Hi,
Just a report about a test of the MZ-3, Nikon F80 and the EOS
30. Denominations may be different where you live. This test
was in the UK, in Amateur Photographer magazine.
No prizes for guessing which camera came last, because of
"...its more limited (sic) AF sensors and a more limited choice
of how they can be used."
Canon won (most advertising?) and the F80 scored because of the
grid screen overlay and a cable release socket.
A few statements about the MZ-3 puzzled me. I am not familiar
with this camera, but have followed threads in PDML and read
about it elsewhere. For example "The Pentax has....a central Af
point that expands slightly across the screen.....but you can
use the centre spot by itself" In another pert, the tester seems
to be of the opinion that aperture can _only_ be selected with
the aperture ring, but then goes on to say "...the Pentax...uses
a separate A setting....". I always assumed that aperture was
selectable from other controls when the aperture ring was in the
A position. Another statement which I find odd is that "when
using a hotshoe adaptor......you may only use the X
setting......thus you are stuck with 1/125sec and no slow sync."
Anyone have any observations about these?
The unassisted exposures from the MZ-3 were definitely the
lightest of the three, but where a blip of fill-in flash was
used indoors (a cathedral) to lighten foreground objects, the
other two had compensated by reducing the total exposure,
resulting in very dark pictures as the flash was insufficient to
properly light any of the scene. "...Some underexposure.."
meaning a view of a stained glass window and its reflection off
the floor, with everything else black. I suppose we have to
make some allowance for magazine reproduction.
For me, this would be a major failing which would have caused me
to either send the product back as defective or relegate it to
last in the test.
The reason given for the Canon winning, given that "The
exposures are no better than those of the Nikon and Pentax.."
was build quality and handling. Not my perception when handling
this model, but it is the heaviest of the three, by quite a
margin. Guess which is the lightest? By about 25%..... Hard
to be precise, as it is not clear whether lenses are included,
but batteries definitely are not for the MZ-3.
The only interesting fact for me was that the pentamirror of the
MZ-3 is "moulded".
mike
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