Hi, > While I wait, does anyone want to share his or her thoughts on LX vs. > MX?
I've had my MX from new since about 1980. During that time I've had 3 or 4 other MXs at various times, and 3 LXs, plus several other Pentaxes and other brand cameras. I started buying LXs because I had problems in Africa with an MX jamming. The LXs had their own share of problems too, as it turned out, mainly the well-known sticky mirror problem. For most purposes I'd say the MX is perfectly good. Where the LX scores is its versatility. I came to enjoy and use a lot features like the interchangeable viewfinders. I eventually had several of these and they were all useful at various times, perhaps with the exception of the waist-level finder, which I just bought for completeness really. I don't think there was a shot I got with the LXs that I couldn't also have got with the MXs, but the LXs made life a bit more convenient. The LX metering is superior to the MX, particularly for photography at night, but I don't think I really used it enough to make it a must-have thing. The LX also has aperture-priority AE of course, which can be very convenient, and a very good range of mechanical speeds in case of battery failure. What I particularly liked about the LXs was the confidence they inspired in their robustness, because of the sealing and the general level of build. This extended to the whole system, including the winders, which I appreciated. I think the LX winder is much better than the MX one. I wrote an appreciation of the LX's robustness on the LX page that somebody put up a year or so ago. I know some people such as Wheaty Willy have had recurring problems with LXs, but after the sticky mirror fixes mine were all fine except for 1 problem which I caused by being stupid. The advantages of the MXs are their small size, low weight and relative unobtrusiveness, and the comfort of the winder grip, which is much easier to handle than the LX+winder+grip. The LX has ttl flash; the MX doesn't, but it's difficult to do stuff like slow-synch and 2nd curtain synch because it's from an earlier generation. However, the metering system will close the shutter in response to flash, so you can do some fun stuff with long exposures and flash. On balance, the LXs are a better camera than the MXs for me, but it's not by an enormous margin, and the difference is generally only apparent when I'm away travelling on a photo trip, rather than in everyday use. For most purposes the only really significant difference is probably the LX's AE. --- Bob
