Home > Consumer Reviews > Pentax ZX-M 35mm SLR Camera Kit w/ 35-80 Lens

This is a great camera with easy to use options - I like the manual controls, which make experimentation easy and fun, and also make it a great starter camera for novices and photography students. The size is also good - Its a great SLR for travel. I've taken great indoor and outdoor shots with it.

I have had this camera since October is it consistantly gets better with time. I am used to using a Pentax MS-super which was a very basic straight forward camera. The MZ-M is exactly like the ME-super except a more up to date version with some hand electronic features and more options. I enjoy this because a transition for me between my old camera and this camera was very simple. The largest bonus with this camera is that all old and new lense footings will fit beautifully.

The one downside is that it does not have a built in flash like all other Pentax M series cameras. I did a lot of research into buying this camera and less than the price of the next model up (which does offer a few other non flash related bonus' but nothing major) you could buy a nice interchangable Pentax Flash to go with your camera.

Over all this camera is fantastic and I have zero complaints.

The ZX-M is a solid camera with almost every feature you will need. I've owned it for almost 2 years and the only complaint I have is that it needs a flash or it is almost useless indoors, so be prepared to buy one and carry it around. It also lacks date imprinting if you're into that. It is a great camera though and is otherwise pert-near perfect!

I love my Pentax ZX-M. I bought it a little over 2 years ago because I was a beginner and thought I should start with a manual focusing camera and also because it fell into my price range. I've loved every bit of my camera. It's easy to use, takes great photographs, is light enough to carry around your neck, loads film very easy, and has understandable features. One problem I've had is finding a lense that will fit my camera. From what I understand is that I need a lense with a K mount and those have been a little difficult for me to come by. And another problem that I found is the bulb attachment was a tad bit on the expensive side [all because it was electronic]. Other than that, I love my Pentax. It's definately a great camera for beginners!

I bought th zx-m to replace an old K-1000 that getting old and a little unriable. The nice thing about the zx-m is it is only manual focas camrea the Pentax makes. It still uses all the old pentax lense and will work with all the old pentax lenses as well as the automatic focus lense. The only bad thing is you will not be able to use the aperture priority setting if you have a lense with does not have a setting for it. You can check to see if you have an A lense if you have the green A on the f stop ring. This forced me to buy a new lense because I wanted this feature. If you don't mind manual metering then you don't have to buy the Pentax A lenses. The nice thing that makes this camrea a little better than the K-1000 is it can be fully manual or you can use the shutter priority and the aperture priority together. It does use a lot of plastic in the construction of the body which gives it a cheaper feel. I love my pentax super program because it has be with me through rough conditions and still keeps on working relaibly. If you drop any camrea it will break even stainless steel camreas dent and can stop working after a slight drop. Usally from waist level to floor will do it. But with plastic it will crack and expose the in side of the camera to dirt and contaminants. The last thing I say is the lense mount is plastis. Some people don't like that and some don't mind. It does not effect the performance of the camera but is easier to break. As to the long term wear it can stand if your carefuly it will last a long time and if you are rough when mounting you lenses it will not last long. If you are looking for the best Pentax camera on the market to day it is the ZX-5n.