>I'm now considering the Pentax ZX-5n and Nikon N65
If it's any help, I was in a similar situation last summer. After years
with Pentax kit, I wanted autofocus but to keep an MF body as well. I'd
read somewhere that only Nikon offered backward compatibility with old
MF lenses. So I thought I had to have a Nikon, but it didn't take long
to dismiss the F(N)60. The F(N)80 was a better prospect, but in the
time it took my dealer to get one to show me, I'd discovered this list
and found out that Pentax, not Nikon, has the only true backward
compatibility at sub-plutocrat prices. After handling both cameras, I
bought an MZ-5n.
I'm sure I'd have been quite happy with an F80, but I'd have had to buy
a complete new set of lenses, as well as spending a few hundred more on
an FE2 so I could still enjoy that sensation of holding a die-cast body
and working a wind-on lever. As it is, my sixteen-year-old ME Super
works a treat with my new FA lenses (the 35 f/2 is a beauty; the 100
f./3.5 is a little plasticky but produces fine results; the 28-80
f/3.5-5.6 is a paperweight - can't win 'em all) while the -5N is just as
happy with my old K-mounts. It's worth getting at least one FA lens,
though, so you can see just how well the matrix metering works. I'm
enjoying my picture-taking now more than ever before. The people on
this list can take a lot of credit for this too - so much sound
information in so little space.
Over on the Nikon site, they probably say all this the other way round,
but if you're pleased with your old Pentax kit, and can accept that
modern cameras (even Nikons) have more plastic in than old ones, I think
you'll enjoy using the -5n.
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