I dare to say that ability to rotate it with one finger and the tactile feeling it gives make it one of best shutter speed control dials I used. The dial has some resistance and rotates with satisfying click stops. The ribs enable you to grip it and comfortably rotate with one thumb. The dial stands out of camera body a bit and its edges are angled and it has ribs. the main function of this wheel is shutter speed dial, in other modes – and if you are in Pentax special functions menu (a bit later about them) – this wheel lets you to toggle between desired settings. The biggest part of right side is dedicated to right control wheel. Lets start with right side of the top of the Pentax MZ-S. To me camera size is almost perfect I’d describe it as a mid-sized SLR that – together with its properly shaped grip – is the most comfortable camera body I ever held and shot. In reality its quite compact, take a look again at the picture of the set above and compare it the size to Fuji Klasse and you’ll see the real size. At first sight you see beefy looking aggressive athlete of a camera body a bone breaker. The slanted panel also makes the Pentax MZ-S look bigger than it actually is – the prism hump is very small, because camera’s “shoulders” are raised. The main logic to the slanted top was to give comfort to the user – all top placed controls might be seen from top of the camera and from behind the camera at all times. After I began to understand the logic behind it (and my eye got used to it) it started to seem natural. To me, at first sight, I thought it looked strange – I didn’t liked it much. The angled top panel, the uniquely designed right control wheel, the drive and metering switches, the green button on front/top side, and the left side control wheel.įirst of all, the slanted panel makes camera body to look very unusual. There are some distinct features that instantly cache the eye looking at the Pentax MZ-S. This seems logical to me top of the line body with top of the line lenses. My personal assumption is that the camera body was stylistically and ideologically tailored to use the limited lenses. All three lenses were created by same man, lens designer was Jun Hirakawa. The Pentax MZ-S body appeared after all three lenses were made available. This was followed by the 77mm in 1999 and 31mm in 2001. The first lens, introduced in 1997, was the 43mm. A “Pro” film camera of the time was the Nikon F5, the MZ-S feels like more of a competitor to the Nikon F100 or F90. The Pentax MZ-S was aimed at the enthusiast and pro user market, but to me it looks more of enthusiast camera – though this is my own subjective opinion based on my views about build robustness and speed of function. It was introduced in 2001 and produced until 2006. The Pentax MZ-S was one of last film models from Pentax. 9 A balance between main and advanced functions.As such, my aim here is to draw a bit of deserved attention to this overlooked set and to share my personal experience of it. At first I was drawn to lenses but was skeptical about camera, but in time we blended perfectly together to the point that now it’s my main 35mm film set. It’s not going everybody’s “cup of tea” – most will either love it or hate it. The Pentax MZ-S and lenses are tailored to each other, but this is a very specific package, a quality one, but – as I say – an odd one. The camera is and looks modern, but it’s still made to be controlled in “classical” way aperture control on lens ring and shutter control via a shutter dial. Then there is a lens-and-body control philosophy that ties them all together. This lens set is the holly trinity of close-to-classical focal lengths: There is photojournalists or walk-around normal 43mm lens, the classic wide 31mm lens and portrait 77mm. I understand that this argument may sound a bit strange, but for me this comparison somehow confirms that this kit should be reviewed as one. There is something about this kit that reminds me of the Contax G2 with its 45mm, 28mm and 90mm lenses. They look good together, they are good in use together, and they are all ODD together. I think that it would be unfair to judge and review Pentax MZ-S separately from the FA Limited line of lenses – it’s my opinion that you have to look at them together as one set.
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