My GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) setting was kicked up a notch recently as a result of falling in love with the Olympus XA. The XA is a great camera, but despite my small hands, I still find it a bit too fiddly. So, I began looking around for compact 35mm SLRs that would be as simple and intuitive to use as the XA, but provide more real estate and purchase than the diminutive clamshell camera.
Why An MV-1?
I remembered how much I enjoyed my Pentax ME Super in college, so went to eBay to find a compact M. I debated whether I should get another ME Super, or go for the M camera I really wanted when I was in High School, the more “pro” featured MX. However, I was a bit hesitant given both cameras were being sold on eBay for more than I wanted. I also felt that I would not fully replicate the experience of the XA with the MX since it was a full manual exposure camera. I ended up with a less well-known MV-1 for a great price, with a feature set similar to the ME Super, with the exception of the lack of manually controllable shutter speeds. I had never heard of the MV or MV-1 before, but after a little research and perusing of a few online reviews, I decided to go ahead and bid on one.
The MV-1 In Hand
The Pentax MV-1 is exactly what I was looking for: a larger-sized version of the Olympus XA. Like the other Pentax Ms, the MV-1 is very small for a full frame SLR. Like the XA, it is primarily aperture-preferred. It also has a 1/100 manual speed and a Bulb setting which can be used without a battery. Unlike the XA, it has no backlight compensation setting. But, you can still handle tricky exposure situations by changing the ISO settings.
I’ve forgotten how easy it is to load these Ms with their interesting plastic take up “grips”. They quickly cling onto the film leader as soon as you wind the advance lever forward. And, I’ve also forgotten how short the film advance throw is, making for very fast winding. The display readout is straightforward and more rudimentary than the XA. There are Yellow, Green and Red “smears” on the left side of the viewfinder to indicate over and underexposure. Wonderful, in my mind, because there are no other distractions to take away attention from framing the image.
Also, unlike the XA, the Pentax MV-1 is an SLR and so is nosier to shoot. It also does not have a built-in lens. I managed to get a good deal on a classic SMC Pentax-M 40mm F2.8 pancake. Mated to the Pentax MV-1, you get a fantastic, compact combination for all around, intuitive shooting. Just like the XA, but one which feels better in hand. And, the shutter button falls nicely into place – no hunting required! The black body Pentax MV-1 I have looks quite stealthy, and a simple wrist strap makes it very handy to carry around.
The One Drawback
My biggest gripe with the Pentax MV-1 so far has been the viewfinder. I don’t recall my ME Super’s finder being as dark, nor as hard to focus on. Could it be because I use progressive lenses that are hard to use with the viewfinder? Or is there something just wonky about the MV-1 ground glass? Maybe it’s also the 40mm F2.8? I have read in other reviews that it can be quite difficult to focus. Interestingly, I don’t have the same issue on the used Nikon EM which I bought at the same time (and which will be the subject of a separate article). Anyway, as with any camera, you make do with its limitations. I shot my first roll, Ultrafine 400 (a no-name brand C-41 B&W film), and hoped I got most of the shots in focus.
Reassuring Real-World Results
When I downloaded the scans from my first roll, I was happy to see that all the photos I took through the viewfinder were in sharp focus. I took a few shots using zone focusing a la the XA, and those were a bit more hit or miss.
The Pentax MV-1 meter seems to have worked well under most lighting conditions, and the 40mm lens is decently sharp for my tastes. It is not clinically sharp, but it does a solid job. And, no other lens can give you the same compact profile, paired with a Pentax M body.
Conclusions… For Now
So, this happens to be one of my favorite film cameras to shoot with now, together with the Nikon EM + Winder. The Olympus XA definitely still wins for pocketability, sharpness, and stealthiness. But the Pentax MV-1, paired with the 40mm pancake, comes pretty close as a handy all-around street shooter that will not weigh you down.
If you want to see more of my photographs, please go to my Instagram feed @photoedontheweb.
Thank you for reading!
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Dr T M Havard on Pentax MV-1 & 40mm f/2.8 Review – A Quest For an Ideal Compact Film SLR – Part 1 – by Ed Lara
Comment posted: 22/11/2019
Comment posted: 22/11/2019
Nigel Cliff on Pentax MV-1 & 40mm f/2.8 Review – A Quest For an Ideal Compact Film SLR – Part 1 – by Ed Lara
Comment posted: 22/11/2019
Terry B on Pentax MV-1 & 40mm f/2.8 Review – A Quest For an Ideal Compact Film SLR – Part 1 – by Ed Lara
Comment posted: 22/11/2019
Ordinarily, I'd expect an f2.8/40mm lens to be just a little less precise in gauging focus owing to greater depth of field and a slightly less bright aperture. But to contrast this, I've an old Russian slr, the Zenit C, which has an f3.5 lens and a traditional ground glass screen and which is not as efficient as more modern resin fresnel lens screens, and this is surprisingly easy to focus.
So my suspicions were aroused about the focusing screen Pentax used, given that this was their base line slr. And indeed I found some comments that this screen wasn't as bright as models further up the range. This is a long shot, but given how dark you feel the screen is, is there any possibility that your lens has a problem and is not fully opening to its maximum f2.8 aperture?
Comment posted: 22/11/2019
Comment posted: 22/11/2019
Comment posted: 22/11/2019
Comment posted: 22/11/2019
Comment posted: 22/11/2019
Nick Lyle on Pentax MV-1 & 40mm f/2.8 Review – A Quest For an Ideal Compact Film SLR – Part 1 – by Ed Lara
Comment posted: 22/11/2019
Comment posted: 22/11/2019
Jason Doss on Pentax MV-1 & 40mm f/2.8 Review – A Quest For an Ideal Compact Film SLR – Part 1 – by Ed Lara
Comment posted: 22/11/2019
Thanks for the writeup! I was unfamiliar with the MV prior to this.
Comment posted: 22/11/2019
Kevin Eyewanders on Pentax MV-1 & 40mm f/2.8 Review – A Quest For an Ideal Compact Film SLR – Part 1 – by Ed Lara
Comment posted: 22/11/2019
For my part, nothing truly replaces an MX in this size ballpark; no AE mode, but it'll keep ticking long after most others have been binned.
Comment posted: 22/11/2019
Pablo Paradiso on Pentax MV-1 & 40mm f/2.8 Review – A Quest For an Ideal Compact Film SLR – Part 1 – by Ed Lara
Comment posted: 24/11/2019
Comment posted: 24/11/2019
Comment posted: 24/11/2019
Clive W on Pentax MV-1 & 40mm f/2.8 Review – A Quest For an Ideal Compact Film SLR – Part 1 – by Ed Lara
Comment posted: 25/11/2019
The cut-down SLRs made sense when there was a market for simpler and cheaper in the early days of automation - and before AF compacts provided an easier solution for most casual users. But these days, when the difference between these and the full-featured enthusiast machines is, at most, the price of buying, developing and scanning a roll or two of film, I find it hard to see the value proposition. Fine if you already have one, of course, or buy one cheap for the lens attached to it, but why would anyone go looking for an MV-1 (or a Nikon EM, to show I'm not picking on Pentax) today?
Comment posted: 25/11/2019
Comment posted: 25/11/2019
Comment posted: 25/11/2019
A Quest for An Ideal Compact Film SLR - Part 2: The Nikon EM Plus Nikkor 35mm Lens by Ed Lara - 35mmc on Pentax MV-1 & 40mm f/2.8 Review – A Quest For an Ideal Compact Film SLR – Part 1 – by Ed Lara
Comment posted: 09/01/2020
Aitchess on Pentax MV-1 & 40mm f/2.8 Review – A Quest For an Ideal Compact Film SLR – Part 1 – by Ed Lara
Comment posted: 21/03/2020
As I remember, these were the only two models in the range that they did this to. Their immediate predecessor, the ME (not the ME Super, which was upmarket from these aperture priority auto-only models) had a higher specification and silvered pentaprism, and the MG which replaced them did too - it was in many ways more like the original ME (the ME and MG both had a full display of the automatically-selected shutter speed in the viewfinder).
Comment posted: 21/03/2020
Nigel Cliff on Pentax MV-1 & 40mm f/2.8 Review – A Quest For an Ideal Compact Film SLR – Part 1 – by Ed Lara
Comment posted: 02/04/2020