Pentax 645Z Digital Medium Format Gear Guide

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INTRODUCTION

The Pentax 645Z is a digital medium format camera. It is equipped with a 51.4MP censor, which was designed without an anti-aliasing filter to maximize sharpness and details. Its wide ISO range provides low noise, low light capability, and the image processor allows for fast image capture.

It is the only one of its kind at Media Loan, and access to it is very limited. Only certain approved photography classes are permitted to use it. A proficiency test is required to use it, which can be found here.

MEDIUM FORMAT

Simply put, a medium format camera has a larger sensor than other standard DSLR cameras. A bigger sensor means bigger pixel size, which means better quality. The Pentax 645Z has 3-4x more frame surface than sensors equipped on Canon Rebel DSLRs, which means stills taken with the Pentax can be enlarged significantly without losing quality.

Medium format cameras also have no perspective distortion - images taken more closely resemble the way the human eye sees the real world. The field of field is much wider than other cameras with standard cropped sensors. Let's say you're shooting on a 6x7 medium format camera with a 50mm lens. If you compare your images to a 35mm camera (also with a 50mm lens), the field of view will be different. The medium format pictures will actually see what a 24mm lens on a 35mm camera would see. Simply put: the larger the format, the wider angle your lenses become. You can shoot a wide scene but it will have the "real-world" look of a lens with a longer focal length. The subject remains proportional and not "stretched-out".

SPECIFICATIONS

Sensor 43.8 x 32.8 mm CMOS

Color Depth JPEG: 8 bits/channel RAW: 14 bits/channel

Effective Pixels / Total Pixels 51.4MP / 52.99MP

File Formats Stills: RAW (PEF/DNG), TIFF, JPEG (Exif 2.30), DCF2.0 compliant Video: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 (MOV) *Motion JPEG (AVI) for Interval Movie Record

Image Resolution JPEG: L (51M: 8256 x 6192), M (36M: 6912 x 5184), S (21M: 5376 x 4032), XS (3M:1920 x 1440) RAW: L (51M: 8256 x 6192) TIFF: L (51M: 8256 x 6192)

Video Resolution Full HD: (1920x1080, 60i/50i/30p/25p/24p) HD: (1280x720, 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p)

Lens Mount Pentax 645AF2

Metering Modes Multi-segment metering, center-weighted metering, spot metering

Shutter Speeds Auto: 1/4000 to 30 sec. Manual: 1/4000 to 30 sec. Bulb

Drive Modes Single, Continuous (H, L), Self-timer (12 sec., 2sec.), Remote Control (immediately, 3 sec., continuous), Multi-exposure (avail. w/Continuous, Self-timer or Remote Control), Interval Shooting, Interval Composite

Burst Rate 3 fps, JPEG: up to 30 frames, RAW: up to 10 frames, TIFF: up to 12 frames

AF (auto-focus) Modes Single (AF.S), Continuous AF (AF.C), Manual

ISO Sensitivity 100 – 204,800

CARE

Please do not attempt to clean sensitive parts of this camera, such as the mirror and sensor, yourself. If these need to be cleaned, please bring them to Media Loan so that we may assist you.

DO NOT

Pentax Front Parts
Pentax Back Parts
Pentax Bottom Parts

Drop this camera
Point towards the sun Expose to extreme weather conditions
Store/use in extreme temperatures
Store near corrosive chemicals
Clean the censor or mirror yourself
Use a blow dryer to blow dust from the camera
Use excessive force
Leave unattended
Leave camera near a strong magnetic field
Submerge this camera in water

PARTS

Diopter

You can adjust the diopter to your eyesight. This allows users with poor vision to operate this camera with wearing eye glasses or contact lenses.
To adjust the diopter: Turn the diopter adjustment ring until the focusing brackets in the viewfinder are in focus. Turn the ring clockwise for a negative value and counterclockwise for a positive value.

Monitor

This monitor can be tilted to viewing preference.

  1. Hold the camera in one hand and the top of the monitor with the other.
  2. Slowly lower until it stops
  3. Hold the monitor to lift it upward
  4. Adjust the angle accordingly

Tripod Sockets

There are two different places this camera can be mounted onto a tripod: on the bottom as well as on the side. This allows for more user control.

CONTROLS

Pentax controls front.png Pentax controls back.png

  1. Shutter Release
  2. ISO
  3. EV Compensation
  4. Main switch: Move to turn the power on/off. The symbol of the right is Depth of Field Preview, and will display accurate focusing depending on aperture in the viewfinder.
  5. Front e-dial: Changes the values for camera settings such as exposure; switch menu categories; image selection
  6. Lens unlock: Press to detach the lens
  7. Metering Mode Dial: Changes the metering mode
  8. Lock: Temporarily disables e-dial and button operation
  9. AF (auto-focus) Area: Press to change the AF point
  10. Exposure Bracketing
  11. RAW/Fx: You can assign a function to this button
  12. Mode Dial Lock
  13. Mode Dial: Changes the exposure mode
  14. Stills/Movie Switch Dial: Switchings between still capture and move recording modes
  15. Rear e-dial: Changes the values to camera settings such as exposure; switch menu tabs; change camera settings; magnify images
  16. AF Mode Dial: Switches AF modes (AF.S/C)
  17. Mirror Up Dial: Enables shooting with the mirror raised
  18. Illumination: Illuminates LCD panel
  19. AE Lock: Locks exposure value; saves JPEG to RAW
  20. AF: Available for adjusting focus, instead of pressing shutter release halfway
  21. OK
  22. Four-way Controller: Displays the Drive Mode, Flash Mode, White Balance or Custom Image setup menu; move cursor or selected list item
  23. AF Point Change/Card Slow Switch: Press to enable changing AF point; switch memory cards in playback mode
  24. Green: Reset the values being adjusted; switches to ISO AUTO
  25. Live View/REC/Delete: Displays Live View image on monitor; stars/stops recording in movie move; delete images during playback
  26. INFO: Changes style of display on monitor
  27. MENU
  28. Playback

LENS ATTACHMENT

  1. Make sure the camera is off.
  2. Remove the body mount cap. Press down the lens unlock button (3) and remove cap.
  3. Align the lens mount index (red dots) on the body and lens, and turn the lens clockwise. Do not press the lens unlock at this time.


To remove: Turn the lens counterclockwise while holding down the lens unlock button.

FOCUS PEAKING

When Focus Peaking is on, the outline of the subject in focus is emphasized (sharpened). This makes it easier to check the focus. Focus peaking works in both AF and MF modes. To turn on focus peaking, press the INFO button and navigate to "FOCUS PEAKING".

WHITE BALANCE

This camera has multiple white balance presets. To change the white balance setting:

  1. Press the left arrow on the Four-Way Controller. The White Balance setting screen will appear on the monitor.
  2. Select your White Balance. The different preset settings have various options.

For fine-tuning:

  1. Press INFO. The Fine-tuning setting screen appears. You can adjust Green-Magenta with the up and down arrows, or Blue-amber with the left and right arrows. The GREEN button resets the adjustment value to default.
  2. Press OK.

Custom white balance: Fill the frame under desired lighting with a completely white object (such as a piece of paper). With one of the custom white balance settings selected as described above, push the MAIN SWITCH to the PREVIEW selection. This will set your custom white balance using the white reference in the frame.

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