I'm actually moving TOWARDS mechanical cameras. I started with a K2, and ended up 20+ years later with a KX.
For all that I own top-of-the-line gear I have used autoexposure exactly twice in the past 11 years, and have never used any "evaluative" metering, relying on center-weighted and occasionally spot. I have only switched over to autofocus on the job in the last 2 years. The stable of M and A cameras I used to use has been replaced by 2 KXen and more than a dozen spotmatics, all of which are fully mechanical and very few of which even have batteries in them. And I'm currently using m42 lenses on a Canon EOS 20D--cutting edge technology meets manual focus and working-aperture metering! DJE
