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Pentax MV-1

 

Small and beautiful 
Ah, another short review of a camera - following the first impressions of shooting the Olympus 35ED, I decided to put a film to another newcomer in my collection - the Pentax MV-1. I found this camera online, came with the 50f/2 but had signs of battery corrosion although seller argued that it works well. For £14 plus delivery (£17 in total) I decided to take the risk and honestly I have been lucky.

The MV-1 is part of the budget series of ME clones that Pentax offered during the late 1970s. There is the plain MV and the later MG also, all with some incremental improvements over the previous model but never quite up to ME/ME-Super level. Personally, I had much better luck with the plain ME rather than the ME-Super: almost every ME-Super I came across was malfunctioning in some way or another.

The top is rather Spartan. And so is the viewfinder.

In the case of MV-1 Vs ME both the cameras have similar dimensions but differ greatly in terms of features: the MV-1 has no shutter speed display on the viewfinder, no exposure compensation dial and the viewfinder has smaller magnification than that of the ME. Also minimum speed is 1sec on the MV1 and 8sec on the ME. Both cameras use the same Seiko MFC shutter.

If you hold the ME and the MV-1 in your hands, you will swear they are the same size. Actually the ME is (according to the manual) a tiny bit smaller. Personally I struggle to see the difference. Finally the ME supports film ASA 12 while the MV-1 starts from ASA 25. 

You might think that the above missing features are important omissions - and you are right. The Pentax MV-1 is a point-and-shoot camera better used in good light conditions. You can use the ASA dial for exposure compensation if you like but you still have no idea what speeds you are shooting. Anything below 1/30 will light the yellow LED, anything above 1/1000th will light the red. That's as much as the MV-1 can tell you.

Although the viewfinder feels slightly smaller (it's not, it just offers less magnification) and a bit darker there is no issue with focusing. The split image screen is quite bright and the microprism collar around it snaps easily in and out of focus. 

As I said, my sample came with the battery compartment full of green corrosion due to a battery leak. I removed the bottom plate and the battery cup and placed them in a plastic box, filled with white vinegar and placed inside a container with hot water. I left it overnight and next day all corrosion had dissolved. The battery contacts were cleaned carefully with a cotton bud and white vinegar. Everything looks clean now.

One thing that you might not notice when you hold the MV-1 in your hands is that both top and bottom plate are made of polycarbonate and not metal like in the ME. It is done in such a clever way that feels like metal but I have seen MV-1 cameras with cracked bottoms.

These cameras seem to be going under the radar recently - the lack of features make them less desirable than their better specs'ed siblings. In my experience, they tend to be reliable cameras, simple to use and delivering good results.

Results are nice just as long you pay attention to possible camera shake.

Not knowing what speeds you are using can be a bit of an issue sometimes as i did get a couple of pictures spoiled by camera shake. I am looking forward to using this camera in summer with a 400iso film, a Pentax-m 28/2.8 and f/11 turning it into a small, stealthy camera that you shoot without worrying about focusing or exposure.


Summary 

Small, light, fun and pretty looking, these cameras appeared to be reliable and a good selling model for Pentax. The M-series of Pentax lenses are excellent and cheap to get. I know that the spartan features of this camera will put some people off but considering how cheap they sell for, you can try and see what you think.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about it - I like its aesthetics and size but I think I overall prefer my ME cameras. Still, I shot a couple of rolls and will shoot more - it is a good fun camera. 

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