During the last weekend I spent my time at a bicycle race comparing a Pentax 645Z to a Nikon D4.
Altogether I did 2.201 shots during 24 hours, of these were 1.506 with the D4 (193 keepers) and 695 with the Pentax (99 keepers). That looks basically as the same percentage, however, that is not true as three quarter of the Nikon shots were never intended to be kept, as they were just part of series. So, the D4 produced many more usable pictures.
No doubt, the resolution of the Pentax 645Z is much better as the D4. But is resolution really important?
Reasons for dropping Pentax frames were mainly out of focus pictures usually as the focus speed was too slow. Unfortunately also the focus points are limited to the center of the frame, which means to focus and recompose as we did decades ago.
A minor reason were blurred borders as the 55mm lens isn’t fully sharp at the edges at f=4 which is a bit unexpected.
And a last reason for dropping (jpg) pictures from the Pentax are blown out highlights as just 1 f-stop overexposure could mean that this shot is gone for ever.
Given these caveats – I wish the Pentax would also have a leaf shutter – it’s a great camera, “waterproof”, with good hand grip and not too heavy if you are carrying it 24 hours. And there are definitely shots that could not have been made with the D4.
