> From: Mark Roberts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > >> From: "Hal & Sandra Davis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >> Pentax keepers: Spot F, ME Super, Super A, MX, LX, SFXn, PZ1P. > > > >I don't hear much about the KX or KM. Perhaps they are as (un)reliable > >as the K2 by now and of course they are big and heavy for Pentaxes. > > The KM is identical to the K1000 electrically and mechanically, except > for the addition of a self-timer and depth-of-field preview. Actually, > the KM came first and Pentax stripped off the timer and DOF preview to > create the K1000. > > The KX is identical to the K1000 mechanically except for the addition of > DOF preview and self-timer, as in the KM, plus mirror lock-up. The KX > has different electronics: A silicon photodiode meter instead of the CdS > cell meter of the KM/K1000.
I'd say that the extra features make the KX better than the K1000. That's why I've always wondered why the K1000 was such a classic and the KM and KX were not. I'd always assumed that KX->MX->LX as a pentax monicker for a certain type of camera. > >From what I know of the ElectroSpotmatic and K2-DMD, I'd agree that > >they are better suited to collectors than photographers due to > >reliability issues. > > I have had three K2s and found them pretty much indestructible I still > have two of them). Nary a mechanical or electronic problem. The shutter > on the K2 is great: Much more robust than the latest equipment. In general, the K2 is robust because of its old-style construction. The ISO-setting ring on mine is broken, and I'm told that that happened to most of them eventually. I've sure seen a number for sale with that particular failure. I've also had a lot of fuss with the little line that indicates exposure. Since my K2 is a family camera, I don't think it came to me "used up", and I didn't work it that hard. Also, the rest of the "K" cameras are mechanical rather than electronic, are they not? I never bothered to put a battery in my K1000. >Of course that's because the new stuff goes to 1/2000, 1/4000 or 1/8000 > second and so everything has to be much lighter and thus more delicate. > I think the shutter on the K2 could lop your finger off! "The new stuff", in my case, is tested to 150,000 firings MTBF and is self-correcting for timing. Of course said shutter (Nikon F5) is probably more expensive than an entire K2. I suspect that the average modern shutter is not so tough. Even Nikon was slow to include a vertical-run high-speed shutter in their pro cameras, presumably because of concerns about shutter durability. DJE
