Pentax 645Z Review

Drive Modes

On the Pentax 645Z some drive mode settings are done via dedicated buttons, other modes are set on the Drive Modes page which is accessed via the "up" button on the four way controller. If you often switch between the K-3 and the 645Z this takes some getting used to since the K-3 had consolidated all drive mode settings on the Drive Modes page.

We found that the direct access buttons on the 645Z are the quicker way to operate these features and it also eliminates some of the couplings between the settings that the K-3's menu based system presents.

The Drive Mode Page

The screen with the Drive Mode page comes up after you hit the Drive Mode button. If you want to get quickly from the left most setting to the setting at the right hand side you can press the left arrow key (marked WB once. It "wraps around" and takes you to the right hand setting saving you from a number of button pushes. Except for the green single shot mode all top level modes shown above have sub-menus.

The drive modes selectable from the Drive Mode page are as follows, left to right:

• Single Frame Shooting: The camera takes only one image each time the shutter release button is pressed down even if the button is kept down for a while

• Continuous Shooting: The camera takes images as long as the shutter release button is held down until the image buffer is full. Two speeds are available: H (3 fps up to 30 JPG, 10 RAW) and L (1 fps up to 300 JPG, 25 RAW)

• Self-timer: There are two timer intervals available: 2 seconds and 12 seconds. The 2 second option is combined with mirror-up shooting for use with the camera on a tripod. As soon as the shutter button is pressed, the mirror flips up. Two seconds later the shutter fires. Any mirror-induced vibration is thus eliminated. You have to be careful not to introduce vibrations when hitting the shutter button, though. With a heavy lens even in connection with a relatively heavy tripod these vibrations can last longer than the two second delay. It is preferable to use the infrared remote (below)

• Remote Control: In this mode the shutter can be released with a wireless remote such as the Pentax Remote Control F. There are three options: Immediately release the shutter, 3 second delay, and Continuous shooting for as long as the button on the remote is held down. The three second delay option flips the mirror up and three seconds later the shutter fires. A most useful feature when the camera is mounted on a tripod. This mode is our favorite for macro work

• Multi-exposure: With this mode you can take a number of images which the camera will superimpose onto each other thus creating one final image. The sub menu has four options: Multi-exposure (press the shutter for each image), Multi-exposure continuous (keep the shutter down and the camera fires away), Self-timer multi-exposure and Remote control multi-exposure. The overlay method ("Composite Mode") can be set to average, additive, or bright. In the latter option only bright areas (like stars) are superimposed

• Interval Shooting: The camera can be set to take up to 2000 images at a set interval. The interval can be set from 2 seconds to 24 hours. The start time for first shot can be set to immediately ("now") or a later time. HDR capture can be used in combination with this drive mode

• Interval Composite: This mode works like Interval Shooting above, except that the images will be superimposed onto each other like in Multi Exposure shooting. One use of this mode would be to capture star trails as an alternative to manual time keeping in Bulb mode.

Note that the interval you set in the interval shooting modes is the interval from each tripping of the shutter to the next, not the time from when a shot is completed and the next one begins. The interval should therefore be set so that it exceeds the shutter speed or else you will miss some shots.

There is one additional Drive Mode, Interval Movie Mode. It only shows up when the camera is in movie mode.

Finally it should be mentioned that a wired remote can be connected and works like an extension of the shutter button.

When Using SR Lenses

Note that when the self-timer, remote control, or mirror up drive modes are used, the 645Z automatically disables in-lens stabilization, if applicable.  This behavior is similar to that of Pentax DSLRs with in-body stabilization.  The single frame or continuous modes should be used for hand-held shooting.

Mirror-up Shooting

With the M.Up knob on the right hand side of the mirror box in the UP position the first press of the shutter button flips up the mirror, the second press then fires the shutter. With some practice this can be used for hand held shooting.

The other options for mirror-up shooting are set on the Drive Mode page: The self timer with 2 seconds delay and infrared remote with 3 seconds delay settings both flip the mirror up before the delay kicks in. These settings are ideal for tripod shooting.

Exposure Bracketing

Exposure bracketing is set by first pressing the AEB button on the left side of the prism housing and then using the e-dials to select number of frames and the EV interval to cover. The number of frames can be set to 2, 3 or 5. In the example below we have selected bracketing with five frames spaced by 1 EV.

We prefer this way of setting auto bracketing over the Pentax K-3's method where it is done from the Drive Mode page.

In the Custom Setting Menu one can enable the option "One push bracketing". If that's done then all bracketing shots are taken in rapid succession with just one push of the shutter release button. The order in which the shots are taken can also be set in the Custom Setting Menu.

HDR

The 645Z can automatically create HDR images from 3 exposures; this feature is enabled via the control panel.  In addition, like the K-3, it can capture RAW HDR images which essentially contain data from all 3 exposures at once.  For users processing with the Pentax Digital Camera Utility, the latter is a handy feature that offers exceptional control over the appearance of the HDR image.

Verdict on Drive Modes

We like that exposure bracketing and mirror-up shooting are accessed through dedicated buttons. Not only are the settings quicker to engage, it also removes some constraints on their use. As a side benefit the Drive Modes page is less cluttered than that of the Pentax K-3. The interface would have been ideal had Pentax found room for a dedicated knob for selecting between single shot and continuous mode. But this is but a minor gripe of ours.