Best buck for your money K-mount camera

[p.giannakis]

My Pentax ME started randomly underexposing, the second sample within a few years. I have a couple of pentax lenses that i like so i would like to use them.


Which K-mount would you suggest as best value for money? I am cheapskate so i dont want to spend too much money on it (top £100). I wouldn't mind other manufacturers than Pentax.

 

[B-9]

Pentax Super Program... cuz why not!

IF your dead set on cheapest of the cheap try a P30.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Pentax MX.
Phil Forrest

 

[Austintatious]

For something non Pentax, the Chinon Memotron has some K-mount options maybe worth a look.

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

Probably a KX or MX. Excellent cameras that seems to have completely missed the marketplace hype (and elevated prices) thrown at the K1000.

Keep an eye on the Pentax Forums classifieds and you should find one within your budget.

 

[Deleted member 65559]

Pan, Pentax ME is about the cheapest. There's a nice black one for sale on ebay for $58 USD.... circa 52 euro. You wont find an MX for that... & free international shipping

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pentax-ME-...062917&hash=item2164ba9eda:g:gLEAAOSwGYZdtQj-

 

[mconnealy]

Found this one for five bucks at a thrift store.

Hikari 2002 by Mike Connealy, on Flickr
Compact and well constructed. Makes nice pictures.

 

[Tim Murphy]

Chinon CP-6 or Pentax P3N

Chinon CP-6 or Pentax P3N

You can find both of these for less than $ 20.00, often with a lens too.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg, PA 🙂

 

[taemo]

My vote also goes to the MX, size like the ME & ME Super, is very small.
Fully manual too but you can use a battery if you want metering. and inexpensive.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I got my MX for $14 from Goodwill. Even if it didn't work, it's still worth it to have CLA'd, so that's a win-win. It works. Not much to go wrong with the fully mechanical K and M series cameras.

Phil Forrest

 

[Beemermark]

I second the KX (or K2) and MX.

 

[aizan]

Another Pentax P30 fan here.

Try poking around this long list of K-mount cameras, too:

https://www.butkus.org/chinon/lenses/ultimate_k-mount.htm

 

[c.poulton]

You can't go wrong with the Pentax P30T, and being a plastic fantastic 1990's camera, still under the radar price wise.

 

[ronnies]

I have a very solidly made Ricoh XR-2 that I like using.

Ronnie

 

[Ste_S]

Anything from the K series really. I find Pentax electronics haven’t stood the test of time as well as some other manufacturers

 

[lynnb]

I have an MZ-5 ($5 at a charity store) which has the KAF-2 mount. Lightweight and compact plastic body with metal mount, manual, aperture-priority and shutter-priority, accepts manual and AF lenses. Three AF points. Quiet operation. Two stage shutter release. Small grip and a ridge for the thumb on the back. Two strap slots: back right and side left. The pop up flash isn't working - a common fault which can be fixed but I haven't bothered. Takes 1 AA battery. It's not as classy or durable as the metal bodied cameras, but it's cheap and you can use AF lenses. A nice little street shooter. I carry a spare AA just in case.

Pentax_MZ-5 by lynnb's snaps, on Flickr

Pentax_MZ-5 vs OM1 front by lynnb's snaps, on Flickr

Pentax_MZ-5 vs OM1 above1 by lynnb's snaps, on Flickr

 

[wwfloyd]

I have a very solidly made Ricoh XR-2 that I like using.

Ronnie

I was going to mention the XR-2, too. It was my first SLR, in the 80s, a very nice handling camera. Lately, I've been trying to buy one for collection and use. Unfortunately, I have identified 2 weak points that seems to afflict this camera, and some other contemporary Ricohs: The self timer lever will break if you look at it wrong -- it's made of plastic, and apparently has not aged well. And, the film wind lever on several I've seen has been "stripped" -- that is, the tabbed-notched interface between lever and wind mechanism has been worn away.



Be gentle with those parts.

 

[Huss]

I have an MZ-5 ($5 at a charity store) which has the KAF-2 mount. Lightweight and compact plastic body with metal mount, manual, aperture-priority and shutter-priority, accepts manual and AF lenses. Three AF points. Quiet operation. Two stage shutter release. Small grip and a ridge for the thumb on the back. Two strap slots: back right and side left. The pop up flash isn't working - a common fault which can be fixed but I haven't bothered. Takes 1 AA battery. It's not as classy or durable as the metal bodied cameras, but it's cheap and you can use AF lenses. A nice little street shooter. I carry a spare AA just in case.

Pentax_MZ-5 by lynnb's snaps, on Flickr

Pentax_MZ-5 vs OM1 front by lynnb's snaps, on Flickr

Pentax_MZ-5 vs OM1 above1 by lynnb's snaps, on Flickr

How is manual focus with that lump? Asking for someone who only has mf K mount lenses.

 

[Huss]

When I entered the Pentax world the only one I wanted was the MX. In black. Only issue with this camera is the shutter speed dial is a wee bit too stiff.

 

[css9450]

Anything from the K series really. I find Pentax electronics haven’t stood the test of time as well as some other manufacturers

The K series has its issues too. My extended family has owned about six or eight different K1000s over the years and all of them eventually had dead meters. Not a deal breaker really, since they function just fine without a meter (just like so many of my other old cameras) but if one is looking for a functioning meter, be sure to check carefully beforehand.

I find it interesting that the KX (or is it the K2?) is essentially just a K1000 with a self timer, but it sells for just a fraction of what the K1000 goes for on the eBay. Must be the relative anonymity of that camera vs. the K1000 which is regularly touted as one of THE great film cameras for young photographers. This despite the K1000 having been produced in probably ten times the numbers!