[Sandy Hancock]

Which lenses do you have?
If they are largely digital era, you will need something like the PZ-1 so you can control the aperture from the body.

....and expect your DA lenses to vignette significantly....

[Lord Lucan]

Personally I think the K1000 is overpriced due to nostalgia -- you're better off with its predecessor, the KM (which has more features)

It is not just your personal opinion, it is an indisputable fact. The K1000 sells for inflated prices because it gets more hype than any other camera in history; YouTube is full of it. But it is a very basic SLR, OK if that's what you want, but as such its price is usually not justified. As has been said, the quality of the later ones (without "Asahi" on the pentaprism) went downhill. It was however the most numerous SLR camera ever made so there is always the chance of finding one being sold cheap outside photographic circles, like in a junk shop. The K1000 was really a KM with some features removed to save cost, but the slightly superior KM is much less common - was only manufactured for a couple of years compared with 20 years for the K1000.

MX is a smaller, lighter alternative; however I'm not nearly as big a fan as most others. I find the shutter dial difficult to turn (it's stiff and hemmed in by other controls) and I don't like the light-meter display (you get the same indication whether you're 1 stop or 5 stops off proper exposure).

My MX dial was not stiff, depends on its condition I expect. Plenty of film era SLRs do not show how many stops off exposure you are, including the KM/K1000. I never found that an issue with the MX which does show half a stop up or down and then one stop (or more) up or down. I just turned the aperture ring or shutter dial until I brought it into range. If you want then to underexpose by two stops say, you just turn one or the other by two stops. At least the MX told you in the viewfinder what your aperture and speed were. The ME Super viewfinder does not tell you aperture, and the KM/K1000 tells you neither.

[jno]

Which lenses do you have?
If they are largely digital era, you will need something like the PZ-1 so you can control the aperture from the body.

....and expect your DA lenses to vignette significantly....

Good point.
My only DA lens is the 18-55 kit. Then I have an M 50mm F1.7 and an M 135mm F3.5, and I'm pretty sure I'll be buying several more old lenses before splurging on something new (I mean, I'd love the DA* 11-18 for instance, but I can get 40+ old lenses for that kind of money...)


I wouldn't mind vignetting btw, but aperture control would be rather nice to have... Do the DA lenses just keep a fixed aperture on old bodies?

[UncleVanya]

Good point.
My only DA lens is the 18-55 kit. Then I have an M 50mm F1.7 and an M 135mm F3.5, and I'm pretty sure I'll be buying several more old lenses before splurging on something new (I mean, I'd love the DA* 11-18 for instance, but I can get 40+ old lenses for that kind of money...)


I wouldn't mind vignetting btw, but aperture control would be rather nice to have... Do the DA lenses just keep a fixed aperture on old bodies?

The DA series will meter open and view open, but then simply stop down all the way on a body without body based aperture control.

Some DA lenses are very good on full frame and film. The PZ-1 is a bulky body but it’s quite capable. Manual focusing very fast lenses may be a bit difficult as it lacks a split screen focusing screen. But the screen is relatively bright and the green hexagon focus indicator does work when manually focusing. I just tried with my F 50/1.7 and manually focusing, then enabling autofocus and pressing the shutter halfway resulted in the green hexagon lighting up and no lens movement so I must have been close. The accuracy of the focus system at f1.7 might not be anything to celebrate, but since it’s film I can’t really just snap off a few and check. Lol.

[spiralcity]

Maybe a Ricoh XR2 would be a nice choice? There are so many choices...
Ricoh XR-2 - Camera-wiki.org - The free camera encyclopedia

I own this camera and it's a decent little rig. The glass you choose will be the deciding factor.

My XR2s

[jno]

I grabbed a P30T, just because they were so cheap. The equivalent of one roll of film + development.

I'll shoot a roll or two. If I enjoy it I'll probably spring for something better.

[andrewd]

P30T is a great choice at the going price of around $30. The plastic back with labyrinth light trap means no foam light seals to replace.

If you don’t mind spending more for a pro quality camera, the MX is the way to go. I like to keep a 40mm pancake lens on mine which makes it tiny. I find I get a better ratio of keepers with my MX than many of my other cameras, which I suspect is due to the very high magnification finder.

[builttospill]

MX is a smaller, lighter alternative; however I'm not nearly as big a fan as most others. I find the shutter dial difficult to turn (it's stiff and hemmed in by other controls) and I don't like the light-meter display (you get the same indication whether you're 1 stop or 5 stops off proper exposure).

As mentioned, at least the yellow LEDs show 1/2 stop over/under. This helps, but it's not nearly as quick as a center-the-needle metering system. I don't want to pass on misinformation so maybe someone else could verify this, but I had heard the K1000 shows the 1/2 stop over- and under-exposure too but couldn't verify this in the manual. I read somewhere when the needle touches the beginning of the black line above or below the center gap this is a 1/2 stop from the correct exposure...

If they are largely digital era, you will need something like the PZ-1 so you can control the aperture from the body.

If you're using a lens without an aperture ring the list below show which bodies allow aperture control. The two cameras not verified means I couldn't find the manual to confirm operation and I don't own these cameras, however I'm assuming it's allowed due to the cameras having a rotating dial, similar models being able to and the time period the camera was released.

Z-1/PZ-1
Z-1p/PZ-1p
Z-20/PZ-20
Z-20p
Z-50p (not verified)
Z-70/PZ-70
Z-70p (not verified)
MZ-50/ZX-50
MZ-7/ZX-7
MZ-30/ZX-30
MZ-6/MZ-L/ZX-L
MZ-60/ZX-60
*ist

[Steve Beswick]

Thanks for the advice. I see there are almost as many preferences as there are people

I can find a selection of really cheap P30t's - that's very tempting. Reading the reviews confused me a bit, with many referring to them as point and shoot like, which I don't really understand. But a sturdy, relatively light, cheap, fully manual camera sounds like just the thing.

The P3n is almost the exact same camera, with 3 differences:

1. On the outside it’s black plastic instead of “titanium” paint.

2. The split image in the viewfinder is horizontal instead of diagonal.

3. In my experience, the P30t sounds more hollow than the P3n. That of course may have something that changed mid run of either model, but it’s definitely different between some of them.

Of course the only practical difference between the two is the focus screen.

Both cameras are super easy to load, super easy to change the batteries out without needing a coin (a pair of the very common LR44 size), and just easy to use in general. The meter is LED numbers, so you can easily see it in the dark, but it’s on the left, which weirds out some Pentax people. The mirror bumper is modern stuff that doesn’t break down, and the back has minimal seals. It also has a thumb rest, and there is a small grip built into the front. If you can find one that works well you will probably love it … if your lenses have aperture rings.

If they don’t, and you want manual control, then my recommendation would be a ZX-L with the AA battery holder and the focus screen from a ZX-M. With that setup you also get autofocus if you want it. The only real negative on the ZX-L is the small viewfinder, but in use it’s not bad. I’d say it’s pretty comparable to the viewfinder on a k100d. Also make sure you get one you can return, because the ZX/MZ line is notorious for mirror gear failure.

[JoelA]

Another vote for the Ricoh XR-2s if you can find a nice one.

I bought mine new in the early '80's.

Just keeps soldiering on...and much lighter weight than the Pentax K2 (which I love by the way).

[stillwell]

I have just discovered the AF film cameras, I. e the Pentax Z1 and Z10. Halfway between film and digital.

[Sandy Hancock]

I have just discovered the AF film cameras, I. e the Pentax Z1 and Z10. Halfway between film and digital.

I only had a PZ-1 for short while; I only bought it to test the full frame capability of my DA lenses before the K-1 was released.

It's not the prettiest of cameras, but the ergonomics and user interface are excellent. And the AF, although simple by modern standards, works fine. I can't remember whether it worked with modern in-lens AF motors though....

[pres589]

In-lens motor AF lenses won't work from an AF standpoint properly with any Pentax film camera.

Everyone talks about the user interface on the PZ-1 and similar cameras having a nice user interface but it looks odd to me from pictures. I kind of want a ZX-L with a correct mirror gear and a split-prism focusing screen.

[UncleVanya]

In-lens motor AF lenses won't work from an AF standpoint properly with any Pentax film camera.

Everyone talks about the user interface on the PZ-1 and similar cameras having a nice user interface but it looks odd to me from pictures. I kind of want a ZX-L with a correct mirror gear and a split-prism focusing screen.

The pz-1 interface for the day to day stuff is basically like an early Pentax dslr interface. The Pf functions on the other hand are more set and forget things and they are a bit cryptic (I think there are about 18 of them?) These are things like setting the film leader to be left out rather than fully rewinded, choosing 1/3 vs 1/2 EV steps; they are all are things that rarely need to be changed. If you need to change one or two frequently you learn these pretty quickly by doing it repeatedly.

[tonyzoc]

In-lens motor AF lenses won't work from an AF standpoint properly with any Pentax film camera.

Everyone talks about the user interface on the PZ-1 and similar cameras having a nice user interface but it looks odd to me from pictures. I kind of want a ZX-L with a correct mirror gear and a split-prism focusing screen.

While I avoid recommending MX/ZX cameras because of the plastic gear issue and the popup flash issue, I have to admit my ZX-5 is a pretty nice camera. Its compact and amazingly light weight. Even with the AA battery grip its one of the lightest cameras I have. I did liked the MZ-3 I had, but the gear went on it and I'm not going to spend another $100+ for one. You can find a working ZX-5 for under $50 and that's worth the risk. I rarely see a ZX-5n thats working and when I do, they want too much for it. I'm temped to pick up a broken one and see how much effort it takes to replace that gear with a brass one. I'm surprised there's no YouTube video on this repair.