Week nine - Pentax MZ-M

Another Pentax this week, the MZ-M (also sold as the ZX-M) 35mm SLR…

Pentax MZ-M
Pentax MZ-M with SMC 50mm f/2 and 28mm f/2.8 lenses

The MZ-M was released in 1997 and was intended to be the successor to the student's favourite, the K1000. It never really caught on in the way that the rugged mechanical K1000 did though but as a plus the MZ-M doesn't command as high a price secondhand…

When used with KA mount lenses the MZ-M offers programmed AE, aperture and shutter priority and manual exposure modes, with the K mount lenses I'm using only aperture priority and manual are available (not a problem for me!)

Pentax MZ-M top view
Pentax MZ-M

The controls are simple but include everything most film shooters need, +/- 3 stops exposure compensation, depth of field preview, AE lock and the facility to manually set the film ISO.

And the weight of this camera! (or rather the lack of it) makes it an easy camera to carry around all day without getting a sore neck or shoulder… something I'm all in favour of!

I've loaded a roll of Bellamy Hunt's (AKA Japancamerahunter) JCH Street Pan 400 and I'm looking forward to seeing how both film and camera perform!

Week eight - Pentax Espio 145M super

Off on my travels for a couple of days so yet again I'm packing light with this Pentax Espio 145M super…

The various models of the Pentax Espio/IQZoom series crop up fairly regularly in charity shops and a recent trawl of the local branches turned this up just last week.

Pentax Espio 145M super

This is one of the more compact models in the range even though it boasts a 38-145mm zoom lens. Something I immediately noticed when I popped in a fresh battery was that the focal length in use is displayed on the LCD panel (as seen below). How accurate this is I'm not sure but I wish that more manufacturers had equipped their offerings with the same feature.

Pentax Espio 145M super top view

With shutter speeds ranging from 1/400 - 2 sec (1/2 sec - 1 minute in Bulb mode) and wide or spot AF it would appear to be a capable little beast albeit hampered by the slow f/4.8 - 12.5 maximum aperture. I'll be loading some Kodak Portra 800 to help minimise the shakes!