More Re: Amateur Photographer MZ-S review
Thank you all for your responses to my response to your responses to my review.
I didn't realise how many of you there are on this site - or how many e-mails I
would come in to this morning.
It is a hazard of my job that people with certain loyalties sometimes find it
hard to stomach a bad word about their chosen deity. Leica users are usually the
worst, closely followed by the Taliban and those out looking for Salman Rushdie.
In the main, though, this Pentax group has proved that you are a realistic bunch
whose principle interest is having fun with a nice camera rather than getting
too upset that some bloke in London doesn't think the newest incarnation of the
Asahi Optical Company's brilliance is quite as good as it could be.
One of the interesting points that seems to be causing us all some degree of
heart ache is the word 'professional'. You may have noticed that in my response
I used inverted commas around this word as I don't actually have any use for it
and, as you all seem to point out, its meaning is different to everyone who uses
it in connection with cameras. I might also point out that this is a word that
Pentax has used again and again when describing the MZ-S. There are a number of
items on a tick list that spring to mind when this word is used, but it is not
essential for any single camera to have all of them to be classified as such.
But even without a tick list pronouncing a camera as professional unavoidably
raises ones' expectations. Why use the word at all? Well, Pentax obviously want
us to think that this is a top of the range model that can be used in a variety
of situations to earn the owner money. This suggests that the camera is
multifunctional and that it is built to withstand a high volume of film
throughput. The man on the street, or camera club, then cannot help but expect a
model that will compare with other recent 35mm autofocus SLR cameras that have
been described as 'professional'. Let's think of a few. Make a list of about
five or six. Remember 35mm AF SLR - not Leica. How do they all compare in terms
of build quality? How do they compare in terms of functionality and the features
they provide? What about the range of lenses and accessories that are available
to specialist users? Price alone does not make a product 'professional',
although that has been tried a few times in the past, so we will ignore that for
the moment.
In my OPINION the MZ-S is a very well made camera that is more than capable of
standing up to the worst that someone in the business could throw at it. It is,
however a FACT that the list of functions and features of the MZ-S falls short
of the length of those of the majority of the other cameras that are likely to
be on your list of 'professional' models. And before you get hot under the
collar remember that it is Pentax that tells us this is a professional model and
thus generates this comparison - not me.
If we have to use the word at all, what do I think it should mean? It should
mean that the camera in question is ruggedly built and offers the things that
people who describe themselves as professional need to make a living. Obviously
as there are a number of areas in which professional photographers work we need
some satisfaction in each of those areas. Will the camera be good for portraits?
Yes. What about travel? Yes, ideally suited. News and sport? Ask a sport or news
professional if this camera will provide what he needs. I think I know the
answer. How do the other cameras on your list satisfy these areas?
But this discussion about words distracts me from the real reason I felt the
need to write in again. Is Pal trying to misinterpret what I write? It is
perhaps rather telling that the most vocal critic is the one who has not read
the original review. Pal, when writing about the two pronged approach to ISO
setting I was not referring to buttons and dials but that fact that there are
two paths to adjusting the ISO. The most obvious one is via the 'ISO' dial
position on the top plate. This is purely for changing the EI from that set by
the DX. The second approach is via the PF, by which one can set either to read
the DX or to manually set ISO. My suggestion is that most cameras have a single
approach. The user can scroll through a menu that includes the speeds one might
want to set manually as well as a DX setting. Set the camera to DX for normal
use. If you are rerating a number of rolls set the EI manually - and the manual
setting remains, roll to roll, until you readjust it. This is done from one
place - not two. If you were able to go to the 'ISO' position on the MZ-S
topplate and select from a list that ran something like '100, 200, 400, 800,
1600, 3200, DX' life would be very much more simple. I complain of this because
life is about taking pictures not playing with a camera. It is an indication of
the depth of our test that we picked up on this point, valid or not. I wonder
how many other magazines did. And please don't tell me I didn't read the manual.
If I hadn't how would I have come across this point. By taking out a
subscription to AP you will not only be able to get a decent discount but you
will also have the opportunity to comment first hand about a test rather than on
issues passed on from third parties. And to say that the MZ-S is a unique camera
is to be asking for a job with the Pentax marketing department. Of course its
not unique. Its another camera. So it has a few different things - that does;'t
make it unique. Again we need to think about the words we use.
"Don't take yourself so seriously"??? Of course I do. I take testing equipment
very seriously because I have 30,000 readers to answer to, as well as the
distributors who will come down on me like a ton of bricks. I don't mind you, or
anyone, disagreeing with my opinions, but I wish you could get my opinions
straight before you do so.
Anyway that's enough from me. See y'all.
Damien.
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