Part Two Of Part One - The Pentax 645Z Night

No, it's part one of part two. We changed the file numbers and the thing jumped...

C.R.Kennedy and Camera Electronic wanted to show and tell about the Pentax 645Z camera and its lenses so they called a meeting of the not-bored-at-all at the Oxford Hotel in Leederville on Wednesday last to discuss maters.

Star of the meeting - and chief speaker - was James Simmons. You'll remember he is the Canon/AIPP Wedding Photographer Of the Year and Canon/AIPP Photographer Of the Year for 2014. He uses the Pentax 645Z for wedding and fine art work. His topic for the evening was the 645Z at the wedding and for fine art work so he did indeed know whereof he spoke.

Well, it works. And to prove that it does he made it work right there in front of the room of people. He had his girlfriend pose in the midst of the photographers and got them to illuminate her with the LED lights on their mobile phones. Then he crawled up onto a ladder and made the shot with the 645Z - the great light capturing ability of medium format and the immense dynamic range of the camera made it all magic.

That business of dynamic range is sometimes forgotten in the welter of other specifications that people amass for their favourite cameras. They will obsess about megapixels or ISO or frame capture rates and forget that the cameras all need to see a very wide dynamic range to come anywhere close to the capability of our eyes. james showed a beach shot that went from black nothing to perfection with just a push of a slider - and the camera provided the detail and range to do it.

The ergonomics of the camera are also something that people do not think about when all they see is a net page or other people's opinions. Anyone who has handled a Pentax 645D or 645Z will recognise that there is far better handleability here than other medium format digital cameras. It is not small - nor could it be  - but it is balanced perfectly. James also pointed out the wonderful green button on the back. When he has been working with the camera in dim conditions or with it set up for some arcane ISO or shutter/aperture combination and his wedding work instantly draws him into a different light situation, a quick push of the wonderful green button resets the camera and takes a pretty good light assessment instantly - you are ready to run and gun.

More on James and the weddings on Part One Of Part Two...note that he was not making a phone call on the 645Z in that photo. Coverage in Leederville is spotty...