Pentax Z1

Just a "heads-up" for anyone interested: LCE Group have a Z1 + 28-80 for the very cheap price of £49! Almost tempted, but can't stand the thought of film again

http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/SHdetails.asp?Item=8711

Matt

That is a terrific deal !

The lens was never well regarded and on the one I had the button on the side fell off.

But the camera is great, so many features. I think this model introduced the Hyper-program, instant switch from Av to Tv by turning the relevant dial.....sound familiar ?

That's right Peter, feels better made than my K10D as well.

It's a bit sickening for those of us who already have these cameras seeing what pittance they go for nowadays. I have the Z1 and Z1-P which was more or less the same but could also take panorama sized shots plus a few other extras. The Z1-P is still mint and has the grip that cost over £100

shim

The Manchester store has MZ-5n for £29 - 4*! Tempted but a bit like Matt, can I really be bothered with film again?
Andy

Stay away from the MZ-5n, it appears they have an inherent fault, I have had 2 of them and the mirror motor has failed on both.

Apparently the small plastic gear which drives the mirror breaks. It can be repaired by replacing the motor with a brass gear attached, but at 80quid (AU$170) its not viable IMO. I sold them both for parts or repair and picked up an MZ-6 for 40quid. Better camera anyway I believe.

Thanks for tip off Clarky! Having had my Z1-P stolen about 18months ago, I have been toying with getting a decent cheap film body, but am probably not going to bother at all and stick with digital
Andy

I can't think of a good reason to use film anymore. The IQ from the K20D is so good, film is finally redundant. We have much better PP tools to use for digital too.

That said, I sold my MZ-S recently and got an MZ-6 to replace it. At least I'll have something to show the grandchildren what photography was like in the 'good old days'.

Off topic but...

You are right, but:

a) I find it fun and enjoy using film.
b) Digital makes me lazy, film makes me think.
c) The MX and LX are such lovely pieces of equipment I get pleasure just from the use of them.

None of these reasons are compelling enough that I would argue for film over digital, after all I take 100x more digital photos than film, but they are enough that I keep taking a few.

My thoughts exactly.

pschlute wrote: 'The lens was never well regarded and on the one I had the button on the side fell off.'

I too have a Z1 with the 28-80mm lens. Many years ago the lens rolled off the breakfast bar onto the kitchen floor and the side button broke off. I taped it over with insulation tape and it continued to work just fine for many years. After I went digital with an istDS I used his 'damaged' 28-80 zoom in place of the kit lens as I thought it was better quality.
david

couldn't agree more, I occasionally run a film through my ME-F just for the shear enjoyment of working the camera.

Film was fantastic at the time, I used it for 22 years.
I do miss the time in the darkroom and the enlarging and printing....but now that's it.

When the Pentax *ist D came out, I bought it straight away. I sold both my film cameras and that was it.

I had a weak moment last year when I almost, almost bought a Nikon F5...but it was a silly dream.

Something Womble wrote earlier: b) Digital makes me lazy, film makes me think.
I don't have that problem, set the camera to manual and that makes me think.
I love digital and there is defintley no going back


Paul

Ditto

Well I have never stopped using film as well so there isn't a "going back" to it. I am planning to build a darkroom of my own with all that lovely second hand kit that is knocking around!

Yes, sometimes I still take film pictures (on slides) and to me it still seems they have better dynamic range than digital. But only a few rolls a year. Digital makes me think in a slightly different way than film - and just the possibility of experimenting and seeing quickly the results, that's simply amazing! BTW I also want to keep some of the old film cameras (it's not worth selling them) for my kids, simply for later.