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11-23-2019, 01:02 AM   #16
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Ultimate light film SLR combo? The Pentax ME range or MX are obvious choices. Yashica FX3 and FXD with excellent Zeiss 45mm f2.8 are an option. Nikon EM / FG and E series 50mm fit the bill.
Personally though if I wanted small , light and compact with automation and some user override I would go for, and indeed do use, an Olympus 35RC rangefinder.

11-23-2019, 05:23 AM   #17
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The beauty is that there are plenty of choices in film land that offer good image quality and a range of automation options with compact size.

As long as a single focal length between 35-45mm and f2.8 or so is OK.

I have a Petri Color 35 zone focuser that is tiny but takes great shots and lets you add a flash on top. There’s the Olympus XA family. And even the Pentax AF35.

None of them touch a SLR for versatility, but all of them can produce very good results. To me, they are a complement to a SLR, though, not a replacement.

-Eric
11-23-2019, 07:13 AM   #18
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QuoteOriginally posted by TwoUptons Quote
None of them touch a SLR for versatility, but all of them can produce very good results. To me, they are a complement to a SLR, though, not a replacement.

Spot on.
11-23-2019, 07:56 AM   #19
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As far as compact SLR is concerned, I've always been a fan of Nikon's little FG. I know this is a Pentax thread but this little camera has always been a rock for me. Versatile and small. I'll take a photo of the FG side by side with the ME. Give me some time and I will post the comparison.



11-23-2019, 08:19 AM   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by kevinWE Quote
As far as compact SLR is concerned, I've always been a fan of Nikon's little FG. I know this is a Pentax thread but this little camera has always been a rock for me. Versatile and small. I'll take a photo of the FG side by side with the ME. Give me some time and I will post the comparison.
The FG is my favorite Nikon for those reasons... it’s a Nikon without the pretense...

-Eric
11-23-2019, 08:41 AM   #21
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In the manual focus world, I know there is very little love for the ZX series, but the ZX-M is ridiculously light, has all exposure modes (P, Av, Tv, M, B), exp compensation, ISO override, timer etc. With a 40 pancake it is lighter than even some point and shoots.
That been said, in my brain manual focus = hefty camera. I prefer manual focusing with a heavy camera.

Thanks,
11-23-2019, 09:16 AM - 1 Like   #22
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QuoteOriginally posted by kevinWE Quote
As far as compact SLR is concerned, I've always been a fan of Nikon's little FG. I know this is a Pentax thread but this little camera has always been a rock for me. Versatile and small. I'll take a photo of the FG side by side with the ME. Give me some time and I will post the comparison.
It's surprising how the FG is not really all that small even in the Nikon lineup but it is lightest at 490g compared to the FM3A (612g) and F3 (715g)




Of course the LX size is surprising compared to it's interchangeable viewfinder peers . . .




Even more surprising when you compare it to the non-interchangeable viewfinder slrs . . .



11-23-2019, 04:31 PM   #23
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That chart is a bit deceiving, that Ti is a small rangefinder. Here is a real time comparison. These are only quick snap shots. Sorry I just didn't have time to set-up properly and I wanted to post a few pics that I promised.

If you ever held an EM then you pretty much get the idea of the FG size.

I tried to go small, bigger, biggest. The ME clearly is the smallest but not as versatile and the Nikon isn't much bigger at all. Next to my F4 all these cameras are midgets.



This is the Nikon N70 in comparison.


Last edited by kevinWE; 11-23-2019 at 04:44 PM.
11-23-2019, 07:19 PM   #24
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QuoteOriginally posted by kevinWE Quote
That chart is a bit deceiving,
Which chart, the three kings (F-1, F3 & LX)?
I took pics of all my cameras at a fixed position with a fixed tripod mounted camera using a 200mm lens all at the same angle and only cropped the results so those are accurate.
11-23-2019, 07:32 PM   #25
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QuoteOriginally posted by LesDMess Quote
Which chart, the three kings (F-1, F3 & LX)?
I took pics of all my cameras at a fixed position with a fixed tripod mounted camera using a 200mm lens all at the same angle and only cropped the results so those are accurate.
Deceiving may not have been the proper word. That Ti isn't a very big unit although a bit boxy, so it actually shows that the FG is small. When compared side by side with most Nikons, it will be the smallest unit as far as old SLR's are concerned. My FA is bigger, quite a bit bigger actually, same said for my FE2, and EL. You can clearly see all the N models are quite a bit bigger also. My F4 makes it look minuscule.

Last edited by kevinWE; 11-23-2019 at 07:42 PM.
11-24-2019, 01:20 AM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by chickentender Quote
To be fair, this an article on "35mmc.com". Kinda precludes 110.
For all that, they've published a bunch of articles on 120 cameras...
11-24-2019, 05:33 AM - 1 Like   #27
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The P-series bodies and the Super Program (I have examples of both) are just that little bit bulkier all around than the M series. It's enough to notice. The other thing about the M's is that they are the last Pentax bodies of any kind to have any sort of manual reversion, except for the LX, which is in a very different category.

The ultimate compact travel SLR is, in my opinion, the ME with the 40mm M pancake. If you are just shooting casually, aperture priority is enough. If you really need to fudge it, you have a two-stop exposure compensation dial. If you needed more than that, you were there for something different and you should have taken an MX. If the batteries fail, there are smartphone apps that will tell you which aperture you should set for 1/100 second.

I wouldn't go with an MV-1 because it simply isn't telling me enough about what it's doing. I wouldn't want to put my camera-buying decisions in the hands of the linked article's author.
11-24-2019, 06:13 AM - 2 Likes   #28
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I put several thousand rolls of film through various Pentax SLR cameras while working as a weekly newspaper photojournalist from 1985 through 2004 when I went digital. ME Super, MX, Super Program, LX and finally PZ-1p. My vote for the smallest-best camera is the all mechanical MX, provided you get one that wasn’t worn out using a motor drive. The MX is very well built, has an excellent light meter, and partnered with the 40mm f2.8 M pancake lens, easily coat pocketable. Used ME Super bodies can be found for $25-50 USD and make a good choice too. Finally, though slightly bigger, the Super Program is a great all around performer with excellent OTF TTL flash metering as a bonus.
When I decided to buy a film camera this year, I chose a like new Super Program and am very pleased.
11-24-2019, 01:58 PM - 1 Like   #29
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QuoteOriginally posted by steamloco76 Quote
I put several thousand rolls of film through various Pentax SLR cameras while working as a weekly newspaper photojournalist from 1985 through 2004 when I went digital. ME Super, MX, Super Program, LX and finally PZ-1p. My vote for the smallest-best camera is the all mechanical MX, provided you get one that wasn’t worn out using a motor drive. The MX is very well built, has an excellent light meter, and partnered with the 40mm f2.8 M pancake lens, easily coat pocketable. Used ME Super bodies can be found for $25-50 USD and make a good choice too. Finally, though slightly bigger, the Super Program is a great all around performer with excellent OTF TTL flash metering as a bonus.
When I decided to buy a film camera this year, I chose a like new Super Program and am very pleased.
I ran a lot of film through my Super Program, starting in the late 1980s and ending in the mid 2000s. I bought it to supersede my ME Super because of the OTF TTL flash metering, which made my side gig as a wedding photographer that much easier when I connected a big Metz potato masher flash to the camera. Even though it was slightly bigger than the ME Super, I always considered the camera to be petite (especially when compared to the K1000 and a friend's Nikon F3HP).

With Pentax at that time, you always knew you were going to get a very good thing in a small package!
11-25-2019, 08:11 PM   #30
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QuoteOriginally posted by StarTroop Quote
What's the absolute smallest Pentax 135 camera with Program and/or Shutter priority mode?
PC35AF? Not an SLR but a great little 35mm camera, with emphasis on little.
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