Winter

With a full week of snow - almost unheard of here - last week really was a winter landscape photographers delight. 

My Pentax 645Z fitted with a Super-Multi-Coated Takumar/6x7 105mm f/2.4 lens 

As with my first outing, I decided to go to the Naardermeer en brought along my Pentax 645Z. This time I went medieval manual focus and I chose one of the 67 series of lenses, the 105mm f/2.4.

Location: Naardermeer
Camera: Pentax 645Z
Lens: Super-Multi-Coated Takumar/6x7 105mm f/2.4

I really enjoyed using the 105mm again. Yes, it is a big son of a gun but big is better when you are using gloves as this makes focusing a lot easier. I used one of those Pentax-built 67-645 adapters, with these the aperture ring on the lens works properly i.e. no opening the lens up for focusing and then stopping it down.

Brothers

Later that same day I went out for a small stroll and brought both digital Pentaxes. Again, I went manual focus with the 645Z, now fitted with a Carl Zeiss Jena MC Biometar 80mm f/2.8. The 645D was equipped with the SMC Pentax-FA 80-160mm f/4.5, a very nice all-round lens. Originally developed for the Pentax 645N 120 film camera this works like a charm on the digital 645 bodies. 

Location: Naarden
Camera: Pentax 645Z
Lens: Carl Zeiss Jena MC Biometar 80mm f/2.8

Location: Naarden
Camera: Pentax 645D
Lens: SMC Pentax-FA 80-160mm f/4.5

The last photos in this series were taken in the Naarden Citadel.

Location: Naarden
Camera: Canon EOS 90D
Lens: Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM

Tripod: Manfrotto 144B frame with a Manfrotto 804RC2 head

Choppers and Jets

I decided to take a break today and venture out to shoot some aviation photography. With the current COVID-19 restrictions in place I haven't been out shooting aircraft as much as I would have liked so this was a welcome change of pace. My main focus for the day was to get some nice shots of the brand new Air Force F-35A's.

Mission completed

After an enjoyable morning at the fence I got what I came for so I decided to call at Den Helder Airport on the way back home to see if there was any flying on this sunny Friday afternoon. There was. ;-)

Camera: Canon EOS 5DsR
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM 

Snow

I've probably told you that I'm a sucker for snowy landscape photo's but even if I didn't you'd very likely get that message after seeing these shots. With lovely evening light and snowy fields I joined up with fellow photographer Joeri van Veen and took the Pentax 645Z out for a spin.

Camera of choice

While I selected the 645Z as I'm still getting to know this camera Joeri brought a Sony A7. Ideally suited for trekking, the A7 is a compact camera that packs quite a punch image-wise. Funnily enough Sony's A7R was one of the cameras that made the shortlist a few years ago when it was time to upgrade my set of digital cameras after years of using a Canon EOS-1Ds and EOS-1D Mark II combination. If you're interested, I did a write-up of that selection process which ultimately led to me acquiring my Pentax 645D. Joeri has since gone further and now usually fields a very impressive Cambo Ultima 23D large format camera combined with a Leaf Aptus 22 digital back. Impressive as it is, a Cambo set is not considered ideal for hiking so Joeri quite sensibly bought his Sony A7 as an easy-to-carry companion to the Cambo.

With regards to the 645Z I am very impressed by its photographs. That huge sensor captures detail like no other sensor I've seen and even a cropped image from this camera packs a lot of punch. Let me show you a few examples:

A few more (un-cropped) shots from earlier this evening:

Location: Naarden
Camera: Pentax 645Z
Lens: SMC Pentax-DFA 645 55mm f/2.8 AL [IF] SDM AW

Pentax 645Z cold weather trials

As I write this it is a comfortable 20 degrees Celcius inside. Outside however is another matter. At minus four degrees Celsius with snow falling and a fierce wind blowing sane people would stay indoors. I however ventured outside, bringing my new camera with me.

Enter the Pentax 645Z

I've recently added a Pentax 645Z to my arsenal. I've been more than happy with its predecessor, the Pentax 645D, for several years and when I got the chance to acquire a brand new Pentax 645Z for a reasonable price I immediately jumped at it! I've been in love with Pentax medium format cameras ever since I've bought my first Pentax 6x7 about ten years ago, a true medium format classic. A Pentax 645 soon followed as it was able to use the 67 type lenses as well with a custom adapter and before I knew it I was hooked to the 645 series. I have since added the 645N and 645D models to that collection.

One of the things I love about the Pentax 645 series is its ability to use very different lenses on it. While I've always loved the 'native' 645 glass the fact that with an adapter you're able to use 67 series lenses on any Pentax 645 model is perfect for me since I started out with the Pentax 67 series to begin with and I've managed to obtain quite a few 67 lenses. If you can, use a Pentax built adapter that allows for the proper use of your aperture ring, this avoids having to open up the lens completely to focus and then 'stopping down' to your desired f-stop. Other lenses however can also be used with an adapter. If you're a fan of Carl Zeiss lenses you're in luck because adapters exist for both the Hasselblad V mount and the Pentacon 6 mount that allow you to use both the West- end East German built Carl Zeiss lenses on a Pentax 645 series camera. And if, like me, you dabble in Soviet/Ukraine built cameras like the Kiev 88CM and their lenses you can use those lenses as well as they use the same Pentacon 6 mount.

Wintery conditions

Our climate is influenced by the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean with relatively cool summers and moderate winters - i.e. not that much snow and sub-zero temperatures. If however the east brings us cold and snow it is almost impossible for me to resist venturing out and enjoying the snow. As such I grabbed my Pentax 645Z and off I was to get me some shots. As this was the first time I would take the 645Z in freezing temperatures there were a few things for me to test: 1. The actual handling of the camera when wearing gloves. 2. Battery life. 3. Camera response times. 4. The use of live view and the adjustable screen. I wasn't worried about the snow and gales, the 645Z - like its predecessor - is built like the proverbial tank, is equipped with weather sealing and can take care of itself in inclement weather. What I found was that 1. This camera is the perfect camera to use when wearing gloves. Its size and the spacing between the buttons are excellent for gloved fingers to operate. 2. With a fresh and fully charged battery the cold was no issue. I've had more problems with my Canon EOS-1Ds and 1D Mark II cameras with regards to battery life in cold circumstances than I've had now. 3. I've been amazed how quick this camera responds when compared to its older brother so no issues there for as far as I am concerned. 4. Ah yes, live view. As it turned out I suffered more from the freezing gales than the camera did so I simply forgot to employ it. Live view remains to be tested. Another observation is that when you use an auto focus lens the actual area covered by the focus points is not that big. As it originates from the K-3 and the 645Z has a bigger sensor this is something to be expected but if you want to keep your point of interest focused it tends to be at the center of your composition. Is this a big deal? Not really, I plan to use a lot of manual focus lenses on it and when shooting aviation where I do use auto focus I tend to have the aircraft in a frame-filling position anyway so no worries there. And the image quality? Hot damn, this camera delivers! I'm quite happy with these first results.

The shots

All photos were converted from RAW to JPEG and resized, other than that no changes have been made.

Location: Naardermeer
Camera: Pentax 645Z
Lens: SMC Pentax-DFA 645 55mm f/2.8 AL [IF] SDM AW

Unboxing the Pentax 645Z

Ladies and gentlemen, I've got him!

Unboxing the Pentax 645Z

Guess what arrived today? Yes, my brand new Pentax 645Z medium format digital camera. Pentax was my ticket into the world of medium format photography and this is the latest addition to my small collection of Pentax cameras. As I have a nice set of lenses for the 645 system I bought just the body and I had it delivered home. 

The outer box when opened reveals a grey box with just Pentax on it. When you open the grey box a black box appears with 645Z on it. A nice touch is the inside of the top cover of the grey box, with Ricoh pledging to be a companion to form important moments with in my life. 

The goodies

When the lid of the black box is lifted it reveals the camera body, nicely packaged against scratching. Below the body the necessary accessories are found. I am quite pleased that the 645Z uses the same kind of D-LI90 battery as the 645D. This means that I can use the spare batteries I bought with the 645D with the 645Z too and I now also have a spare battery charger.

I fitted the eyepiece to the body at once and found it to be rather loose. I probably didn't fit it correctly though. I left the camera strap in its packaging for now. I always use Op/Tech camera straps on my heavier camera's and with a weight of 1,555 kilo (including batteries) this camera certainly qualifies in that category. 

Old versus new

If you've read my thoughts on the Pentax 645D a few years back you know I love the ergonomics of these cameras. They fit comfortably in my hands and I use them hand-held quite regularly. I am not going to repeat my rundown of the 645D here (I might do a more thorough comparison later) but for now I will focus on the differences that appear when seeing the 645Z next to its older brother.

The first thing you notice however is how alike these two cameras are. At first glance, the differences are minimal. Yes, there is a new and shiny silver Pentax badge that replaces the black badge on the 645D but the other changes are less conspicuous. 

After the badge the first thing you'll notice is a different view screen. Unlike the 645D, this screen can be moved and that is quite useful combined with live view (another improvement) when you're shooting at otherwise awkward angles. The buttons on the right of the screen are positioned slightly different from those on the 645D and not without reason, as the 645Z sports the already mentioned live view and the possibility to shoot videos. The operating buttons for these functions had to be included.

Looking at the top of the camera a few things are different: The options wheel has three extra user options (U1 to U3) and tiny holes appear on the left (1) and right (3) side of the viewfinder prism housing. These are the stereo microphones and a small two-hole speaker the camera uses when capturing or viewing video. Also the four buttons on the left have been rearranged.

But there is more than meets the eye in the Pentax 645Z. It had a new 51,4 megapixel CMOS sensor - yes, the same one that equips the Hasselblad H5D-50C and the Phase One IQ250! Also the processor is quite a bit faster and that leads to a (for medium format cameras) whopping 3,1 shots per second. 

I am quite keen to discover what all this means for the actual images so I'll be off shooting soon!