera I've ever used before or since, especially with the motorised winder attached- very useful when used with longer lenses or a Vivitar 283 with bounce card on the top. I don't remember the shutter speed dial being difficult to move, but the model I just bought seems a little stiff. However, using it in 'shutter priority' sidesteps this issue. By far the most appealing feature is the feeling of quality and precision in the mechanics- I haven't put a roll of film in yet but I pick up the camera every now and again and fire the shutter a few times as it's so satisfying. It's this 'feel' that has kept me using Pentax ever since, though with the advent of polycarbonate bodies in later years, this was somewhat diminished. I mostly shot on slide film, which was fairly unforgiving as regards exposure but there were very few shots that weren't usable.
I bought the ebay MX intending to merely have it on display, but since I've rediscovered how good it feels to use, I may well give my K5 a rest and start actually shooting some film!
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: June, 2015 Location: Százhalombatta, Hungary Posts: 37
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 2, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $46.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Massive body, HUGE viewfinder, easy to use light meter | | Cons: | Maybe a little-bit too small, if I'm nitpicky | |
I got this camera recently as my second camera and as my first film SRL ever. My other camera being a K10D, I got really used to APS-C sized sensors so looking through the viewfinder of the MX was a great "Wow!", especially after realizing, that I now have a great camera for both street and landscape photography. (as the APS-C K10D is more suited for wildlife)
6 out of my 7 lenses being vintage ones, I didn't have to get any new lens. Still, all of them lenses came to new life on a "full-frame" body. My previously "normal" 28mm f3.5 suddenly became a fine landscape lens. My two fifties, which were portrait glass, all of a sudden became fine normals, my two teles became wider... both the 135 and the 75-210. My Tokina 28-70 also became a very normal kit lens.
The MX feels very-very massive, as well as really nice to handle. The viewfinder is large and bright, the split screen is very high quality, compared to the one I put in my K10D and it's really useful. There's a nice self timer, for those tripod shots, where you'd rather not touch the exposure button yourself, keeping vibrations to a minimum.
It has got a nice weight to it, but it's not too heavy. I got used to holding my K10D by the grip... now that's something I'd rather not do with the MX, especially with a telephoto lens. The camera body itself is small. So small actually, that it is considered one of the smallest SLR bodies ever made. That's a really nice feature actually, so I'd rather not put a winder on it.
Everyone seems to hail the K1000, but that's an amateur camera. The MX is a pro level SLR and is every bit as good, plus better than the K1000... still, the demand is perhaps less for the MX, it being less famous. And that's a nice point for those, who recognize how fine of a camera this is. Mine was rather cheap, 13500 HUF, which is about $46. It came in mint condition, with new batteries, a strap and the original leather case.
 | | | | | Inactive Account Registered: September, 2015 Location: Devon Posts: 12
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 22, 2015 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Excellent build quality and performance | | Cons: | You have to get the film developed | |
I bought mine in 1978 with a 50mm 1.7 SMC lens to replace a K1000 which was stolen. Plus points over the K1000 are the dofp, self timer and if it suits you the compact size.
It is an excellent fully manual SLR, easy to use (even if your battery dies which is an usual event as they last a very long time), totally reliable and built like a tank. Focusing, aperture and shutter speed selection are all done automatically for you these days but doing all of these yourself on an MX is simple and quick and means you learn a lot about the important aspects of photography. You get so used to doing it you pretty much know what to set before you even look through the viewfinder. I see some have mentioned camera shake but I've found it fine hand held down to 1/60s.
Third party K bayonet lenses may not provide the aperture reading in the viewfinder as the aperture control ring doesn't line up but that's not the camera's fault.
I still use it and I doubt anyone will be saying that about a DSLR nearly 40 years after they bought it.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: October, 2011 Location: British Columbia Posts: 377 | | Review Date: April 6, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $125.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Build Quality, Meter, Periscope, Viewfinder, DOF Preview, Self Timer, Swappable focusing screens, Accepts Winders | | Cons: | 1/1000 only, 1600 max iso, Slow Sync | |
There's not much more to say that hasn't already been said.
What I like:
1) The build quality is second to none. I can't imagine anyone complaining about the build of the body.
2) Not only have I found the meter accurate in low light, the yellow LED over/Underexposure lights help verifying correct exposure in half stops.
3) The periscope reads out aperture info into the viewfinder.
4) The viewfinder is massive and has very good coverage.
5) DOF preview is a handy addition to have.
6) The Self Timer is another nice to have feature for me.
7) The fact that the focusing screen can be replaced with other screens is awesome. My MX had quite a dusty screen when I first bought it second hand. Popping it out and giving a few blasts of air with a rocket blower keeps it looking brand new. I also replaced the original split prism focusing-aid screen with a matte screen from a broken PZ-1. (I prefer to focus and shoot, rather than focus, recompose, and shoot). With its giant viewfinder, manual focusing is a fairly simple affair.
8) Some might argue that the camera is too small. However, this camera accepts an auto-winder which gives it more size and a large ergonomic grip.
The things I don't like:
1) The shutter maxes out at 1/1000 of a second. It's alright, but there are K mount cameras with better shutter speeds around for less money. (Chinon CE-4s, Chinon CE-5, Ricoh XR-p, etc). Since my MX continues to keep on shooting after several years of continuous use, while both my Ricoh and Chinon bodies have bit the dust, I ultimately have to admit that the MX was a better value for the money.
2) The ISO dial maxes out at 1600. It's not a show stopper, but films like Ilford Delta 3200 or other black and white films pushed to 3200 will have to be compensated for by memory when one uses this camera.
3) a flash sync speed of 1/60 is really rather slow. I like shooting indoors with bounce flash at relatively wide apertures. I find I tend to need to stop down and increase flash output in order not to have mixed incandescent/flash lighting since the shutter stays open so long.
In the end I rate this camera a 10/10. Each of the things I dislike about this camera are corrected in later film models, although most of them are auto focus bodies with their own disadvantages. I shoot an MX in low light and a PZ-1/Z1-P for my daily shooter. Choice is great; and, for the money, we can choose both!
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: March, 2014 Posts: 38
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 22, 2014 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | small, build quality | | Cons: | none from my standpoint | |
As a freelance pro when younger, I used a Nikon F3. Great camera. However, my work style usually demanded medium format, and I bought a Pentax 645 when it came out, to supplement my Mamiya C330, which produced fine results but is a bit of an unwieldy beast in the field. When I compared the size of my Nikon F3 with motor drive to the Pentax 645, (the Nikon was larger, weighed more, yadayadayada) and compared the results with fashion, wedding and portrait work, I sold the F3 and bought an MX with the same system of lenses. I was delighted with the size and weight saving in my packs.
At that time, the only reason I could see to even use a 35mm in my work was as a backup in the field, and I had no reason to own a 35mm that was bulkier than the sleek and ergonomic 645. Later on I bought an Olympus OM1 on a whim, and used it and the MX as my using 35mm cameras. I got the Oly from a friend, and it had the 21mm Zuiko f3.5 lens on it. Loved the lens so kept the camera. Still have it.
I still use them as my 35mm cameras of choice, along with the diminutive Olympus Pen FT half-frame, which was the first 35mm camera I bought (in grade 10 in hight school).
I kept my MX and the 7 lenses I owned for it, and when I went digital, I went Pentax because of the backwards compatability. I still have my Pen FT and another body, still have my Oly OM1 and the 21, but I own 5 MXs. That should tell you what I think of the camera.
It's simple, reliable, completely unquirky, and a handsome little brute to boot. I've never had a failure with my MXs in the field. I still do all of my black and white work in film, so I usually have 2 MX bodies with me, loaded with HP5 and FP4, with a 50mm f1.4 Pentax-M on one body, and a 100mm f2.8 on the other, with a 17mm Tamron, 90mm Tamron macro, and 35-70mm Pentax-M f2.8-3.5 in my kit. I use them all interchangeably on either the MX or K10 digital bodies, and if I'm travelling, add the 200mm Pentax-M f4 and the 75-300mm Tamron as well. My digital arsenal is the 10-20mm Sigma, the 35mm Pentax Macro limited, and the 77mm f1.8 Pentax Macro limited. If I need longer, which is seldom, I take what I need.
Along with a Mamiya C330 and a couple of its lenses, there is really nothing I cannot cover anywhere. Guess you could call me a happy camper.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: August, 2012 Location: Queensland Posts: 4,299
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 10, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $100.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | The perfect robust manual SLR | | Cons: | None, for it's era | |
I thought I had already reviewed the MX, since I have had a love affair with it since buying it in 1977. (I now own four, correction, 5 of them, and the price is for the latest body bought).
Since the good qualities of the MX have been well covered, I would like to address my comments to what others see as negative qualities.
1) Too small. This is subjective rather than objective, since it falls easily into my fingers, as if they and camera were designed for each other.
2) Magic finger take up spool. It is different, but not difficult to use. Again this is more subject to personal taste.
3) Speed dial stiff for one finger use. True, it is stiff, but I usually set the speed before composing. Otherwise it is not a big problem lowering the camera to change it.
4) Speed limited to 1000 sec. Again true, but that was the standard of the time when 400 ASA was quite new on the market. So choose an appropriate film speed.
5) Light meter hard to read in bright light conditions. That may be so, but I did not find this a problem. Besides, it was easy to read in poor light, and half-stop accurate.
6) No mirror lock-up. My understanding (correct me if I am wrong) is that Pentax considered the MX didn't need it due to the design of vibration damping. In any event, with a 50mm lens, I considered 1/15 second hand held as a usable option and even 1/8 possible.
I have all the K (and Spotmatic) versions, and love them all. My LX is minty and Eric CLA'd, - nothing can match the sensuous feel of it. Yet it is the MX I am most comfortable with in it's simplicity and compactness. It is my ultimate SLR.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: December, 2012 Location: Wild-Nord-East Hungary Posts: 149 | | Review Date: August 5, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $70.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Precision instrument. | | Cons: | none | |
More than 10 years I have used full satisfaction.
Non-automatic machine, not thinking instead of the photographer;
the photographer must be able to think about.
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