A bit OT but I’ve been playing with film cameras. The last time I had a go, my old Pentax MZ-30 broke down and I bought used a slightly older model (yes, it is this way round) MZ-50 to use. To my surprise, when I took these cameras out yesterday, I found the MZ-30 started working and I went to bed happy thinking maybe I could try a different type of film in each body and see what happens. Things changed today. The MZ-50 developed the same fault the MZ-30 had shown and after loading a new film in the MZ-30 and taking a couple of pictures, the fault returned. From two apparently working cameras, I went to nil.

I found online that the problem is well known, affects all or many in the MZ (ZX in the US) range and is due to cheap plastic gears Pentax used for the mirror return motor. I also found (or confirmed what I suspected) that even with a few pictures as a guide, I’m not up to fiddly camera repairs. I’ve wrecked the MZ-50 trying to take it apart. Not that I’m worried about that. You can find them in the £20-30 range on Ebay and aren’t worth paying anyone to repair.

I’m not sure what I do now but if I do want another film SLR, it won’t be one of these MZ ones at it will probably go the same way at some point. They may be cheap and quite user friendly but it’s no good if your sort of waiting for the breakdown.