The Pentax MX

nickthetasmaniac said:
A bit OT (and not Leica), but a well known bit of Pentax folklore is that the original Super-Takumar 50/f1.4 '8 element' was an all-in, sold-at-a-loss effort to outperform the Zeiss 50mm Planar. My understanding is that they were successful, before quietly switching to a cheaper 7 element design.
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My understanding is that the 7-element 50mm lens that succeeded the 8-element version was made with special (radioactive; thorium?) glass, which Pentax probably felt offered the same performance with one less element. I'm pretty sure the radioactive glass cost more than the more common glass. I don't see it as Pentax lowering their standards.


- Murray
 
CMur12 said:
My understanding is that the 7-element 50mm lens that succeeded the 8-element version was made with special (radioactive; thorium?) glass, which Pentax probably felt offered the same performance with one less element. I'm pretty sure the radioactive glass cost more than the more common glass. I don't see it as Pentax lowering their standards.


- Murray
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I'm far from an expert on this (hopefully others will offer their take...) but my reading is that the cost associated with the 8 element wasn't just that it had one more piece of glass, but rather than it had a cememted triplet that was very expensive to manufacture. Every bit of info I've come across agrees that the 7 element was more affordable to produce*.

I don't know the relative cost of thorium vs regular glass, but given that Pentax also used thorium in their cheaper 'kit lens' 55/f1.8, I can't imagine the difference is significant.

*Having said all that, none of the comparisons I've seen between the Super-Tak 7 and 8 elements suggest a notable difference in image quality.
 
Godfrey said:
I had both Pentax MX and Olympus OM-1/OM-2 cameras. The MX is very slightly smaller; the Olympus felt better in my hands. Both were excellent cameras.

But honestly, in this camera class, I prefer the Nikon FM2n. And my current small mechanical SLR, the Leica R6.2, is not much larger than the FX if at all, and has the best lenses.

G
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I have the FM2n and, well, yes it is 'better' than my MX. But it is also bigger, and to be honest I always wanted to try an MX and Shawn happened to be selling one!
I am delighted with both of these cameras, but really surprised by the quality of the Pentax K SMC lenses.
I think my R-Es are the same size as the R6.2? These cameras feel built to an entirely different level than the MX, and quite frankly the FM2. My R7 is a bit bigger (taller) than the R6/R-E. Of course the R8/9 are huge in comparison.

But still, the MX is such a joy to use. And adding the ButterGrip handle makes it even nicer.
 
I noticed a couple shooting film cameras in Rittenhouse Square in Philly this past Sunday. Young couple. The woman was shooting a Leica M5 (big!) with a pre-ASP Cron and the guy was shooting this, a Minolta MX. He said he loved it.

I also noticed a couple others shooting film cameras. In fact, there were more film SLRs there than DSLRs (which is what I was shooting) amidst the cell phones.
 
Pentax MX, 2.8/24mm SMCP, Fuji HQ Super 200
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Nice pics Doug. I especially like the pop in the BW400 one. I like that film - forces you into looking at things from a B&W perspective, but pretty much any place can develop it as it is C41. (my local shop has to send out 'real' B&W to their main shop)
 
Thanks, Huss, it does seem to have good tonal contrasts... And unlike the Ilford (and Fuji) chromogenics, this Kodak has the usual C41 salmon-color film base.
 
GarageBoy said:
How reliable are these? I've heard stories about the meters dying irreparably?
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I've had three and they've all been very reliable. At the end of the day it's a relatively simple mechanical SLR with a cloth focal plane shutter. Not a lot to go wrong...

I haven't had meter issues, but obviously these meters are potentially 40 years old, so I would expect them to die at some point. Of course, the MX is fully mechanical, so it will continue to function perfectly with a dead meter.

Mechanically, I haven't had any issues.

Cosmetically, the metal shell is thinner on the MX than on the earlier 'K' series Pentax's, and you often see them with dented prism housings.
 
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