Originally posted by johnha The appearance of the aperture depends on lighting conditions and the lenses used. With lenses with engraved (rather than 'printed') aperture markings, it depends on the angle of light hitting the engravings. With printed aperture rings, you always get 'positive' images but sometimes if the angle is wrong you get nothing at all.
The LX was the last body for sale with the direct readout.
Good points, John -- I just tested your comments, and you're quite correct (but you knew that already, eh?).
As for the end of the "little aperture reflection window", I suppose it was all due to the changeover to a combination of exposure automation and digital readouts in cam bodies. In Pentax, specifically, following the various ES models and the K2 models, the M bodies (with the exception of the all-manual MX, of course) emphasized aperture priority exposures, although some (e.g., ME Super, ME F) did also allow manual settings. [And, I tend to suspect that aperture priority made frequent "peeking" at the aperture from the viewfinder less and less important, perhaps paradoxically.] Then, with the A bodies, shutter priority and program modes were added, and exposure settings were displayed in digital readouts. So, I guess the LX was the last run for that little "aperture aperture". However, thanks to some of us classic Pentax aficionados, the "peek at the aperture peephole" does live on in our continued, or renewed, use of the KX, MX, and LX bodies. But I digress...