On Tue, May 6, 2008 at 9:39 AM, William Robb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Adam Maas" > Subject: Re: Should I care about film? > > > > > > > > > The standard F3 finder is IMHO far better than the HP finder and also > > better than the LX finder. The real weakness is the F3's meter > > readout, which is awful, especially in comparison to the LX's > > excellent one (Since you can run an F3 off AA's if you have a MD-4 > > handy, so batteries aren't a real issue). I generally found the left > > half of the LX (ISO and exposure comp controls) better than the F3 and > > the right half of the F3 better than the LX (MLU, shutter release, > > shutter dial). The LX also was a bit small, especially with out the > > grip (which I never owned) and had that awful 'Magic Needle' takeup > > spool. I'd love a MF camera that combined the best of those two > > cameras. > > The meter readout was what I really disliked about the F3 finder. I could > never see the entire > screen anyway, so the HP thing was pretty much lost on me, it just made the > screen a bit > smaller. For what I was shooting, a motor drive would have been just about > the worst thing > possible to have on the camera, so I had to worry about batteries (no big > deal, though the F3 > was the first camera I owned that was battery dependant, and I got stuck a > couple of times until > I learned). I liked the ergonomics of the LX better than the F3, and I am > probably the only > person on the planet that likes the magic noodles. > > > > William Robb > >
I'm kind of ambivalent about the ergonomics of each. Exposure compensation in particular is much better on the LX as you can set it without looking, but the F3's shutter release and wind lever are much smoother. And the F3's MLU is far, far superior as it reliably and positively locks. The LX's finder mount is far better and the inclusion of an adjustable diopter and TTL flash shoe on the standard prism is nice, but the F3's DE-2 (non-HP) prism is 100% and brighter than the LX's. The F3 is also bigger and fits my hand better, but the grip is less ergonomic than the LX with mounted grip. -- M. Adam Maas http://www.mawz.ca Explorations of the City Around Us. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
