[BillM]

'stone age cameras' can take better pictures than

Not going to go too far out on a limb other than to state emphatically....
"Yahba Dahba Do", feel that way too!

Fred

[zuikoholic]

SR never existed before a few years ago, and i've never needed it - always had steady hands or a tripod available for when that matters.

OVF = meh? Many of the best photogs ever dealt with parallax using rangefinders. who cares? Reflex viewing is completely irrelevant in the digital age. You have a rear LCD - who cares if you view through the lens? I'd *rather* the gains in size/silence from not having a mirror/mirror box. I really enjoyed shooting with a PEN EP-2 for a year before being fed up with the small sensor/poor noise performance.

Just imagine a cam in that form factor with a FF sensor (and hence beautiful low light/high ISO peformance) and Pentax-compact optics... + weather-sealing and you have the *actual* digital Leica. i.e. it would be better than the M9. *drools*

[raider]

Thanks for your comments again (though it went off topic a little somewhat). There is a photo market swap meet this Sunday. I will go with my wife to see if we can grab an old pentax SLR there. Ideally I would like a slr ith pentaxprism, with green button, with good spot, centre weighted and matrix metering, able to use the same wire remote with my k-7, with the features of mz-6 but not the price of mz-s. I know, wishful thinking :-)

[violini]

MZ-5N would fit the bill except the shutter release cable which is the same as used in PZ-1P. I put up a wanted ad for the cable here and a fellow PFer was so kind to give me one for free. In appreciation, I sent him 3 lens caps. 5N has Seiko type thin metal shutter and the mirror operation is very quiet (you won't feel the mirror slap). The cable is useful when the camera is mounted on a tripod for macro photography and for long exposure.

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Last edited by violini; 07-25-2011 at 07:36 AM.

[raider]

Thanks violini. What is the marketprice for a MZ-5n with the original motor replaced? I hope the swap meet this sunday has a good one for sale (and at a good price).

[ihasa]

You can go round and round choosing. To be honest i'd just go for any of the autofocus SLRs that feature shutter priority mode or can control aperture from the body AND which can also use manual lenses with aperture set by the aperture ring. (There is a lens compatibility chart online somewhere)... This includes some cheap and plentiful models like the MZ7 and PZ series. I got a PZ70 for the price of a Kentucky Value Bucket (TM) recently. It's pentamirror but still a much bigger viewfinder than the K7. Importantly for me, it works with both M and Da lenses

If you prefer the classic look and like manual focus, though, the SuperA or SuperProgram would work with those lenses (in MF) - and has a pentaprism

[BillM]

I got a PZ70 for the price of a Kentucky Value Bucket

Picked up 2 ZX-L's for about the 'biscut' over $100 combined.
Both came with 35-70 zoom something,gave len's to goodwill.
Your PZ probably little more robust.Very capable bodies none the less.
Can also shoot DA's,in my case all 2 of them out of 21 overall.That might change.
Often see ZX(MZ)-5n going for more than ZX-L(MZ-6),dont quite 'get' that.

[violini]

Which goodwill store did you give the lenses to? I am a LBA for F35-70. Its IQ is almost as good as a prime, some one paid $96 for it recently on ebay. Although ZX-5N has less features than ZX-L, I use my 5N more. 5N is easier to operate and has a better viewfinder with eye-cup and pano-switch.

[BillM]

Which goodwill store

Should be online(shopgoodwill.com),if still available.About 10 months ago,
never gave it a thought.
Im not vendor or anything,needed bodies.Wasnt worried or interested in len's
See quite a few various ZX's on craig's list here.Where they came from.

[ChrisPlatt]

IMO the Pentax autofocus cameras are a terrible way to get to know Pentax.
Do yourself a favor and get one of those "stone age" cameras...

Chris

[jani80k]

I would go for the MZ-S. The only thing that it doesn't have oing for it is the vintage look that some of these old bodies have. Everything else is better than in other Pentax SLRs.