Monday, March 11, 2002, 5:36:09 PM, gfen wrote: g> I'm considering another body to add to my collection (actually, to replace g> the ZX-50, which gets passed on to a friend).
g> The LX is out of the question. I'm not spending that much, but I notice g> people continually chatting up the KX and the MX, and was wondering which g> one people tend to prefer. I was intrigued by some messages in the best g> body thread going around that the KX has got all the features of the LX, g> except for the metering. g> Any have some input? Oh, wait.. I know you all have some input, so does g> anyone want to share some input? As much as I love the features of the KX, I would advise against it for low-light photography. IMNSHO all Pentaxes before the M series have rather bad focusing screens, especially compared to their contemporaries (if you have seen e.g. Minolta SR101t screen, and that's as old camera as K2 or KX //IIRC). I have a K2DMD and the screen is dim and grainy compared to my LX. It's fine (=excellent) for good light shots, but only average for lowlight shots, and worse for lowspeed lenses. The more modern screens are way better. Of course, that's unless you are shooting with really fast, 1.8/80 or 1.4/50 lenses or faster, where even the old screen is good. But still, a new style screen is way better for picture clarity. Another thing to watch for and try yourself on the KX is the shutter speed dial. On all the K2s and K2DMDs (which use the same style dial) this was rather hard if not impossible to turn with my index finger only when I am looking through the finder, which defeats the purpose of the dual match-needle metering, where you can see the selected shutter speed (both K2 and KX have this). OTOH, on the LX (and supposedly other M cameras) this dial is much easier to turn, even with slight pressure of index finger only. As the KX is strictly manual mode camera, you need to change the dial quickly if light changes. That said, I think the KX is great for normal or slightly bad lighting situations, and it's excellent camera for any landscape/tripod/... photography because of the great MLU feature. I am not saying that it's bad - I loved the K2DMD when I got it, it was SOOOO better than the Praktica I had before. But when I got an LX, I realised the newer focusing screens are simply better. I still use the K2DMD as a second body with great success, and using fast (1.8/80 and 1.4/50) lenses it's easy to focus even in the dark. It's with telephotos it's rather bad IMO. Good light, Frantisek Vlcek - 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 .
