Shel, I've used ZX-5n for ~7 years.
First, about the reading. I have an older Tokina 28-70 f/2.6-2.8 ATX PRO lense. The readout would never show 2.6. This has been discussed either on this list back in 1997, or on one of the Usenet news groups (rec.photo.* ?) (these are now accessible via e.g. Google groups). What I remember learning at that point is the following: The readout is correct, but the indicator on ZX-5n in particular does not show all possible values. Instead, it has a set of values that it can show, and shows whichever is the closest to the actual one. So, if you were to use a separate exposure meter, you might a bit off. However, the built-in meter measures correctly, and works with the actual value of the aperture, hense providing the correct film exposure. As for the autofocus, - well, I've never owned Z-1P/PZ-1P or MZ-S, but from limited experience with Nikon N70 (aka F70),and N90 (akak F90) that I had, I can tell that the autofocus on those Nikons seems to be better (I am not talking about absence of continuous autofocus on ZX-5n). Having said that, I've been rather happy with the autofocus of ZX-5n. It worked fine with the aforementioned Tokina lens, as well as with the 50/1.7 and Tokina 17-35 (non ATX-PRO) lenses. It was hunting, and occasionally missing in a low light situation with my Tamron 70-300 f/4.0-5.6. Usually, when it was missing, - it seemed it was going through the right point too fast. In that situation, I would try to bring it to the focus setting that is close to the right one, but at a somewhat closer distance, and then start focusing. (this could be done by variety of ways - from manual, to focusing on a better lit object first that is nearby). Well, I believe, both, the body and the lens were responsible for that. By now, I've had my new *istDS only for just about a month, and so far, the focusing ability of it seems to be comparable to that of ZX-5n. Sometimes I am even thinking that ZX-5n was just a bit better in this regards. Regards, Igor > Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 15:53:51 -0700 > From: "Shel Belinkoff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [email protected] > Subject: First attempt with auto focus > > Today I received my first auto focus lens to be used on an auto focus > camera. The camera is the MZ-5n, which is on loan from a local list > member, and the lens is a Pentax short tele 1.8 aperture. When using the > lens on the A setting it will sometimes show the aperture in the viewfinder > as 1.7 ;-)) I didn't check to see if that's the case in aperture priority > mode as well. > > Anyway, does this mean that the actual aperture of the lens is a bit wider > than 1.8, or that the way the software in the camera is set it just reads > out an aperture that's closest to whatever it's programmed for, or what? > Will other aperture settings be a little off as well? > > Thus far, and apart from this little anomaly, I'm not too impressed with > the way the auto focus focuses. It's clear that in a lot of situations > (low contrast, low light, with certain textures or colors) the auto focus > feature is pretty useless. I'd hate to see how it would perform with > slower lenses. > > > Shel >
