Recent threads about the feature set of various cameras and whether we use them set me to wondering whether others in the group find themselves heading the same way as I am now? For background, I have a Pentax MZ/ZX5, an ME, a Rolleicord, and can use my wife's Pentax Espio if I wish. I find myself nowadays using the MZ5 most of the time, but use the others where appropriate. I have range of prime lenses from 28mm to 400mm, and three zooms, 28-80, 28-105 and 35-135, all consumer-grade. So which features do I use/not use? Auto-exposure? I am tending to use the MZ5 much like a semi-auto camera, by setting either aperture or shutter speed according to circumstance, and then letting the camera work out the other half of the combination. Or I may take total control! For instance, the other day I was shooting an Aboriginal cultural display, and needed to use fill-in flash (AF330FTZ) for some shots to get balanced lighting: so I set the shutter-speed to the X-sync setting. On 100 ASA film, this gave me an auto-aperture of f9.5, which was fine because I needed to keep the DOF I obtained down to blur the background. The settings I chose worked out beautifully: with some of the dancers, there was just a small amount of blur in their legs when they were moving quickly, which enhanced the result, but the flash kept the colours vivid and without dense shadows. No doubt the TTL flash logic actually controlled exposure here. Auto-Focus? With a collection of mainly M-series lenses, the AF is a feature I can't use a lot of the time. With my particular AF zoom lenses, the MZ5 does have a problem with moving subjects in low-light situations. Power or auto-winders? I don't have a problem. At least you can never miss a shot by forgetting to wind on. Exposure Compensation? Don't use it very often, but then I have seldom been in a position to push/pull colour negative film. Might use it again now I've reverted to slides. Selective metering? Yes, I do use it. Panorama format? Same again: as I have said before, if I can crop out unwanted parts of the scene in the camera, I think it's worth doing. Very high shutter speeds? Not often: my sort of photography seldom calls for anything faster than 1/500. I'm very comfortable with the knowledge that I have 1/2000 available though. Very fast lenses? Yes, I'd love to have those really fast lens available - but my budget won't stand it! And I can't help thinking of how many of us who have been in photography for many years were gob-smacked when f2 lenses began to be superseded by f1.7/1.8 as the standard 50mm lens in the 60's and 70's, and how we cheerfully shot in all sorts of light with our f3.5 Tessar designs. I've also gone back to shooting slide film: like another member, having had a whole bunch of negative film printed with a distinct blue cast, I'd rather not have errors introduced by another party. I can always select the keepers for myself and make prints digitally as required, and I can convert them to grayscale if they would work better that way. It's a bit like modern software, I guess: I wouldn't claim to use all of the features all of the time, but sometimes an obscure feature can be a life-saver... So yes, I probably will buy an MZ-S (next month if it's been released in Hong Kong), because I like the specification very much: however, I'll probably go for either a 20/24mm or the 77mm Limited prime lens rather than another zoom. Sorry for the long post, just felt the need for it. John Coyle Brisbane, Australia - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
