Hi Paul,
Congratulations! You now hold what I consider to be the real hidden
secret of the Pentax world. While all and sundry rave about the LX, we
MXers quietly get on and shoot some wicked stuff with our 'real'
workhorses.
The MX is very small, and if you've got big mits like me, you'll need
some dexterity with things like Depth of Field Preview (which personally
I think is a load of old cobblers anyway but let's not get into that
right now...) - that's where you push the self-timer lever in the
opposite direction. You'll notice that if you switch the meter on by
depressing the shutter button part-way, and leave the wind-on mechanism
out so it's in the stand-off position, away from the camera, the meter
will stay on continuously - hence always leave the wind-on pushed in
tight to the body when you've finished shooting, and then the shutter
button will pop up completely and the meter will switch off.
Unless you want to travel really light (my ideal would be an MX with a
35mm lens - hate the 43mm pancake...), then a great addition is a Winder
MX. Not the same as the winders for the other auto 'M' cameras, it takes
4 AAs, and will do 2 FPS and gives a great purchase for your right hand.
They're pretty foolproof but watch out for weak or broken battery-doors -
the integrated nut can disintegrate as the thumbwheel bolt is tightened.
Not designed this way, nevertheless the MX's mirror can be locked up by
winding on the shutter, then 'flipping' you finger across the top of the
shutter release, sharply. This causes the mirror to pop up and hold, but
the shutter curtains haven't yet released. The final press on the release
then let's the curtains go. It takes practice.
Don't forget the interchangeable screens - I personally hate the supplied
SC-1 (microprism collar surrounding split screen), and have the SA-1 in
both my MXs. This is ground glass with just the microprism centre.
You can run any K mount lens on your MX - one of mine has a Tokina 28-70
attached, which is an autofocus lens. I use it manually no problems at
all.
Watch out for worn foam around the focussing screen and the film door.
Try and store it shutter fired (not in the cocked position) when not in
use for extended periods - otherwise undue strain is placed on the
springs and mechanism as it's all tensioned up ready for shooting.
Let the LXers huff and puff about sticky this, and luggy that, get out
there with that little gem and you'll get some cracking shots - even if
your batteries run down - full service maintained at any speed!
Cheers,
Cotty
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