But what separates the LX from the rest is its fully mechanical titanium shutter. The LX features a black-painted chrome body for corrosion resistance, a full weather-sealing down to the buttons and dials, a removable pentaprism with ten different available focusing screens, pretty much everything one would expect from a pro spec SLR. It was small and relatively light, but just as durable and finely made as its big and bulky competitors, and set the technological standard higher for the capabilities of pro SLRs as we know it. The LX is something of a marvel in the pro-spec SLR market it bucked the trends that pro SLRs often followed at the time and showed the world that something better was possible. The first is one of James’ favorite 35mm SLRs, the Pentax LX (buy it using our eBay affiliate link here). Picking just one camera to represent this segment was tough, so I chose two which just barely (and I mean barely) edge out the others. Back in the day, Pentax built their name off of their artful workmanship, practicality, and high quality embedded into nearly every camera, which earned them some of film photography’s most dedicated acolytes. For the professional Pentaxian, this camera is the one to get.īest Enthusiasts’ Camera – Pentax LX (K-Mount) or Pentax 67 (medium format)įor hardcore enthusiasts, there’s arguably no better or more interesting brand than Pentax. The two big important dials on the top plate, which control most functions (shutter speed, mode selection, etc), can be operated with the user’s thumbs, which frees up the index and middle fingers to shoot more quickly. The MZ-S’ signature control plate is tilted back at an angle, which makes for an ergonomic experience that’s totally unique in the professional segment. Specs aside, if there’s any reason to get the MZ-S, it’s the design. Raw specs on the MZ-S are impressive even by today’s standards – a vertically traveling focal plane shutter with a range of thirty seconds to 1/6000th of a second, a variable metering system featuring center-weighted, spot, and segmented matrix metering, a completely backwards compatible K-mount system, a continuous follow focus AF mode as well as a traditional six point stationary AF mode, and nineteen custom modes, all user-editable. Although it never quite hit the heights those cameras did, the MZ-S ended up being the most technologically advanced film camera Pentax would ever develop, and the finest pro-spec film camera Pentax has to offer. It was intended to compete with the heavy-hitters of the era, the Canon EOS-1v, the Minolta a9, and the Nikon F6.
The MZ-S was introduced in 2001 as Pentax’s final flagship professional grade SLR ( buy it using our eBay affiliate link here).