[goatsNdonkey]

I just got the scans back yesterday from the roll of Kodak Ektar 100 I used for the first test of this new-to-me PZ-1P. Below is my favorite shot on the roll, taken with my Sigma f/4-5.6 DL Super Macro af lens. The macro mode can be switched on when the lens is anywhere between 200 and 300mm. I didn't see any sign of the camera having any trouble with using either of my Sigma af lenses or my Promaster af lens. While I may do a bit of pp on some of the scan files, this one is hot off of the scanner at Dwayne's Photo in Kansas who processed and scanned the film.



(cross-posted)

I'll be posting some more shots from the roll soon.

[goatsNdonkey]

This shot might be a tribute to the PZ-1P's multi-segment metering. To review, I shot everything on the test roll in the most automatic mode: HyperProgram, Multi-segment metering, .... The manual for the camera is very long. As a consequence, I only got great bokeh, where the light was low enough to force wide apertures, and I got the smallest apertures with sunny scenes when the light was right behind me. But here is a shot with both sunlight and shadow falling on a white goat's face. It could have gone badly wrong, perhaps especially as this Ektar film, the most fresh-dated color film I had for the test, is a rather contrasty, maybe too contrasty.



SMC Pentax-FA f/1.4 50mm
Pentax PZ-1P af film slr
Kodak Ektar 100
Dev'l/scans by Dwayne's Photo

[goatsNdonkey]

Here's a picture shot with the lens that came with this used PZ-1P, the F 35-70. It is known to benefit from a lens hood, which I don't have yet. So here, when I am shooting toward a bright southwestern sky, I improvised by shooting from a location where tree branches put the lens in the shade.

My main quibbles with the shot are film related. I think a different film might have given me more detail in the tree tops and perhaps even in the sky. In this picture, it is less apparent that Ektar is making Oscar look browner than he was at the time or is adding layers of paint to the barn that weathered off two decades ago. But I can't blame the lens for that, especially since it has no bizarre color effects on digital.

Perhaps the pastel tree tops offer a romantic filter for this pastoral scene.



SMC Pentax-F f/3.5-4.5 30-70mm
Pentax PZ-1P af film slr
Kodak Ektar 100
Dev'l/scans by Dwayne's photo

[Swift1]

My main quibbles with the shot are film related. I think a different film might have given me more detail in the tree tops and perhaps even in the sky. In this picture, it is less apparent that Ektar is making Oscar look browner than he was at the time or is adding layers of paint to the barn that weathered off two decades ago. But I can't blame the lens for that, especially since it has no bizarre color effects on digital.

Of all the different film stocks I have used, Ektar is hard to beat for exposure latitude.
Most of what you're saying is much more related to scanning than the film.

[goatsNdonkey]

Of all the different film stocks I have used, Ektar is hard to beat for exposure latitude.
Most of what you're saying is much more related to scanning than the film.

Could be that you are right, regarding latitude. But probably what bothers me more are the color hue issues that may be an effect of Ektar's color saturation aspect. Here's another shot taken with the F 30-70 not long after on the same roll, in which Oscar looks a little like he got an auburn rinse down at the beauty parlor. His browns in this year's winter coat (they are a bit different each year) weren't that bright-orangey.



In this shot taken with my Promaster 28-80mm on this same Ektar roll, I find the greens rather surreal in hue.



It reminds me of pictures I've taken with Kodak Ultra Max, though not that garish. There's a lot I like about that picture but the greens strike me as off, compared to the world I see around me. The blue is deeper than a real sky, of course, but in that case the it is only the deepness, not the hue, that strikes me as unnatural, or supernatural.

Lighting might also be an issue, since I only am struck by the hue problems in certain, not most, of the exposures.



.

[goatsNdonkey]

Back to reviewing the PZ-1P camera -- this exposure, very early in the roll comes from the period when I was having trouble getting the shutter button to go all the way down. (read earlier part of thread to know about that and how it was solved) I recall that it was rather breezy when I was trying to shoot this columbine flower, and part of my difficulty might have been the camera not wanting to allow exposure unless focus had been achieved. With the blossom rocking in and out of focus, it may have been fortunate that it didn't allow the shutter to fire until the yellow anthers popped back into focus.

(This one is shot with my F 35-105, which has nearly non-functional auto focus. I had gotten it a year or so ago just to see how it performed as a manual focus lens. While testing my working AF lenses on the PZ-1P, I thought I would work it into the test as well.)



My impression of how the camera is working is very positive, based on this test roll and the several lenses I tried with it.

[pschlute]

I shot everything on the test roll in the most automatic mode: HyperProgram, Multi-segment metering, .... The manual for the camera is very long

You may have read the manual already, but the feature of the Hyper P mode is that you can turn the front or rear e-dials and it will take you instantly into shutter priority or aperture priority mode. Exactly the same as we have today.

If I remember correctly, one difference between using the Hyper mode in Tv/Av versus using the Tv/Av modes directly is when you run out of exposure latitude. In the Hyper (Tv) mode the camera will not let you change to a faster/slower shutter speed if it cannot open/close the aperture any further and maintain exposure. Equally in the Hyper (Av) mode it will not let you adjust aperture if it means you have run out of available shutter speed. In the direct Tv/Av modes it will let you choose a setting that will result in under/over exposure, but will warn you through the viewfinder.

[goatsNdonkey]

You may have read the manual already, but the feature of the Hyper P mode is that you can turn the front or rear e-dials and it will take you instantly into shutter priority or aperture priority mode. Exactly the same as we have today.

If I remember correctly, one difference between using the Hyper mode in Tv/Av versus using the Tv/Av modes directly is when you run out of exposure latitude. In the Hyper (Tv) mode the camera will not let you change to a faster/slower shutter speed if it cannot open/close the aperture any further and maintain exposure. Equally in the Hyper (Av) mode it will not let you adjust aperture if it means you have run out of available shutter speed. In the direct Tv/Av modes it will let you choose a setting that will result in under/over exposure, but will warn you through the viewfinder.

I did read most of the manual before the camera arrived, but my brain is too old to remember everything important. For the first test it seemed easiest to test the most automatic mode. The only deviation was testing one non-AF lens and one lens with broken AF. I did write down many of the apertures and shutter speeds displayed in the viewfinder. No aperture was anywhere near the maximum a lens could offer, nor was any shutter speed anywhere near the extremes the camera could offer.

For the next roll, however, I plan to shoot all in Aperture Priority. I also intend to manually select the iso, since I will most likely shoot a film for which its box speed isn't its optimum, so I will carefully study the related manual pages, and hope to retain that info. Ha, ha!

[gofour3]

I did read most of the manual before the camera arrived, but my brain is too old to remember everything important.

I feel you pain! I just received my Z-1P today and have got as far as loading the film and doing some customization with the "Pentax Functions".

Will take it out Sunday for roll #1.

Phil.

[robert52]

I gave mine to my son I would still use it but where I live there's no one sells film or can develop / print it . So my son that lives in Sydney can so he going to try film for the 1st time

[OldChE]

I feel you pain! I just received my Z-1P today and have got as far as loading the film and doing some customization with the "Pentax Functions".

Will take it out Sunday for roll #1.

Phil.

How did things go?

I really like my PZ-1P. I thought I would not so much, given the size and weight, but the handling is actually very good, and the specs are great. With the two dials it is a breeze to use. The focus is accurate, and the zone metering is usually right on.

[gofour3]

How did things go?

I really like my PZ-1P. I thought I would not so much, given the size and weight, but the handling is actually very good, and the specs are great. With the two dials it is a breeze to use. The focus is accurate, and the zone metering is usually right on.

Really well and it's a great camera! Glad I bought it and the zone metering (perfect for E6) & 1/8000 shutter speed is really good as well.

Thanks, Phil.

[From1980]

Good to hear Phil. I'm about to try my own recently aquired PZ-1P. Off work for a month so you would think the opportunity should arise. I won't do a lot with it though, can't risk offending the LX.

[Jonathan Mac]

Does the lens work manually, meaning that only its auto focus doesn't work with the SFXn, or does it not work at all?

I haven't had a chance to try it again on the SFXn but I popped it on the Z-1 and it seemed to work fine in both AF and exposure (as near as I could tell, there was no film in the camera).

[alex-virt]

Just received the scans of two rolls shot with my Z-1p and Tamron 28-75mm/F2.8. No AF issues.