Which one should I buy?

[AndrewG NY]

Another vote for ZX-L/MZ-6. Handles nice with the AA battery pack/grip, compatible with wireless flash & P-TTL. Can use aperture ring or body-controlled aperture. Are you really going to rip through 4.5fps of film?

[dantuyhoa]

PZ-1P : Dual wheel controls . High flash syn ( 1/250) . Spot metering . I might go as far as it's a K10D in 35mm format ! Before I put the grip on my K10D , I caught myself keep look at at the back of PZ-1P for the LCD !!!!!

[morfic]

Originally Posted by Stevopedia

Wow, that's actually pretty impressive that the PZ-1P is so much better than the current digital. Why can't Pentax make 'em like they used to?

After i sold my EOS3 and got a 30D, i was never happy again.
I am quite happy with the K20D in comparison, but will add a 35mm Pentax cam this weekend, just because i miss film.
I guess if i didn't have DA* lenses i'd be all over that PZ-1P too, probably a good thing, as i would like to avoid splitting my budget too much. Even if $200 for the body isn't more than an EOS3 costs these days.

What i mean is "They have all gone away from their glory days to me.", so don't feel too bad.

[Lowell Goudge]

PZ-1 would get my vote only because I have one.

Not sure the real differences between this and the PZ-1p but both are fine cameras.

I have a 3 body film setup

PZ-1, Ricoh XR-2s (with winder) and KX

KX because it is fully mechanical, and only needs battery for light meter. and has ground glass screen for focusing long slow lenses

XR-2s because it is identical in layout controls and view finder layout to KX but has diagonal split image, AE, accepts a winder, and has a metal vertical shutter in place of horizontal fabric shutter (higher sync speed)

PZ-1 was my last film body, has great shutter and 1/250 flash sync, plus AF and a lot of other goodies.

Although I have moved into digital, every lens I own except the sigma 10-20mm works on the PZ-1, metering is excellent and all around this is probably the best body pentax made (aside from LX)

[ChrisPlatt]

Originally Posted by gokenin

I have the pz-1p it is a very good camera bought it as my first film slr. there is currently one for sale in the forum for 85 shipped I believe

Thanks for the plug but Steve said mine is too expensive...

Chris

[Ben_Edict]

Originally Posted by zx-m

I tend to favor cameras that have an optional grip (winder, motor, or battery pack). Over the years, I have noticed an improvement in balance and handling, and I prefer running on AA batteries (as is the case with the ZX series). The PZ line does not offer a grip or battery pack. The SF line does--however, they are very hard to find. Thus, I would go with a ZX-M, ZX-5n, or an ME Super.

There is a dedicated grip, even with a handstrap for the PZ-1 and PZ-1P. It doesn't add anything else, no battery, not shutter releses, but makes the camera more comfortable to hold.

I took one of those grips apart and got a stainless steel extension to fit between the upper and lower part of the grip, which enabled me, to solder a battery pack together for my PZ-1p. Worked always nicely...

Ben

[Ben_Edict]

Originally Posted by felix68

PZ-1p for sure. … and you can't beat the FPS, the fastest Pentax to date, including digital. Mine actually clocks about 4.5 FPS in testing.

As much as I like the PZ-1p, both the MX andf the LX are faster with 5 fps with their motor drives.

Nevertheless, I think, the PZ-1p is the best performer of all Pentax AF cameras, even more of a workhorse than the MZ-S (which I also used for a time). It is superbly robust and (despite the review mentioned in the thread) my slides were always exposed perfectly. For the little money, they achieve on ebay today, these are a steal.

Ben

[Lowell Goudge]

Originally Posted by Ben_Edict

As much as I like the PZ-1p, both the MX andf the LX are faster with 5 fps with their motor drives.

Nevertheless, I think, the PZ-1p is the best performer of all Pentax AF cameras, even more of a workhorse than the MZ-S (which I also used for a time). It is superbly robust and (despite the review mentioned in the thread) my slides were always exposed perfectly. For the little money, they achieve on ebay today, these are a steal.

Ben

there is a fundamental flaw with the PZ-1 and PZ-1p. Every time I switch back to my PZ-1, from my *istD and K10D, it takes me a few hours to stop looking at the camera back for the preview of the image I just took

They really are the flm version of the DSLR line up, except that they actually have a real and true KAF2 mount.