Hi Kostas, I went out of my way to find a -5n (now discontinued)and paid quite a bit more for it than the MZ-6 (or ZX-L as is here in the US). I had some good reasons for doing this.
1) The spot meter function on the -6 is only available as a custom function mode of the memory lock button. Not very convenient, especially if you want to meter both your shadows and highlights to determine what the range of the film will actually capture. 2) It is a camera that is really designed to be used in one of the automatic or program modes. The bi-directional switch around the shutter button becomes very awkward in metered manual mode. It is your shutter speed toggle AND aperture toggle, with the use of a tiny little button to change the toggle to aperture control (and must be depressed the entire time). Ergonomically it was extremely clumsy (at least for my hands). 3) The -5n allows you to vary the amount of TTL fill flash. You have to "trick" it by setting your daylight exposure in metered manual, then dial in your +/- exposure compensation to change the amount of fill flash. I could not figure out a way to do this on the -6, as the exposure compensation feature was only available in the autoexposure modes (again using the bi-directional toggle). Note: what I am talking about here is not the same thing as "contrast control" which is one of the more advanced flash functions found on the -6. Overall, I felt most of the controls on the MZ-6 were a sloppy afterthought. It is a great little camera if you just like to select the appropriate picture mode icon and let the camera do the rest. If you actually want to have control over your exposure it is so-so. It can be done, but it is worlds apart from the -5n which in contrast is simple, direct, and familiar to those who have used older SLR's. Incidentally, I also handled the *ist in a couple of stores. I liked it much better than the -6, but not as much as the 5n. K and M series lenses are not usable with the *ist (a real problem for me), and it has the same flash limitation as the -6 (#3 above). In addition, it was a bit small for my hands, but after handling it for several minutes I became used to it. Hope this was helpful. Try to handle your camera of choice before you buy... that's the best advice I can give. I'm very glad I didn't make my choice by comparing specification sheets alone, then order by mail. Best regards, -Jonathan- __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
