Some people seem to judge quality by weight. Because MZ-S is light then
it cannot be quality! Some even seem to think it is plastic because of
the weight.
Others judge quality by the fitting of components (gap width etc) and
solidity. This seems to be what people refer to when they say quility
is good. These people understand that magnesium is still strong even
though it is light.
For me, the only heavy item I want is my tripod!
Rob Brigham
-----Original Message-----
From: dick graham [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: 07 March 2001 14:31
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: yet another MZ-S first look
Doug, I gather that you felt that the camera had a quality feel to it
unlike my brother,the photo store dealer, who said that it felt
cheap. Also did you find anything out about flash exposure
compensation?
DG
At 11:40 PM 3/6/01 -0500, you wrote:
>Spent a couple of hours examining the MZ-S this afternoon, and thought
I'd
>share a few impressions with you. First, here's Ed Sullivan: "Tonight
we
>have a rilly big shoe."
>
>Thank you, thank you. Now, on to the camera. Some points in no
particular
>order.
>
>1.) It's =small=. Sure, I read the specs, but I was still surprised. To
>put the features this camera has into a package this small, those guys
at
>Pentax did their homework. I can see that I would need to have the
battery
>pack/grip attached semi-permanently, to have a good grip on it. For
>reference, I have the grip strap on my PZ-1p and a winder on my LX
because
>they improve the holdability for me.
>
>2.) It was also lighter than I expected, and yet...
>
>3.) It is well put together. I was especially impressed with the way
the
>back fits to the body. There are a series of ridges-- I believe there
are
>two on the body and one on the door, but I may have that backwards--
that
>go together to form a seal. The one ridge fits between the two. Very
well
>done. I also noticed a foam square around the inside of the film
window.
>That could be a common thing on cameras, but I don't recall ever seeing
it
>before. The magnesium shell feels solid. I squeezed it and there was no
>give whatsoever. It feels like it should be around for a while.
>
>4.) For Alan Chan, I examined the finder window and, for the life of
me, I
>couldn't determine if it was glass or plastic. My money is on glass,
>though. It's that kind of camera.
>
>5.) Okay, the controls. It took me all of five or ten seconds to get
the
>feel of total control. To leave it in program mode, set the lens to A
(if
>the lens has the A setting). To move to Av priority, take it off of A.
>Then, if you want to go to full manual, shift the shutter speed by
turning
>the dial. If the lens is still set at a preferred f/stop, you can go
back
>to Av priority by touching the green button on the front. To run in Tv
>priority, just leave the lens on A and turn the dial to select your
>shutter speed. It's incredibly simple.
>
>5a.) The Hold button seems to be a mystery around here. It's for the
>shutter speed. If you set a shutter speed you want to stay with, you
just
>use the hold button. If you then turn the control dial, the shutter
speed
>doesn't change and "HOLD" flashes on the LCD. I forgot to check if
there's
>is also on indication on the viewfinder.
>
>5b.) The DOF preview is right there at your index finger. Way cool. You
>just put your finger on it and sort of pull it. It's more like a little
>slide action. For those of you, like me, who are accustomed to
=pushing=
>DOF previews, this takes a little getting used to. I must have turned
the
>camera off five times trying to activate the DOF preview. Once I got
the
>hang of it, though, I thought it was pretty cool.
>
>5c.) Selecting the AF points is simple as well. Using the middle finger
of
>my left hand, I slid the switch up, then turned the control dial until
the
>point I wanted lit up at the bottom of the viewfinder. To return to
>letting the camera choose the sensor, I just clicked the selector
switch
>back down.
>
>5d.) I was a trifle disappointed that the exposure compensation system
of
>the PZ-1p is not on this camera. It's a really great feature of the
PZ-1p.
>Fortunately, using the exp comp dial on the MZ-S is a breeze. I was
able
>to do it with just my left thumb; push in the lock release and turn the
>dial in the same motion. The over/under indicator off the right side of
>the viewfinder stays invisible until comp is used (and, I assume,
though
>didn't check, when you're using metered manual), which I liked.
>
>Which brings us to
>
>6.) The viewfinder seemed bright to me, and well placed. By that I mean
>that there is almost a tunnel effect there. The viewfinder is
surrounded
>my a bit of black all the way around, and none of the indicators inside
>intrude on the viewfinder itself. I even dug out my glasses to have a
look
>and I was able to see all of the viewfinder and the indicators with
>minimal effort. I should note here that I =never= wear my glasses while
>photographing, but I was curious how people who wear glasses all the
time
>would see the viewfinder.
>
>7.) The AF is quick and decisive. To test it, I used my FA*80-200/2.8
>(keeping an eye on that focus scale window in case it decided to leap
off
>the lens), and it had no trouble with either the camera-selected or
>user-selected sensors. I got it to hunt, but really, it was a tough
scene,
>some thin branches with a brightly colored BP station in the
background,
>and I was using a single sensor. To be fair, since not everybody has a
>80-200/2.8, I also mounted the new 24-90 on there and pointed it around
>the place. Though the viewfinder was noticeably darker, the camera
seemed
>to handle it just fine.
>
>8.) The AF button on the back (this could be numbered 5e, if you're
>scoring at home, or even if you're by yourself) is a nice touch. I'd
have
>to really work with it for a while to be comfortable using it, as I'm
>accustomed to the shutter-button-half-press method, which the MZ-S also
has.
>
>9) The shutter has a distinct "snick" sound, much less clunky than the
>PZ-1p shutter. The action is positive and certain, and I noticed very
>little lag between pushing the release and the shutter firing. It was
very
>responsive.
>
>10.) The rear-angled top plate is pure genius, and anyone who has ever
had
>to tilt a PZ-1p backwards to look at the LCD screen, I'm sure, would
>agree. The controls are clear in their intent, simple in execution, and
>there is absolutely no clutter.
>
>Did I find anything I didn't like about the camera? I mentioned earlier
>being disappointed that the exp comp from the PZ-1p wasn't on there. I
>don't know if anyone else noticed this, but the advance side strap lug
>felt a little bit awkwardly placed to me. Again, I'm used to my PZ-1p,
and
>it could be that the shutter release on the MZ-S is not quite as far
out
>in front as it is on the PZ-1p, making the lug feel a little low. After
>handling the camera a bit longer, it didn't seem as awkward, so it may
not
>have been that bad.
>
>I guess that's all I can think of right now. I'd be glad to tackle any
>follow up questions.
>
>Doug
>
>--
>Douglas Forrest Brewer
>Ashwood Lake Photography
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>http://www.alphoto.com
>-
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