Pentax MX

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 of the Pentax K-1000, they know that by the mid 70's, Pentax had to face the stiff competition of a very innovative company called Olympus. The K-series that Pentax was offering were deemed to be outdated in a way. Pentax thought that the right way forwards should include a mixture of compact size pro camera which could offer excellent build quality and reliability and at the same time being part of a huge system that would include lenses, motor drives, backs and different focusing screens. So Pentax took a very brave step backwards while looking forwards. They stripped the camera of any electronic automation (the predecessor K2 had an aperture priority) and offered a fully mechanical camera with compact dimensions. See the MX as Pentax's take on how the Olympus OM-1 should be.

When you pick up the MX you're pleasantly surprised by it's small size and solid weight. It feels very well made and its fit and finish is superb. An even better surprise awaits you once you look through the viewfinder. Although the viewfinder coverage is an average 95%, the magnification is a 97%, almost life size and much better than Minolta's 87%. In the viewfinder you can see both the shutter and aperture values.

The shutter gears.

What's inside that little camera deserve a special mention. For the five LEDs used to indicate the correct exposure, Pentax used a newly developed Gallium Arsenite photo-diode which responds almost 1.000 times faster to low light than the older CdS sensors found on every camera of that vintage. With the Pentax MX, Pentax redesigned parts of the shutter in order to make it more reliable. This includes a redesigned slow speed governor for speeds lower than 1/30 which proved to be more reliable than it's predecessor. The electronics have been simplified (there are only nine cables in there! ) and the gears that operate the shutter differ from its predecessor. Also many changes have been incorporated in the shutter tension gear to make it more reliable. The fully mechanical shutter has a great reputation for reliability and many of these cameras keep working without any problem since the mid 70's without ever having been serviced. For the mirror box, Pentax used a small pneumatic absorber to dump the mirror and reduce noise and vibrations. It works quite well although i feel that the Minolta XD is quieter. On the plus side of the comparison, the Pentax does not have the ridiculous shutter lag of Minolta's "final check". Some very nice touches include the shutter button lock and a tiny window next to it that turns red when the shutter is cocked and ready. Multi coated eye piece and depth preview switch also included. Now, strangely enough, there is no mirror lock. Actually you can lock the mirror with a bit of practice if you can very quickly and gently flick the shutter button. It took me a couple of tries but now i can do it every time. Not that i really need a mirror lock and it is being said to damage the shutter so i am avoiding it.

The mirror bumper

The Pentax MX was well received by the more traditional part of the professionals, mostly those who did not trust the electronic shutters back at that time but at the same time were tired of carring heavy pro SLR's like the Nikon F2 or Canon F1 around. The camera remained in production for 9 years (1976-1985) until it was replaced by the classic Pentax LX. A great number of innovations where incorporated in the LX and soon the venerable MX was forgotten. Time though has proven the MX to be a more reliable model as it seems that the LX is more expensive to maintain (silly mirror magnet and lightmeter recalibration every 5 years). Still though, people love the LX and consider it the best Pentax ever made but the MX's reliability  and simplicity - has created a small following around those cameras. Mike Johnston referred to the Pentax MX with a Takumar 50 f/1.7 as a great alternative to the very expensive Leicas and although this didn't make too much sense when i first read it, it does seem to resonate a lot now.

The MX next to a Leica IIc
Yes, that small...

The greatest draw back of these cameras -if you can call it like that - is the thin metal top plate that tends to dent. It is strong enough to successfully protect the camera but it is almost impossible to find a sample without a dent on it. My other complain with this camera is the relatively long winding stroke that reaches almost 120 degrees, the Minolta XD is about half of it. Not a deal breaking for me though, it is something that you do get used to.Despite these short comings, there are many things that make this Pentax a very likeable camera. First of all, it's simplicity and compact size. Then it's reliability - my sample was sat in a freezing in winter / boiling in summer, dump attic for more than 25 years and all i had to do is put a battery in it and it worked like a Swiss watch. Then it's the form factor, everything falls just right in my hands, the shutter button is in the "right" for me place. But if there is something that you have to give the thumbs up for
Pentax, then that's the logic behind this camera. When pretty much everybody else was thinking along the lines of "how can we offer an innovative product", Pentax went back on the drawing board thinking "how can we make a very reliable camera". It's mechanical simplicity is a testimony to that. Pentax revised the camera and newer models (which have a plastic film memo on the back) have a smoother winding mechanism and a slightly redesigned high speed governor.

 

Summary

This little Pentax has more going on than it meets the eye. Bojidar Dimitriov on his summary about the Pentax MX, he argues that due to compatibility with most accessories, the MX is more an LX than it is any other M-series Pentax. The MX is simple, is compact, is sturdy, is reliable, it keeps doing what it is meant to be doing for a good 30 years after production. It is the Clint Eastwood of the photographic world.

Strong, silent, effective. You just got to love it...

Lasting Impressions:
I used this camera for more than a year and eventually I sold it. I needed the extra cash and I tend to like the Olympus more so this one had to go. By all means, an excellent camera that I wholeheartedly recommend, it was just too small for my hands compared to the Olympus and the money offered were too good to refuse, so...