Site Supporter Registered: October, 2008 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 8,091
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| | Review Date: June 1, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $418.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Many features, build, 1/6000 shutter speed. | | Cons: | Plastic mirror motor gear failure. Too many dials, switches & buttons. | |
The Pentax MZ-S was released in February 2001 and it superseded the Z-1p/PZ-1p as Pentax’s the top of the line AF pro camera. The MZ-S remained in production until 2004, when all of Pentax’s 35mm film cameras were discontinued.
Build & Handling:
The MZ-S’s build is quite good and is the first Pentax body to be made of magnesium alloy. The other MZ/ZX bodies are not of the same quality, though all cameras in this series suffer from the dreaded plastic mirror motor gear failure. There are numerous threads in the forum relating to this topic and the general consensus is that the MZ-S bodies with a s/n number starting with 5xxxxxx have the updated brass gear. So my advice if you are considering getting a MZ-S, is to look for one with a s/n in that range.
The MZ-S is a “middleweight “camera and weighs in at (520 grams). However it’s not the biggest kid on the block, so balancing my bigger lenses on this body is doable but not as good as on my Z-1p or K2DMD. The right-side grip does help and there is also the optional BG-10 battery grip to add more weight/size if you need it.
If you like dials, dials within dials, buttons & switches, then you’ll love the MZ-S! Way too many for my liking and this adds to the overall neutral feeling I have for the MZ-S handling and cluttered look.
Observations:
The MZ-S is yet another AF camera with a headache inducing 137-page manual, so you’ll probably need to pack it along when using it for the first few weeks. Luckily the MZ-S is so customizable with the 19 available “Pentax Functions”, that once you set it up to your liking you are good to go for most shooting situations.
- Focusing: There are two auto-focusing options (single & continuous) and manual focusing. AF now has six focusing points and is an improvement over the previous generation of cameras, which had only one. I don’t do auto-focusing, so the switch is permanently set to manual focus and I can happily ignore a large section of the manual. When manually focusing you can use either the “focus indicator” green light in the viewfinder or just the matte focusing screen. You can also have the camera beep when your subject is in focus, but I disabled this option (PF 1). Since the MZ-S has six AF points on the focusing screen, this adds to the cumbersome manual focusing experience. I ditched the regular viewfinder eyecup and use the Pentax “O-ME53 Viewfinder Magnifying Eyecup” instead. This and the “Refconverter A” help a lot with manual focusing
- Metering Modes: Along with the superb Multi 6-segment metering, you also have spot and center-weighted metering. Note the multi-segment metering only works with “A” Series (excluding the A50/1.2) or newer lenses. For K/M Series lenses you can only use the other two metering options. I use the Multi 6-segment metering whenever possible, as it’s my preferred choice for when I shoot slide film. The MZ-S also has exposure memory lock.
- Drive Modes/Winder: The MZ-S has a built-in 2.5 frame per-second winder with four drive modes to choose from. The “single-frame” is the one I use 99% of the time. Your other drive mode options are; Consecutive-frame, Multiple-exposure and Self-timer. The Self-timer has two options available, 2 second delay with MLU and 12 second delay. (These are selected via PF 14) There is also an Auto Bracketing mode, but it’s activated with another dial, separate from the others listed above. For rewinding you have numerous options; from end of roll automatic or manual rewind (PF 13), as well as a complete rewind or leaving the film leader out (PF 12). For swapping film mid-roll, there is also a rewind option called “MRC frame advance” in PF 12, that lets you to return to the same frame automatically at a later time. I have the camera configured to automatically rewind the film into the canister when the last shot on the roll is taken.
- Exposure Modes: The MZ-S has five exposure modes available; usage depends if the attached lens is in the “A” setting on the aperture ring. (Programmed AE, Shutter-Priority AE, Aperture-Priority AE, Metered Manual and Bulb) Note the MZ-S cannot control the aperture on a lens with no aperture ring, so these lenses can only be used in Programmed AE or Shutter-Priority AE modes. I use Aperture-Priority almost 100% of the time. Note PF 2 controls the four options of Programmed AE that are available.
- Shutter Speed Range: The MZ-S has a Manual/Auto shutter speed range from 1/6000 to 30 seconds. Not quite as good as the 1/8000 in the Z-1/Z-1p, but still very good for shooting my fast-prime lenses wide open.
- DX Coding/Exposure Compensation: The MZ-S has DX coding or you can set the ISO manually (PF7). The ISO range of 6 to 6400/ DX coded range of 25 to 5000 is also superb. You also have exposure compensation of -3 to +3 EV in ½ EV or 1 EV increments, which can also be used with auto-bracketing.
- Viewfinder Display/LCD Display Panel: The viewfinder on the MZ-S layout is pretty good and all the exposure/focusing info is on the bottom. There is also right-hand side bar graph, which is used in some exposure modes. Everything else, including the exposure info, is on the top LCD panel. The MZ-S diopter adjustment switch is accessed via an opening in the top of the OEM eyecup.
- Flash: The MZ-S has a small built-in retractable TTL flash (RFT) that is occasionally useful for fill-in flash or an indoor portrait. The MZ-S will let you know if a fill-in flash is required if you are in one of the AE exposure modes. (The flash sync speed is 1/180 sec or slower.) The RFT flash is controlled by a separate flash-function button and also has a Red-eye reduction, automatic firing & a Wireless option (with the AF360FGZ).
The RFT flash also drains the cameras batteries pretty quickly, so I would use one of the two dedicated external P-TTL flashes designed for the MZ-S instead. (The Pentax AF540FGZ & AF360FGZ are recommended for use with the MZ-S.) I bought the AF360FGZ and it works nicely with my MZ-S and you can use it alongside the RFT flash, thought it has to be “off “camera. Auto focus lenses (F/FA or newer) work the best with the MZ-S flash system.
- MLU/DOF Preview: The MZ-S does not have an MLU button/switch like the older Pentax MF film bodies, but instead you use the “Self-timer with 2 second delay” drive mode (PF14). The mirror flips up 2 seconds before the shutter is released, so the result is the same. The MZ-S DOF preview is incorporated into the ON/OFF switch on the camera. Not the best place to put it in my books, but at least there is one.
- Cable Switch: The MZ-S uses the “Cable Switch CS-105/CS130” or the “Release Timer Switch TS-110”. These switches are dedicated to the MZ-S/645NII cameras, so they are hard to find and expensive.
- Imprinting Exposure Data/Quartz Date: The MZ-S has a neat option to print exposure data on the top of the film between the sprocket holes. This is great option for me when I’m testing new lenses, so I don’t always have to write down the shutter/aperture I used for each shot. Note the aperture will only be imprinted with F/FA or newer lenses and all imprinting is covered up if you shoot E6 slide film and have them mounted. The MZ-S also has a quartz date/time imprint, which I’ll never use. Thankfully the Panoramic Format was not included on the MZ-S.
- Batteries: The battery compartment is on the bottom of the camera and you need two 3V CR-2 lithium batteries. There is also the BG-10 battery grip option that lets you use “AA” batteries. You can extend the battery life by using manual focus and an external flash instead of the built-in RFT flash.
- Case: The MZ-S uses the soft case “CF-10” and it came in three sizes, S, M & L. Which size you need depends on the lens. I was finally able to track down a "M" case after a couple years of trying.
Summary:
The MZ-S is another great camera and has many interesting & useful features. Along with the Z-1p, they would be considered the two best Pentax auto-focus film cameras. They are hard to compare, as they are very different cameras with a different user experience. But if I had to choose my favorite between the two, I would pick the Z-1p. I like the size/handling of the Z-1p better, as well as its faster shutter speed of 1/8000. The fact that the Z-1p can fully control lenses with no aperture ring, may also be a bonus for some.
Never the less I still rate my MZ-S a perfect 10.
Here’s how I rank the MZ-S in my Pentax K-mount film body collection:
1) LX, 2) K2DMD, 3) KX, 4) Z-1p, 5)MZ-S, 6)SUPER A, 7) K2, 8) MX, 9) SF1n, 10) ME F, 11) P50, 12) KM, 13) ME, 14) K1000SE, 15) K1000
Price:
I paid AU $597.00 for my MZ-S and it’s in mint condition. It came in the original box, but was missing the manual.
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Senior Member Registered: April, 2015 Posts: 130 | | Review Date: August 31, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Feels like a k3 or k1 | | Cons: | None other than mirror scare comments | |
Use rechargeable batteries and you are good to go without the added battery grip.
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New Member Registered: June, 2022 Posts: 11 | | Review Date: January 16, 2024 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Build, Full of Features, High Shutter Speed, Decent AF | | Cons: | Material Choices, Dial Ergonomics, Difficult to Repair | |
Positives:
- Build: The camera body is made of metal and has a durable coating. Overall the camera just feels good to handle.
- Features: This is pretty much the pinnacle Pentax film camera in terms of features including automatic rewind (you can even have it leave the leader out), mid roll film changes are easy, high shutter speed (1/6000th), built in flash, etc.
- Autofocus: The autofocus is good, nothing amazing compared to modern cameras, but it hits most of the time.
- Size: For a full featured camera it is compact in size to comparable alternatives.
Negatives:
- Materials: Even though the body has a nice feeling, some of the internals are made of plastic and can break easier than all metal cameras. I accidently broke the aperture control ring adapting an M42 adapter to this camera because the aperture control ring is made of plastic. Now I can't use this camera in aperture priority. I've also heard of the mirror mechanism breaking due to plastic parts but I never had that issue.
- Difficult to Repair: Speaking of which, getting replacement parts or repairs done on this camera is difficult. I've contacted multiple repair shops listed on Pentax Forums and none of them have parts for the MZ-S.
- Dial Ergos: Even though the camera is feature rich, many of the camera controls are located on two dials on the top of the camera which can be difficult to turn because they are so low. Just changing ISO requires you to finick with the dials and can be slow and a little annoying.
Overall I would highly recommend this camera, but not as much older mechanical cameras like the KX, MX, LX. If you really want AF though, this camera is the way to go.
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