dmr
Registered Abuser
To make a long story long ...
It's been an unusually warm day today, and after my morning "breakfast club" at the casino I was driving back and spied a garage sale and stopped and looked around.
I immediately zeroed in on what at first looked to me like it might be a K1000 (I have an ailing one) but it turned out to be a Pentax MG. (MG ????????) I'm totally unfamiliar with that model and in fact I don't even remember hearing of it that I can remember!
Anyway, the price tag said $25 so halfway in jest I offered him $10 for it. He replied "Make it $12 and it's yours." I figured what the {expletive} and for that price at worst it's a sanity check on the focusing of my lenses and a comparison to the known-out-of-whack K1000. The shutter fired and it focused to infinity clearly. It came with a 50mm f2 lens (yeah I know, twirling index finger) similar to the one that came with the K1000. One thing I noticed is that the camera body was somewhat dirty, noticeable grode around the wind lever and limited shutter speed dial, but the lens is PRISTINE, and I suspect that it may not be the original.
I just downloaded TFM and read the page on it at Pentax Forums and I was able to get the batteries (yes, plural, two of them needed) at the local Walgreens and I've been playing with it, but haven't taken any actual shots yet. I'm off tomorrow and Tuesday afternoon so unless the weather turns ugly I'll shoot a test roll at the place I've been taking test shots and see how it works.
The good news is that the meter works and it passes the "sunny 16" sanity check in the back yard. I REALLY like the split image in the finder, and that makes it very easy to focus exactly and check the focus close to and at infinity, something I'm having issues with on the K1000. The shutter speeds sound about right. (Yeah, not very scientific, I know.) All of my lenses mount and appear to focus properly except for the suspected-out-of-whack Ozunon (this model also sold under the Vivitar name) zoom which was my favorite Pentax lens. The prime lens from the K1000 and the MG have the exact same focus point where they go very very slightly past infinity, so I suspect that both of them are fine.
Now the bad news! The exposure system is really wonky! It's aperture-priority with only a 1/100 manual speed! Otherwise it's auto only and kinda bass-ackwards from the Canon GIII which is shutter-priority and which I'm more or less used to. Other than this I think I got more than my money's worth on this find!
As I said, I don't even remember hearing much (or anything, actually) about this model (MG) even though I was a regular reader of the photo mags at the time it apparently came out. Either I glossed over it or was not impressed enough with it (possibly with the exposure system) to commit it to long-term memory. Googling "Pentax MG" brought up Wikipedia, Camerapedia, Pentax Forums, and a few for sale on you-know-where.
Does anybody here use one of these, or actually know much about them, or like them?
Thanks
It's been an unusually warm day today, and after my morning "breakfast club" at the casino I was driving back and spied a garage sale and stopped and looked around.
I immediately zeroed in on what at first looked to me like it might be a K1000 (I have an ailing one) but it turned out to be a Pentax MG. (MG ????????) I'm totally unfamiliar with that model and in fact I don't even remember hearing of it that I can remember!
Anyway, the price tag said $25 so halfway in jest I offered him $10 for it. He replied "Make it $12 and it's yours." I figured what the {expletive} and for that price at worst it's a sanity check on the focusing of my lenses and a comparison to the known-out-of-whack K1000. The shutter fired and it focused to infinity clearly. It came with a 50mm f2 lens (yeah I know, twirling index finger) similar to the one that came with the K1000. One thing I noticed is that the camera body was somewhat dirty, noticeable grode around the wind lever and limited shutter speed dial, but the lens is PRISTINE, and I suspect that it may not be the original.
I just downloaded TFM and read the page on it at Pentax Forums and I was able to get the batteries (yes, plural, two of them needed) at the local Walgreens and I've been playing with it, but haven't taken any actual shots yet. I'm off tomorrow and Tuesday afternoon so unless the weather turns ugly I'll shoot a test roll at the place I've been taking test shots and see how it works.
The good news is that the meter works and it passes the "sunny 16" sanity check in the back yard. I REALLY like the split image in the finder, and that makes it very easy to focus exactly and check the focus close to and at infinity, something I'm having issues with on the K1000. The shutter speeds sound about right. (Yeah, not very scientific, I know.) All of my lenses mount and appear to focus properly except for the suspected-out-of-whack Ozunon (this model also sold under the Vivitar name) zoom which was my favorite Pentax lens. The prime lens from the K1000 and the MG have the exact same focus point where they go very very slightly past infinity, so I suspect that both of them are fine.
Now the bad news! The exposure system is really wonky! It's aperture-priority with only a 1/100 manual speed! Otherwise it's auto only and kinda bass-ackwards from the Canon GIII which is shutter-priority and which I'm more or less used to. Other than this I think I got more than my money's worth on this find!
As I said, I don't even remember hearing much (or anything, actually) about this model (MG) even though I was a regular reader of the photo mags at the time it apparently came out. Either I glossed over it or was not impressed enough with it (possibly with the exposure system) to commit it to long-term memory. Googling "Pentax MG" brought up Wikipedia, Camerapedia, Pentax Forums, and a few for sale on you-know-where.
Does anybody here use one of these, or actually know much about them, or like them?
Thanks
Range-rover
Veteran
I didn't have the MG but I had the ME, It was from Pentax's M series, the ME and MG
both were just good old aperture priority camera's with 1/100 I think the only mode
you could use without a batteries and with flash and "B" that's it. If you want to change
the shutter speed in aperture priority mode you have to change the ISO higher or lower
to change it.
both were just good old aperture priority camera's with 1/100 I think the only mode
you could use without a batteries and with flash and "B" that's it. If you want to change
the shutter speed in aperture priority mode you have to change the ISO higher or lower
to change it.
Steve M.
Veteran
Yeah, that was my MG experience as well. Everything was going fine until I got to exposing the shots, and the camera was just too point and shoot for my tastes.
nikon_sam
Shooter of Film...
I had two way back when...I have the MX and ME and thought I'd try the MG...never liked it nor did I shoot with it...ended up trading the two MGs and a Nikon FG for a mint Yashicamat 124g...
The lack of manual control was it's downfall for me...
The lack of manual control was it's downfall for me...
I have heard of the MG, but I get the impression it was not marketed in the US. Seems to be the bottom of the line below the ME, but I don't recall the difference in the spec, if any. I have the ME Super but honestly I have rarely used the hip/modern push-button shutter speed selector, so it might as well be an MG! Have fun with that nifty compact rig...
zuikologist
.........................
the MG was to all intents and purposes a remarketed ME. Great viewfinder, aperture priority with exposure compensation through +/-2 EV, really nice viewfinder, very compact and very nice with the 40/2.8 pancake.
There were a few of this type of camera around in those days, among them Nikon EM and Olympus OM10.
There were a few of this type of camera around in those days, among them Nikon EM and Olympus OM10.
sevo
Fokutorendaburando
The MG is essentially a MV with the in-finder exposure time display of the ME thrown in, the bargain companion to the ME super (where the MV was the bargain ME). Feels cheaper than the ME, but essentially has all of its features - or lack thereof. Missing a manual mode might be the show stopper today, as the potential users of point and shoot SLRs have long moved on to digital.
dmr
Registered Abuser
Prolly why I never heard of it. I looked through a couple of mid-80s Pop Photo last night at the ads, and I saw lotsa MEs for sale but no MGs.
I'm gonna do a test roll today, all lenses, on that railroad track where I take test shots. I can easily check the plane of focus by looking at the track tie planks.
ChrisPlatt
Thread Killer
When introduced the Pentax ME was an innovative compact autoexposure SLR aimed at beginners.
The MSRP of the ME was actually higher than the MX, which was then the Pentax pro system camera.
Later when AE was standard on most SLRs Pentax offered the same feature set in the value-priced MG.
The Pentax MG is a very capable camera.
Aperture priority AE gives you some creative control,
and you can perform exposure compensation via the film speed dial.
Think of it as a deluxe point and shoot, with interchangeable lenses.
Chris
The MSRP of the ME was actually higher than the MX, which was then the Pentax pro system camera.
Later when AE was standard on most SLRs Pentax offered the same feature set in the value-priced MG.
The Pentax MG is a very capable camera.
Aperture priority AE gives you some creative control,
and you can perform exposure compensation via the film speed dial.
Think of it as a deluxe point and shoot, with interchangeable lenses.
Chris