First, thanks to the Pentax rep who let me handle the camera. I spent
about 45 minutes with it and the new 24-90 lens. I'm going to ramble here,
and I know I did not get to everything everyone wants to know, but I found
out about what was important to me, and tried to find out other things for
some people. Bear in mind that the rep has not had the camera very long,
has only run 1 roll of film through it, and received no instruction manual
with it. U.S. arrival is expected in May, and the MAP will be about
$999.00. You might want to open 4 browsers to all these images as you read
this:
http://digilander.iol.it/aohc/pma2001/mzs01.jpg
http://digilander.iol.it/aohc/pma2001/mzs02.jpg
http://digilander.iol.it/aohc/pma2001/mzs03.jpg
http://digilander.iol.it/aohc/pma2001/mzs04.jpg
Ergonomically, the camera handles much like a ZX/MZ anything, and it
weighs not much more. The grip is more substantial and it feels more solid.
And the sound of the shutter is much more metallic. The command dial on the
right side woks well and is equally and easily accessible to either the
right index finger from the front, or the right thumb from behind. The DOF
preview is a spring activated additional notch beyond the on switch, and is
very easy use and to get used to. The focus bracket selection switch is
located on the right side near the lens release mounting tab where you would
normally find the DOF preview. You need to push it while turning the right
control dial to select focus points. I found it very awkward or near
impossible to get to with the right hand, and the rep told me it's better to
get with the left hand by reaching around under the lens barrel as you
cradle the lens. That way indeed works well, but I wonder how comfortable
that would be with a heavy lens because it requires you cradle the lens near
the camera body. The AF lock button on the back can be programmed to either
just lock AF or lock AF and AE. I found this to be placed a little too
close to the center of the camera, causing my thumb to almost push my eye
away from the viewfinder, but not quite. I also found that you needed to
push that button in pretty far before it activates, which might be a problem
for people with larger, less "pointy" thumbs. The button with the green dot
on the right front of the camera is like an "idiot button". It returns all
the custom functions to factory presets, and puts you back in auto modes
automatically, in case you get lost. The command dial on the left side has
an inner and outer dial which both rotate. The outer dial rotates easily,
but the inner one is not easy to grasp with just three little ridges for
grip. It would be impossible to turn with gloves on or if your fingers were
real cold. The hold button on the back right side is used for holding the
camera in a program mode, or whatever mode you have it in, and keeps you
from changing modes electronically. I'm sure there must be more to this, as
this does not make much sense to me, but again, the rep had no manual. The
24-90 lens is very sweet, but the aperture ring is a little hard to grasp
because of the thickness of the lens barrel close to the camera body. I'm
told this lens will sell for about $500.00 U.S. Aesthetically, the camera
looks great, but my chrome limited lenses didn't look so good on it. The
rep shared that Pentax brought out the chrome lenses for an upcoming
range-finder camera that ended up getting shelved. As far as future chrome
lenses - nobody knows right now.
Functions: The fast shutter sync is 1/180 except for the new flash
unit, which can sync at all speeds. The rep did not know if the data
imprinting slows winding. There is no flash compensation on the body for an
external flash, but the rep said it was there for the built-in flash by
using the exposure compensation dials. Personally, I doubt this can be used
just for flash, but suspect it's for the entire exposure. Exposure comp is
set in either full or ½ stops, and as expected, you can combine that with
auto bracketing. AV mode involves turning the aperture ring - unlike the
PZ1P, there is no way to control it otherwise in that mode.
Viewfinder: The eyepoint is about the same as my ZX5N, which I took
with me, but not having to move the eye all the way to the side to see the
information really helps. The information along the bottom is sharp and
unobtrusive, yet easy to see. It did not look real bright, but I was only
able to try the camera in the store and out the front door. I had no
problems seeing it, but it might be a little difficult in very bright
light - I would wonder. The scale on the right is not activated unless
needed for exposure comp, or manual mode, so that's nice. The AF brackets
indicator is to the left of the shutter speed and aperture readouts, and a
mini view of the viewfinder and works well enough. The viewfinder eyepiece
external glass has the same dished curve to it that my ZX5N has, which is a
pool for gathering stray light, but in the environment I was in it was not a
problem. Again, I would wonder about this outdoors in bright light or with
a light source nearly behind you. There appeared to be no visible
distortion in the viewfinder with my 77 mounted - a lens I know to be just
about distortion free. I mounted my 77 and 43 on both my ZX5N and the new
camera, back to back several times, and to my amazement, the viewfinder
actually seemed a little brighter on my ZX5N. But I did notice the MZ-S had
a slight smudge on the viewfinder glass. At the very least, it's not
brighter.
AF: The rep did not know if any of the sensors is a cross sensor, but
he suspects not. He feels it's traditional Pentax with the center being
sensitive to verticals and the outer ones being sensitive to horizontals.
In the AF mode where the camera selects the bracket, it generally chooses
the closest one it can focus on. I left that off most the time and used it
with just the center AF bracket. AF performance was very, very quick, and
it had no problem focusing on just about anything, including the dark carpet
of the floor. In servo mode, I focused on the carpet from about 25 feet
away, and followed it up to my feet, and the AF had no problems with that.
Noise was slightly less than the ZX5N, still not what I would consider
quiet. I tried AF with my 43, 77, and the 24-90. Unlike my ZX5N, there was
a big difference in the sound quality between the limited lens gearing and
the 24-90. And I think the AF was much faster with the limited lenses than
with my ZX5N. I would suspect the motor is much stronger in the MZ-S.
Overall, my impression is that it's a nice strong little camera,
definitely in line with the ZX series, which many people will be very please
with, and it should sell well. It's commendably light, and it feels real
good in the hands.
Thanks,
Ed
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