Pentax Z-1/PZ-1

Pentax Z-1 top view image by Taiwan's Riccardo (Image rights)

Pentax Z-1 body image by Taiwan's Riccardo (Image rights)

The Z-1 (aka PZ-1) is a high-end 35mm SLR with autofocus introduced by Pentax in 1991. It utilizes K_AF2 lenses and is also compatible with lenses with earlier versions of the K-mount:

• K_AF lenses support almost all features of the camera except powered zoom and related functions.
• K_A lenses can be mounted with the 'AF Adapter 1.7X' and will then support autofocus, provided they are f/2.8 or wider. Without the adapter they do not support autofocus, but the Focus Indicator (FI) feature can still be used (with lenses of f/5.6 or wider). Shutter-priority AE and programmed AE modes can all be used.
• Manual-aperture K mount lenses can be mounted with AF Adapter K, or use the FI feature as above. They do not support shutter-priority AE or the programmed AE modes, but can be used for aperture-priority AE and in manual exposure.
• 42mm screw-mount lenses can be mounted using 'Mount Adapter K'. The FI feature can be used if the lens aperture is wide enough. Aperture-priority AE and manual exposure are possible.

A special edition, Z-1 SE, was issued in 1994 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Asahi Optical Co. The camera was superseded in 1995 by the Z-1p.

Links

• User's manual at Pentax Imaging
• Pentax PZ-1 user manual at Butkus.org
• Z-1/PZ-1 on Bojidar Dimitrov's Pentax K-Mount site.
• Z-1 in Sylvain Halgand's collection (in French).