[TDvN57]

As far as I know the latest firmware for the 645z is version 1.30 which was published somewhere towards the middle of 2017. Here is my wish list for features to be added in the next firmware update (I am positive about this, Ricoh/Pentax read these forums diligently and they are working hard on the next smart feature they can incorporate into the next update.....)

My list:
1. Add the ability to assign "Create New Folder" to a programable button. For example I would assign that to one of the buttons on the top left side of the camera. Why? Well I do a lot of sequence shots and every time I want to start a new sequence then I have to create a marker of some sorts. When possible I hold my hand in front of the lens and take a "dud" shot, then start the new sequence. If the lens diameter is too large or it is night time, then I shine a light towards the lens front to create a "white-out dud" shot. Annoying to say the least, especially if I use the built-in intervalometer. You have to first change to a single shot, take the dud shot, then set back to the intervalometer. Sometimes I forget and end up with a sequence of dud shots. Did I say annoying?




2. Add a few more timer options to the self-timer and remote control timers. At present you have 12 seconds and 2 seconds and 3 seconds with the wireless remote. adding say 5 seconds and a couple more will be absolutely great. Thanks Ricoh/Pentax in advance.






3. Still on the intervalometer. When you turn the knobby on the right side to select mirror-up, it seems to be ignored and the mirror is flapped up and down with each shot taken. Would be great if the mirror can be raised at the beginning of the series and kept up until the end of the series. If I want the mirror to flap with each shot, then I'm OK to turn the knobby thing back to normal.




Seems these kind of features should be easy to add in the software and I am sure there are a ton of other smart tweaks that other people have that will further enhance the camera.

Comments and more wish list items?

[Ed Hurst]

Here's my wishlist (#2 is similar to your final one):

1. When shooting in manual mode, shutter speeds to be available that are longer. At the moment, it maxes out at 30 secs. Longer exposures require Bulb. But the camera performs very well with longer exposures and it would be very convenient if exposures of up to 5 mins could be available within Manual.
2. Mirror lock-up to stay locked up when shooting continuously or in intervalometer mode. If we're shooting continuous sequences of shots, there's usually no need for the mirror to flap up and down between exposures. I realise this behaviour can differ with live view - but would like the mirror to stay locked up even when shooting without live view, but of course to lower itself at the end of a sequence. My main application is to lock the remote release open and shoot sequences of frames. No need for the mirror to move once that's under way.

[Adam]

There are some great opportunities here. However, given that the 645Z's core firmware dates all the way back to the original K-3 days, I doubt Pentax will have the resources to keep adding features other than compatibility. I think the main development focus has already shifted to the K-3 III and future models.

[biz-engineer]

Same for the K-1, some features could be greatly improved via a firmware update. But, there are customer wishes and economical reality of camera business, especially now. Camera companies do things when it brings them money, and what they do may not correspond to what we want as a individual customer. Understanding this can help us make better purchase decisions and work-around what's available.

[ProfessorBuzz]

Agree with you on #2 and #3.

Additional items I'd have on my wish list:
Bring the functions up to K-1 level on everything possible - obviously there will be limitations due to different hardware.
Intervalometer allow some other button to CANCEL, not just power off to cancel. eg push green button, ok, shutter. Sometimes you know you goofed, and if you power off, and on again, you sometimes have to check/reset settings.

A programmable delay amount for the remote trigger; and Mirror lock up / trigger remote delay times programmable - with a long lens, I sometimes see a tiny bit of bounce if I don't have a rock-solid tripod setup.


Live-view could have "Extended gain" - eg behaved more like the K-1 in really low light - sometimes I do night shots or astrophotography, and the 645z could give a boost like the K-1 does. I'd rather see noisy than see black.
Allow the O-RC1 remote buttons to be reprogrammed to some other feature.
Auto-bracketing delay option / flash readiness check. Sometimes 2 or 3 studio strobes/flashes, and would love to be able to shoot 5 steps of bracketing, but the flashes can't always keep up, so I'll get a "misfire" - the strobe won't go off, so I'll get an underposed shot.
Autofocus Fine focus adjustment - Want 3 steps - I have a couple of lenses that are sharp at one end of zoom but less so at the other. So I wish I could have 3 points (near, mid, far) of focus adjustment per lens.
Pictbridge support - so I can do some quick prints straight from the camera to a portable printer like the Canon Selphy 1300 or another small inkjet.

[biz-engineer]

2. Mirror lock-up to stay locked up when shooting continuously or in intervalometer mode. If we're shooting continuous sequences of shots, there's usually no need for the mirror to flap up and down between exposures.

On the K1, mirror stays up in multi-exposure composite mode but in interval mode the mirror goes back down after each exposure, LV is switched off in interval even if you switched LV on before starting the interval. I think it's done on purpose to avoid draining the battery over long shooting intervals. On the K1 you could program the camera to start the interval shooting at a certain time (even if you are not there), the camera will go into sleep mode and only wake up for the first exposure of the interval, then the mirror will go back down after the first exposure and camera will go in standby mode until the next shot of the interval. You could set-up the K1 to point to night sky with an interval programmed to start at 12 pm after you went to bed and have the camera shoot all night without having the battery drained before the end of the interval. On the Fujis GFX50 however, the situation is reversed, if you don't completely switch off the camera via the On/Off button, the standby mode will drain the battery, even if the camera has not taken a single shot!

[TDvN57]

On the K1, mirror stays up in multi-exposure composite mode but in interval mode the mirror goes back down after each exposure, LV is switched off in interval even if you switched LV on before starting the interval. I think it's done on purpose to avoid draining the battery over long shooting intervals. On the K1 you could program the camera to start the interval shooting at a certain time (even if you are not there), the camera will go into sleep mode and only wake up for the first exposure of the interval, then the mirror will go back down after the first exposure and camera will go in standby mode until the next shot of the interval. You could set-up the K1 to point to night sky with an interval programmed to start at 12 pm after you went to bed and have the camera shoot all night without having the battery drained before the end of the interval. On the Fujis GFX50 however, the situation is reversed, if you don't completely switch off the camera via the On/Off button, the standby mode will drain the battery, even if the camera has not taken a single shot!

I think the solution to mirror up or not up during interval shooting is to do mirror up if the mirror up knob is switched that way. Then the user can select mirror up or, not up, as the conditions require. It's all there, it is only a matter of programming.

[texandrews]

The most helpful thing for me now would be an update and upgrade of Image Transmitter 2 software, and the camera firmware to match. You can only buy it on Ebay now...

The ideas above are good ones, but as one commenter noted at this point what can the camera accept in terms of firmware upgrades? So, here's hoping that there's a new Z in 2 years---after this new K3III this year, then a new FF camera next year. Then the new Z, with a new 45 and maybe a new 200, refreshed 150. There's other lens ideas, but these 3 might be the easiest. I've suggested elsewhere that the 67 45 could be a great candidate for a T/S lens (or even just a shift)---also possibly not so hard since it has to be manual anyway. Then these ideas above could be incorporated (and more!)

[biz-engineer]

I think the solution to mirror up or not up during interval shooting is to do mirror up if the mirror up knob is switched that way. Then the user can select mirror up or, not up, as the conditions require. It's all there, it is only a matter of programming.

On the 645z, yes I agree. It would be a matter of assigning resources to work on it.

[barondla]

On bulb setting it would be great if the Z read out length of time while shooting, like the K-1 does.

Thanks,
barondla

[barondla]

Keeping with the timer read out idea I posted above ^, it would be nice if mirror lock up duration was displayed. It would save counting beeps to get to 10 seconds, or whatever the magic number is. On a windy day it would also warn if the MLU was about to time out.

Thanks,
barondla