Pentax LX vs. Pentax PZ-1p

[mikel r.]

I have some experience with the pentax line. Most recently I had a

zx-10 which was a good camera, but I had problems with its durability

and I could not keep the dust out of the camera. It did take some

good photos but I just keep thinking back to the k-1000 that I had

and it was incredibly durable. I want a few more features so I was

thinking of going with the LX. Then I saw the PZ-1p with all of its

features and got tentatively interested in it. Is it durable? Why

did Pentax quit making the LX if it is such a good camera? I have

read where it is compared to the Nikon F-3 which is one heck of a

camera. Having said all of that, which overall is a better camera.

I have been looking at everything from these to the canon Elan 7e to

the Nikon f-3. These all seem to be in my price range on the used

market. Thank you for your time. It will be greatly appreciated as

I am buying in the next couple of weeks.

 

Mike

[ron c sunshine coast,qld,a]

The LX (and F3) are indeed rugged but both lag alot with modern features.I was reading about them once but forget most of it-things like sync speeds,top shutter speeds,lack of flash automation/2nd curtain sync come to mind.Basically you would be getting a very well built but old fashioned and expensive camera with either of them

[bruce_rubenstein]

Pentax stopped making the LX, because they couldn't make any money selling them. I had LXs and they were nice, but they require maintainance and there are very few places that do competent work on them. Be careful with used F3s: some were owned by pros, and are shot, and some were lightly used by amaturs and will last halfway into forever. If you want a nice MF camera that will last for the next 20 years, get a FM3a.

[lee_brand]

Although I have a few Canons (FD's) and Pentax's I would say that a Nikon is a fairly good bet - my program A is starting to do odd things and the FD's are dead eneded with lenses - although I have tons of them because they are so cheap.

[the tightwad]

I own both a LX & Pz-1p so FWIW between the two get the Pz-1p as it

will do more than the LX in many ways. They are, however, very different cameras.

 

The LX I own gets lot's of shelf time now because I prefer the K1000 ,

the KX or my Pz-1p when I shoot 35mm. The one thing I don't like about

the LX is the size of the body. It's to small for my hands to hold comfortably. My guess is that since you fondly remember the K1000 you

might want to buy another one or a KX.The Pz-1p would be Ok but it uses

batteries,but that's Ok to. The Pz-1p is an awsome camera.

 

As to Nikon's.....I can't say as I never had much interest in them.

[kristian_s_oslash_rensen]

I have been using a Z1-p for something like four years now, and a MZ-S for a little more than one year. The LX is a camera I have drooled over in shops and read about ;-)

<p>

The Z1-p has a wonderfull user interface. All features that you can dream of are there, and after having spent one hour with the manual once, I have been able to use all of them without ever having to refer to the manual. I can operate most features without taking the camera away from my eye.

<p>

As for ruggedness. After shooting with a Z1-p with the FA* 85 f/1,4 for 1,5 hour in a heavy downpour, the camera no longer reacted to turns of the ring below the shutter that is used to pick shutter speeds among other things. As soon as the camera dried up everything worked fine. If you take the camera apart, you can see that there is no sealing around this ring, even though the other rings and knobs are sealed.

<p>

The mechanism holding the pop-up flash is a weak spot. There is a screw set in a thread in the ABS housing inside the camera, the ABS around the screw cracked on mine, meaning the screw cannot be tightened. This leads to the pop-up flash popping up by itself now and then. Since the crack is in the camera itself, there is not a lot that can be done to repair the crack. The only practical problem this causes is that the flash might pop up, and thereby be activated without you noticing while you are holding the camera to the eye. The most easy way to get around this is to tape the flash in place ;-) The slightly more elegant approach, that only works if you are never using the pop-up flash anyway, is to dismount the flash, make sure the little contact that signals to the camera electronics if the flash is up or not is left permanently in "the flash is down" position, and cement the lid over the pop-up flash shut.

<p>

There are many stories of a piece falling off the bottom plate around the battery compartment. This happened to mine as well, but is entirely harmless.

<p>

Since the Z1-p is such a wonderfull camera to use, I recommend that you buy a few of them so you can enjoy them for many years to come, they are dirt cheap at $500 or below for new ones ;-)

<p>

The MZ-S appears more rugged and well sealed, though I have only had it for a year, ran around 50 rolls through it, and not yet abused it, so I cannot tell for sure. Its user interface is not as good as the Z1-p though, but still well above the medium good ones, ie. you need the manual for the custom functions, and you have to take it away from the eye to set some of the settings. Also the viewfinder is smaller and dimmer than the one on the Z1-p, but still very good.

<p>

The max flash sync. on the MZ-S is 1/180 s. where the Z1-p has 1/250 s. The MZ-S cannot do daylight balanced fill flash in the automatic modes, with flashes older than the one that was introduces along with it, since the old flashes expects the flash exposure compensation to be set on the camera, and this cannot be done on the MZ-S.

<p>

On the other hand the AF of the MZ-S is up-to-date, where the Z1-p has an AF system that aparently was considered very good back in the early 90'ties. But if you are considering the LX, then this is most likely of no concern to you.

<p>

Feel free to email me for more information.

[stemked]

Hi Mike.

 

I love my LX. I have 5 different cameras, manual through autofocus. The last camera I would part with is the LX. It is true though, it and the PZ-1p are very different cameras.

 

The LX is VERY much more durable than the PZ-1p, I have seen two cracked PZ-1, (I haven't seen it with the similar PZ-1p though). The PZ-1p to me is too large and heavy. I love the fact the LX meters on the film plain, unlike most cameras that meter through the prism. I take a lot of long exposure shots, often in the minute range. If I am metering off the something that I've determined is 18% grey (or accurately compensate), I can expect an accurate exposue EVEN IF THE LIGHT CHANGES DURING THE EXPOSURE. I picked a couple cheap Dual Sync cords (about $10 each) and use either two 200T or 280T flashes hor great macro flash setup; it maybe possible to use the same setup with the PZ-1p (not sure). The LX has a true mirror lockup (unlike the PZ-1p).

 

I also like the viewer options with the LX. I use the action finder a lot. Both cameras have excellent focusing screens (I use the grid screen mostly myself). The LX has two moter options, I use the lighter, slower one.

 

And the camera just looks cool. The PZ-1p looks like a large plastic monster to me (sorry folks, but that's the way I feel)

 

The PZ-1p takes a little learning first; you need the manual to get started. One of the joys the PZ-1p has is hyperfocus from a toggle switch; folks swear by it. The PZ-1p is an autofocus camera (LX is manual) but it is a slower autofocus than your ZX-10. Flash sync is (I think) 1/250th vs the LX's 60th of a second. The PZ-1p has a spotmeter, the LX uses only center weighted. The PZ-1p certainly is a more modern pro-camera than the LX.

 

So it all depends on you. If you are like me and drag the camera through the mud photographing salamanders then hands down the LX is the better camera. If you have autofocus lenses and you want to use it to photograph birds then the PZ-1p. Your choice.

 

By the way Pentax did re-make the LX in 2000 in Titanium (I recall) mostly just in Japan. There were also an all Gold version (you'd be foolish to use it to take photos though) and a lizard skin version. If you do get a regular LX look for versions that are numbered 53XXXXX rather than 52XXXXX; they have fewer problems with mirror sticking (it has never happened to me) and the button used to remove the viewer in the 53's also gives you an exposure reading rather than just tapping the shutter release.

 

 

 

I disagree that the camera is hard or all that expensive to get work on. In fact it was cheaper than work I had on a Super Program just this year.

[kristian_s_oslash_rensen]

<b>Finders</b><br>

Douglas introduced an interesting difference between the Z1-p and the LX . The LX has interchangable finders. You can get magnifying finders, chimneys, 45 degree finders, rotating finders etc.

<p>

How usefull are these? Well I have the accessory 90 degree zooming finder that clips on to the ocular, and I hardly ever use it, even though I do fair share of down in the mud/water macro work myself. I guess that either you really need them, or you don't need them at all, depending on if you have some very specific needs.

<p>

<b>Mirror lockup</b><br>

Regarding the issue of mirror lock up. The Z1-p has mirror lockup, the Z1 doesn't. The mirror lockup is of the type where when you press the shutter or cable release, the camera stops down the aperture and flips up the mirror immediately, waits for 2 seconds, makes the exposure, flips down the meter and opens the aperture. I use it for something like 80% of tripod mounted exposures. The MZ-S has the same type of mirror lockup.

[jeff_livacich]

Regarding LX serial numbers- I keep hearing that early ones don't have the auxiliary meter switch in the button in the middle of the prism release lever.

Maybe very early ones.

I have an earlier version, S/N 5281XXX, and mine has it. The manual describes it, and the manual is dated 5/81. It states the button should always be used instead of the shutter release to turn on the meter when using the motor drive, to avoid accidentally tripping the shutter due to the stroke being shorter when using the drive.

The primary purpose of the button is to release the exposure compensation dial, so the meter is turned on for about 25 seconds when you first move the dial off normal exposure. This is handy, as the camera lacks an exposure hold button (grrrr) so the dial has to be used to override the meter on automatic. It's the one glaring fault of the camera, IMO. I always determine exposure, but with an automatic camera I find it faster to meter a part of the scene and lock my preferred exposure than to manually set it.

Otherwise, I love the LX. I've had the Nikon F3, a very capable machine, but the LX has better balance and feel, with some controls much nicer to use, and mechanical shutter speeds from 1/75th to 1/2000. I value its smaller size and lighter weight, as I often carry several cameras at once. Also, its size and its simple, elegant appearance is less intimidating to people when I'm photographing them.