I seldom contribute, because there are so many that have
better and quicker answers than mine. Here I thought my
input might be appropriate.
Back in 1968 when I was still in high school, my folks
surprised me with a pretty astounding Christmas
present. They had selected a Spotmatic with a 50mm/1.4
lens. In the same box were Vivitar 35mm and 135mm
preset lenses. You youngsters that don't know what a
preset lens is, go find an old grey-haired photographer
and ask.
Around 1974, when I had graduated from college and found
my first job, I added a 28mm Takumar wide angle, and
somewhere along the line I replaced the Vivitar 135 with
a used Konica auto-aperture 135 and added a Vivitar 2x
converter.
This little bit of stuff has been the center of my
photographic kit for over 30 years. Flashes, filters,
bags, darkroom stuff have come and gone, but the core
stayed the same.
Recently the grandkids have started to move a bit faster
and my bifocals have become a pain. I needed, and or
wanted an autofocus camera so I wouldn't miss so many
pictures.
I looked at the major brands. All I really wanted was a
Spotmatic with auto-focus. All the bells and whistles
on the other brands are ok. I just don't need them and
didn't want the distraction. I ended up with a ZX-5n.
It came in a kit with a 28-90 zoom and I added a Tamron
70-300, the battery/grip, and the adaptor for screw-
mount lenses.
So - last June, when I made that decision, the answer to
your "would you buy Pentax again?" question was a
resounding yes. So far I've run just over 50 rolls of
film through this setup and I am quite satisfied.
Money wasn't really an issue, the relative difference in
price for the little bit of equipment I bought wasn't
that much. Neither was being able to use "the old
glass" issue that's discussed here so often. I only had
a couple of lenses to replace and they weren't auto-
focus anyway.
It was the retro design. Everything was where I
expected it to be and it worked just the way I expected
it to work.
Now, is that going to be important to a younger guy that
hasn't used a Spotmatic for over thirty years? Probably
not. If I had wanted something more entry level the
salesman would have steered me to a ZX-7, a rebel or
maybe the Nikon f65, whichever had the best spiff for
him that week. But on the higher end equipment, the 5n
wouldn't have come into the picture. The salesman would
have moved me into Canon or Nikon, at this store most
likely Canon.
By the way, two more quick comments.
First - When I was in high school and college I had a
part time job in a camera store. We sold it all, and I
could borrow anything any time I wanted to. Back then,
you could pretty much pick up any SLR from P/M/C or N
and within 5 minutes know exactly how it worked. They
were all more or less identical because they didn't do
that much.
Half the guys in the camera stores don't know how most
of their equipment works. I feel sorry for them, even
different cameras within the same line don't work the
same way.
Second - After college, the first Christmas that I
returned home, I bought my folks a Spotmatic of their
own so Dad could put away that old Argus C-3.
See you later, gs
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