Pentax MZ-S
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| Pro | • Ergonomic design
• Right size for my hands, and just about everybody else who tried • Pop-up flash is higher than normal so is very usable • 2 dial system is just like my K1000 so after a a couple hours playing with it I was pretty confident of what button did what. A decent combination of dials, push buttons and turn dial dials. • I can control most buttons with just my thumb • DOF preview on both shutter releases • Data imprint between the sprockets • Mid roll rewind • Because mirror lock-up is part of timer you don't need a seperate remote or cable release • High speed and wireless control with the FGZ360 flash • Innovative release on the BG10 grip, comes off in seconds • PC cable built in • I can use all the Penatx lenses ever built including the screws, with two pieces of insulation tape I get matrix metering from K-lenses. • Exposures spot-on | ||
| Contra | • Cheap flimsy back cover
• Don't know why shutter was dropped to 1/6000 and flash sync to 1/180, its the same shutter in the Z1p and F100. Not that it would matter, I've never taken a shot over 1/2000, but a faster flash sync would have been nice • No matching DSLR like the MZD they were going to release • Can't shoot infrared | ||
| Thoughts | I bought this camera to replace my Z70, I shoot pack shots 2-3 times a week and the old girl was getting tired of it. This camera does exactly what I bought it for, I have no regrets whatsoever | ||
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| Pro | this camera can do everything what's necessary and I don't understand sometimes the comments of some people, to worry about fps and this and that. for me this camera is also 100% better then the PZ1p, because this one I used before the MZ-S and it menas I know what we are talking about. | ||
| Contra | OK, I agree it needs time to get used to the camera and this buttons for single and multi can change to easy by mistake. | ||
| Thoughts | In Combination with the Flashlight FGZ 360 I got very good results with wireless shooting, especially for portrait that is very good.
see the result in my homepage. wish u all the best. | ||
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| Pro | Small size, magnesium alloy body, simple and fast to use controls (except aperature setting), Data imprint on negatives, | ||
| Contra | 2.5 fps, aperature controlled via lense ring which is slower and more difficult to use (especially with a larger 2.8 type lense)than the PZ1p wheel control. | ||
| Thoughts | So far so good. I have been shooting a PZ1p for 6 years now and I am not completely convinced this is a better camera, certainly a great compliment to it. I would like to have seen more water and dust seals and a faster FPS. Add these and it would be just about perfect. | ||
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| Pro | The MZ-S is very small and compact, and has a well balanced, no nonsense set of features. The data imprinting and mid roll reload are very useful and come as standard. The metering is very good. | ||
| Contra | 2.5 fps limits the MZ-S's versatility, I dont know what Pentax had in mind when they decided to give it such a slow winder.
But my main gripe is the build quality. The MZ-S is much better built than mid range cameras like the Pentax's own MZ-3, the Nikon F80, or the Dynax 7, but nowere near as durable as top rangers like the F100 or the Dynax 9. This is mainly due to its back cover, which is basically a flimsy, creeky piece of lightweight plastic. It looks like it belongs to another camera. The MZ-S is not sealed in any way and is very sensitive to dust and liqid infiltration, so handle it with care. | ||
| Thoughts | This could have been a real star, by adressing the need for a pro body that is not heavy and bulky. Had they made it sealed and had they given it a decent back cover, it would have been the ultimate travel photography slr. But Pentax chose not to go the full way with the build quality, so for me this camera is neither fish nor flesh. | ||
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| Pro | 1. Solid and rigid body;
2. But yet compact and lightweight; 3. Instant switching between Program and Tv modes or between Av and Manual modes (called Hyper Operation by Pentax); 4. Good ergonomics, well balanced body and with good shape and good materals; 5. Especially when vertical/battery grip is attached (though it becomes heavy after that); 6. Mid-roll film change function; 7. Data imprinting function; 8. Gentle mirror action; 9. But yet still little time lag; 10. Fast and accurate AF (when it does not hunt! see contra below) | ||
| Contra | 1. No central crossed AF sensors, system hunts when the sensor can't lock on perpendicular line patterns;
2. No exposure mode indication in viewfinder; 3. 1/180 max. flash sync; 4. MLU function is difficult to engage/disable; 5. Noisy rewind (but fast; but Pentax said they designed a new belt system for quieter operation!?); 6. Reduced viewfinder magnification; 7. Dimmer viewfinder compared to Z-1p, Dynax 7, etc. 8. Difficult to choose program lines and no indication of chosen program; 9. Viewfinder displays are not as clear as other pro-grade bodies, say, Nikons, under very bright situations; 10. No focal length info printed in imprinted data. | ||
| Thoughts | A thoughfully designed and made camera body, with unique characteristics and advantages. Joy to use. | ||
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| Pro | Small, compact, light, robust camera with most of the features required for general shooting. Good handeling (expecially with the BG10), nice bright viewfinder, nice amount of viewfinder information. The biggest force of the MZ-S is, imo, the ergonomics and handeling. It does not have a million hidden features and menus, but (most) everything required is easy to access.
Seperate, very handy, switches for selecting the metering mode (spot, matrix, center-avg) and winder mode (self-timer, single-frame, continous, multi-exposure), as well as the slanted display, makes handeling very obvious. The exposure-compensation / auto-bracketing interface is very handy as well. I like in particular the location of the apeture preview just next to the shutter release, as well as the data imprent outside the image frame. Both are *very* useful. | ||
| Contra | The BG10 grip, sold seperately, is a very usefull accessory, that makes the camera handle much better. Too bad it is an accessory.
My list of "contra" is really just nitpicking. However here are the few nits I would like to pick... Comming from Olympus OM cameras, the "bargraph" in the viewfinder is in the right side - I prefer it on the left, but that is probably just habits. The lightmeter has a tendancy, I think, to overexpose slightly as compared to my preferences. It would also be nice to have some sort of multi-spot metering available. To use the pentax functions, a cheat-sheet is required. This may be just a tiny nit or a big one, depending on perspective, since the pentax functions are not accessed frequently and mostly concern setup of the camera (sound signals, rewind the film all the way into the canister or not etc.). The most annoying thing is, that "mirror lock up" (useful with long exposures) is burried in a pentax function whose number I do never remember. This would be nice to have as a seperate switch/function on the body. | ||
| Thoughts | I've got to admit it...I am a zuikoholic. I am addicted to Olympus OM equipment and the fine Zuiko lenses. And I took it really hard when Olympus slowly backed out of the 35mm SLR game.....
Looking for a "modern" camera series to commit to, I tried the various top-end models from the major brands, and found all to fail on one of my primary criteria: they are too heavy and too big. Much of my photography is travel-related, so size and weight are as important requirements as the funtionality of the body and lenses. Also, I rely less on automatics and more on manual exposure setting and spot metering. Thus for me, easy access to manuel operation is absolutely required, while I prefer to live without a million pre-set programmed exposure modes and advanced heuristics for selecting the correct programmed mode. The MZ-S fits the bill perfectly for me, on all accounts. I would compare it to my Olympus OM4Ti, the MZ-S basically being the next evolutionary step introducing a set of nice features. The only thing missing for this to be true is the ability to do multi-spot metering. I do not know if it is the fastest AF, fastes winder and highest shutter-speed out there - as a matter of fact I doubt that it is - but my photographic needs do not require this. I am not sure, that the MZ-S will fit the bill for e.g. motor sport photography (a Nikon F5 would be my choise there), but this is, as usual, a matter of matching the tool with the task..... I absolutely love the MZ-S, and I anticipate that I might end out buying a second body. At any rate, I have not regretted my purchase one bit. | ||
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| Pro | - extremely small, compact and lightweight for an upper level body yet well featured
- build quality seems worth the price with some minor objections (see below). Very tight, very nice "feel" in the hands thanks to sleek shapes and surfaces - especially with the battery grip. - data imprinting - mirror lock-up - significantly better (quicker&more secure) autofocus than my MZ-3 - obviously some very well engineered internal parts, the shutter is crisp and metallic (lovely sound) and the mirror very soft and quiet, this and the build quality makes for the class of this body. - advanced flash functionality with dedicated external unit - important for some: function for leader in/leader out/leader out + *midroll rewind* available. Rewinding to a frame you define the number of is easy. | ||
| Contra | In appropriate order of importance:
- exposure compensation in only 1/2 stops, doesn' t have a 1/3 option - why ? This is the most serious drawback from photographer' s point of view. - film advance and rewind is quite noisy (much noisier than MZ-3), should be quieter or a function for slower&silent rewind should be added. You shoot animals at times when traveling, may scare them. Quite unpleasant even if you expect it. - only 2.5 fps and doesn´t get up with the battery grip (this would be ideal - add the grip for 4 fps !) (I do not really need it, but for this class camera the option should be there) - choosing autofocus point manually is a pain - requires both hands and is absolutely troublesome whichever way you try it (if you need to use this feature). The only bad point in ergonomics . - there are two *loose* plastic strips at the bottom of the body which cover the contacts for battery grip, after attaching the grip they come in the same way to the bottom of it - did anyone at Pentax have an idea how long they will be around until they get lost ? | ||
| Thoughts | Overall a brilliant, classy camera combining comprehensive functionality, build quality and low weight in a way not quite seen yet in an autofocus camera before, not mentioning the Pentax lenses which are usually also way lighter and smaller than others´. If it´s too small for your hands and/or you want to use the cheaper and easier to get AA batteries and/or some bigger lenses – go with the grip, it´s sexy, ergonomically perfect and doubles the shutter button+DOF lever, exposure lock button and allows for infrared remote when on tripod. The camera makes a distinctly “smarter“ and less obtrusive impression than any other advanced slr, being nearly as compact as rangefinders - with the advantages of autofocus and being a slr.
As for comparisons sake, the MZ-S is clearly better than F80 (its smaller, better built and has more features at the same weight !), probably would not fare as good compared to similarly priced or slightly less expensive and newer Dynax 7 (still I like the design and build quality more), absolutely comparable to F100 depending on purpose and criterion (if you want faster film advance, faster shutter and AF-S for action or sports, then F100, if you want mirror lockup and ability to use longer exposition times for shooting on tripod and much less weight and bulk, even with the battery grip, for travelling in general, then clearly MZ-S). Even the pricing seems to be finally settling right. As for the reference to the MZ-series, as stated elsewhere the camera emulates on the whole despite some common features and shapes a dinstinctively different style, more "high tech" and "edgy" slightly in opposition to the smooth and retroish design of the mid-level models. Might require a bit getting used to. Other than that, an MZ-S-2(n?) should really be considered by Pentax to further develop the camera´s strenghts and eliminate its weaknesses (especially the first two given) and you can count me in on it as nothing is perfect, the other reason being that I want to get rid of the MZ-3 which is currently relegated to my second body. It´s a nice camera, but clearly another league, the differences between the two are vast. Still, I was more than often quite surprised at how adverse comments this camera has earned. Obviously people do not know what to think of it, first being told that it´s a "flagship" (expecting it to be an F5 clone), then "semi-pro", than again a "slightly upper level MZ camera ". It obviously should have never been an F5 nor EOS1v nor it is exactly a slightly advanced MZ camera, Pentax decided to combine high tech with mobility. Anyone criticizing the lack of the "much needed" 1/8000 s shutter speed or 1/250 s flash sync (there actually is high speed sync with the external flash) should first hold the MZ-S in his/her hands to realize how SMALL and LIGHT it is (it really is no bigger than the MZ-3 - and feels about the same weight although has actually some 100 grams more). Measured on this the amount of features it has is an achievment and in this regard it is quite unique. This is a different new breed - if you want THE classy yet extremely light and inconspicuous !autofocusing! travel slr - this is it. | ||
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| Pro | Build quality and materials, size, control layout, good af, slant top panel, bright screen, excellent veritical grip avaliable, new improved flash system with 360 unit. | ||
| Contra | Minor problems, focus point selection, 2.5fps | ||
| Thoughts | Two of the biggest complaints have been the 2.5fps drive speed and the 6000 sync speed. How often to you need more than 4000 to 6000 shutter spreed, please? In order to achieve faster film advance the camera would have to be larger. I am willing to give up a little speed for the lightness and size. Pentax has achieved a great camera with the MZ-S. It brought me back to Pentax as a user. With the limited lens avaiable and the MZ-S's size I am rethinking the purchase of a rangefinder system. The MZ-S is just about in that size catagory. | ||
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| Pro | small size - rugged construction - fantastic control layout - super bright screen | ||
| Contra | Could have been sealed a bit better for dust and moisture. Especially around the eyepiece. I would have liked to have seen an eyepiece curtian that is able to be closed. A "T" or time mode just passed B would have been nice too. | ||
| Thoughts | I like to think of this sort of like the Nissan Exterra. "Everything you need, and nothing you don't". First af slr I have owned and I like everything about it. All imputs are very intuitive and direct. Even manual focus is a joy. | ||
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| Pro | The small lightweight body is great for me as I travel a lot overseas. The autofocus system is quick and accurate. The grip is small (but with the BG-10 it comes into its own. | ||
| Contra | Would like to have seen Pentax develop an eight point octogon metering system. | ||
| Thoughts | A great little camera with many features (that don't need a masters degree to access) - Brilliant | ||
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| Pro | Strong magnesium-alloy body, ability to use AA batteries with accessory battery pack. | ||
| Contra | This camera has DOWNGRADED features from the PZ-1p. You can get the same features in cameras that cost $500 less than this! There are so many things wrong with this camera that I can't list them all here. | ||
| Thoughts | This camera is a FLOP! If you want a quality Pentax camera, get a used PZ-1p! I am a Pentax user and love the company, but I hate this camera! It has LESS features than the 10-year-old PZ-1p. The MZ-S has no Trailing Shutter Sync, has an AF system with so many focus points that it gets CONFUSED when there are multiple subjects in the viewfinder, no autofocus assist, it has a slower shutter than the PZ-1p, a MUCH slower Flash Sync Shutter Speed, it uses a 6-segment Metering Pattern instead of an 8-segment, and it has a SLOW motordrive (2.5fps)!!!! | ||
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| Pro | Small, light weight, rugged magnesium body. Packs a lot of features in a small package. Metering is incredibly accurate (as will all Pentax's). Excellent vertical grip (can use AA's), and very soft mirror slap and a mirror lock-up. Autofocus is swift and sure despite not having cross sensors. Six AF points are welcome! New AF360FGZ flash is excellent with great features at a low price. | ||
| Contra | Uses too much battery power, even with the AA battery grip. I can get way more rolls of film from my Z1p. This is a complete mystery. The drive speed (2.5 fps) may not be fast enough for some. | ||
| Thoughts | Pentax managed to make a pro-level body very, very small and light. Pentax broke new ground in this arena. I hope this trend catches on. Overall an excellent camera. Highly recommended. | ||
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| Pro | Small, Light, rugged as few are (magnesium alloy), easy to operate, quick autofocus, ergonomics, amazingly accurate, exposures, data recording on the file, for every shot, built in flash, dampened mirror, the right amount of features. | ||
| Contra | The AF selection button not very easy to use (no joystick). Useless 6th AF point above the others. Limited drive speed for its class-2.5 FPS. Lack of aperture control from the body. | ||
| Thoughts | Just sheer pleasure to use and does its job. | ||