The Film Retriever

Up until a couple of weeks ago, i was leading a photographically quiet life. Last summer, in an downsize crisis, i decided to sell all the cameras I am not using any more and keep my favourite four that I enjoy taking pictures with. So from all those cameras reviewed in this blog, I only kept the Canon EOS 5, the Minolta 9xi, the Minolta XD-7 and the Leica. I was quite happy with my choice and thought i don't need any more cameras. Up until last week.... A knock on the door and I was surprised to see my next door neighbour standing on my doorstep and greeting me with an old camera bag. He told me that he knows that i use old cameras and wondered whether i would like to have his old camera. Without thinking too much about it, i accepted the gift thanking him for his kindness. You can imagine my surprise when i opened the bag only to find out that there was a Pentax MX in there. Did i need another camera? Yes I did. For those who have already read my review...

With cameras of the classic status like the Pentax K-1000, it is always difficult to write a review. There are loads and loads of websites that host reviews of this excellent machine as there are also thousands of K-1000 users that have done their first steps in photography with theses cameras. The psychological factor of having used these cameras for years and years makes every review of them seem fragmented, inaccurate or sometimes unfair. With the introduction of the iconic Olympus OM-1 back in the early 70's, Pentax seemed to be caught up in a dilemma. Apparently the M42 mount was starting to become outdated so there was a genuine need for an introduction of a new mount but what Pentax was trying to figure out was whether they should continue the production based on the long tried and tested spotmatic design (i.e. well build, decent sized cameras) or go down the OM-1 route of small durable cameras for the professionals. Their gut reaction was wi...