Stan - I'm with you on this, with the one exception that I don't have any problem reaching the focus selection button - but then I do have long fingers. I spent about a month with the camera and manual together, not trying to make masterpieces but just trying all of the features as I found a need for them, and now I can remember the stuff I might use on a daily basis, and carry the little Functions cheat-sheet in my wallet for when I can't. IMHO, the interafce is like one I would write for a mature computer program: configuration screens for mid- to long-term settings ( = pentax functions), buttons for dynamic settings ( = focus point selection, exposure compensation, bracketing, DOF preview) , and resets (= AF button, Exposure mode). It might take a little time to learn, and I would provide both a manual and context-sensitive help, but it would do the job well. I am a little surprised that some of our obviously very experienced and photographically ambitious subscribers don't appear to want to spend a lttle time finding their way around a very smart piece of machinery so that they can get the best out of it, which also involves making sure they can understand what is available. Have some of them ever looked at the crappy interfaces on some of the consumer digital cameras, with their multiplicity of obscure buttons and interminable menus? As to whether it's well-built - I posted a little conversation I had with my wife a week or so ago after she dropped my MZ-S over five feet onto the floor - sufficient testimony to it's toughness, I think.
John Coyle Brisbane, Australia On Friday, December 07, 2001 1:03 PM, Stan Halpin [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] wrote: > Bill - When I got my PZ-1p, first new camera since my ME Super, I was > freaked. A gadget-lover's delight! Knobs, dials, beeps, flashing lights, > multiple ways to do the same thing . . . After a few hours with the manual, > much practice, and many muttered curses, I learned that I would never master > all of the features, and that I did not rally care. I learned to do the > things that I wanted to do to take the pictures I wanted to take. Never did > come across a race car in the dark for which I needed that nifty > rear-curtain flash or whatever it is called. But I loved the dial-in > fill-flash compensation thingie . . . > > With the MZ-S, the whole camera is much simpler for me. But I also am not > trying to master all buttons and functions; I learned to use what I need. I > go back to the manual occasionally to see if I have forgotten anything I > should be paying attention to. Meanwhile, the shutter button is a good > feature, the quick easy DOF check is great, the meter-reset button on the > front is a great rescue from confusion, and the exposure comp is nifty and > easy to use with my left thumb alone . . . I suppose there are other buttons > I haven't even seen yet, but I am not too concerned. Oh yeah, there is the > one unreachable set of doohickeys that move the autofocus target around. I > did that once or twice; 'tis ok on a tripod doing macro shots, but otherwise > is not needed as you can focus, hold, and recompose quite easily. - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
