Pentax ZX-7 QD Film Camera

Bought a used Pentax ZX-7 body and FA 28-80mm/f3.5-5.6 zoom lens on eBay for a small Pentax collection started with my first SLR, an Asahiflex IIb bought in 1957 on a visit to Japan. The others are a KM and a Superprogram with 5 KA lenses from 35mm to 200mm.

I have autofocus in my Nikon cameras and wanted to try the Pentax version.

The ZX-7 is typical Pentax: easy to learn, sharp lenses and reliable performance. Pentax has a free pdf manual online (also sells a printed manual). You will need one or the other.

This Pentax is very light weight. It's a pleasure to carry all day. It almost floats on my neck with a 1 1/4 inch neoprene strap and the light zoom lens. Set on "Auto Program", pop up flash "off". with power switch "on" and lens cap off it's ready in a second to make a snap photo. (Meter goes off in 20 sec. to save batteries and on at first touch.)

Autofocus and exposure is quick and accurate in every mode and manual is easy.

All my Pentax A lenses operate just as on the Superprogram. So it's a good backup for serious photography.. A Pentax AF280T tilt & swivel hot shoe flash fits and works in bounce on both for Auto and some TTL functions for a low cost used option. I like the ability to use the "betterbouncecard" technique too which requires a tilt & swivel flash head. (See URL: abetterbouncecard.com)

The top deck LCD panel is full of information but tiny symbols for flash settings are difficult to decipher until familiarized with the user manual.

It's nice to have a pop up flash for TTL fill without carrying extra stuff and this little pop up is very flexible. It can be turned off completely, set for TTL daylight fill or normal TTL, with or without red eye reduction.

The built-in eyepiece diopter correction is a good feature. No extra stuff to carry and mislay. There is very little eye relief if you wear eyeglasses so use the corrector.

For little cash, bought used, this is a capable little camera and could be part of a low cost small starter system, but probably will not take much rough handling ... it's light weight build requires some care.

For me it's a "keeper" even when left simple and light for daylight use with nice results.