Borrowed Pentax MZ-S from Chinatown to the Imperial Pub.

 Newest member of the Classic Camera Revival Team John Roberts left behind his Pentax MZ-S kit behind for us to play with after his visit last Summer. I was the last one to use the camera, I found the MZ-S to be a very interesting camera. Pentax didn't have much presence in the pro camera market, it was either the Canon EOS-1 or the Nikon F5, ok, maybe a Leica M6TTL or R series SLR if you were independent an had means. Pentax coms along and introduces the MZ-S that accepted both Pentax maual and autofocus lenses. 

The MZ-S is an interesting beast in terms of design, while every bit as durable as a Nikon F5 or Canon EOS-1, it's more compact, think 3/4 the size in terms of external dimensions.  The slanted top of the camera is a cool touch so you can see the external screen. In terms of usability, the MZ-S is not an intuitive camera, you have read the manual if you want to go between manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority or one of the progam modes. With first roll I shot (not scanned) I was fighting every step of the way and didn't enjoy shooting with the MZ-S. Once I figured out how to set the camera to aperture priority it was a walk in the park. 

John of course is a lens nerd and his MZ-S came with three limited edition lenses, I chose to shoot with the SMC Pentax 31 F1.9 lens, an odd focal length sorta between 35mm and 28mm but it works because it's Pentax glass. In the end I'm wondering who Pentax was pitching this system to, they weren't going to make a dent into pro sales and steal market share from Nikon and Canon. It waw a halo camera for Pentax fans. 

It was a grey day, I walked from Graination Lab and east on Dundas to meet up with Jo-Anne and my friend Dana for last call at the Imperial Pub. The venerable dive bar for generations of Ryerson students was closing down as the owners got an offer they couldn't refuse and the land is being redeveloped for student housing. I wasn't a regular being University of Toronto alumni, my go way back when the world was young and slightly less weird was the Madison Avenue Pub, I'm too old to go there now being a lot closer to 60 than even 50,  let alone my very early 20s. The Imperial Pub was the go to, for the Podcamp conference after party. I'm sad to see landmarks disappear. 

Camera: Pentax MZ-S, SMC Pentax 31 F1.9 lens. 

Film: Fomapan 400, 510 Pyro 1+100.