I have a ZX-7, which is very similar to the ZX-L. It's a great camera and the improvemtns of the ZX-L can only make it better. The fact that Rebels outsell it by quite a bit is another tribute to the power of advertizing and name recognition.
I have 4 lenses I use all the time: Pentax 50 1.4, Pentax 100 2.8 macro, Sigma 24-70 3.5-5.6 and Sigma 100-300 4-5.6 (I may have the aperatures a bit muddled on the zooms). So there are good Pentaxes and cheap Sigmas. While I lean toward the former for "quality" shots, I don't hesitate to use the sigmas, and some fo my favorite shots are made with these tlenses. I'll prbably replace them somday, but they were cheap and well worth the small investment. It's like most things. The last 10-20% improvement in quality requires a disproportionate investment. If you shoot negs and don't buy a loupe, you can be happy with a much wider range of lenses. The problem is that some folks are dirven crazy by others with this attitude. BTW, we have this inverted stage microscope (used for crystal analysis) with some low power lenses (20-50x) The offcial school photogrpher and I have used it as a loupe, and, not surprisingly, it works amazingly well. You can tell differences between images using it, but I find that this introduces a degree of "pickiness" that can easily lead you to obsession. I acknowledge that some folks many have these needs (huge enlargements, cropping, etc.), but you can come to think this way even if you don't. Steven Desjardins Department of Chemistry Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA 24450 (540) 458-8873 FAX: (540) 458-8878 [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 08/31/02 12:28AM >>> Hi all, I have a few small things to post about so I might as well bundle it all together like a digest :) Firstly, I loaded some film into my "new" LX today and did a few macro shots. What a fantastic camera. Its very smooth and very responsive. It just doesn't get in the way. But I will have to get used to that DOF lever (the K2 and Z-1p both use a button). When the LX's meter LED flashes, is this a "low battery" warning? I changed the battery and it stopped happening. I've also noticed that the meter LED glows brighter when you press the shutter release halfway down. Next thing on my mind is film. I'm seriously considering completely switching over from E100SW to Provia 100F. I spent a couple of hours mounting 6x7 slides last night, most of which were 100F. When I came across an E100SW film I just did not like the warm colour rendition in most shots. Especially when I found that the first E100SW shot was identical to the last 100F shot (my films are in chronological order) so I could compare the same scene side-by-side. Last of all, I've decided that the quest for absolute sharpness in my slides is not as important as I used to think. A good image will stand out regardless of whether your lens was used wide-open, handheld at 1/30th. I've recently been looking through a couple of Galen Rowell books and found that while some of the images are a little soft, they are still outstanding photographs. So why lust after the greatest ultra- sharp glass? If I want more detail I'll shoot with a bigger format... Cheers, - Dave http://www.digistar.com/~dmann/ (out of date)
