Photography News 12

Competition Be aPentaxHot Shot PENTAX

Entries close on 28 Setpember so apply now to join PN and Ricoh Imaging for a unique opportunity to shoot with the sensational medium-format Pentax 645Z

locations. Each photographer will have access to a Pentax 645Z and a selection of lenses to use throughout the day. Getting to Keswick will be at your own expense but once there you will be the guests of Ricoh Imaging. Food and refreshments will be provided on 18 October and hotel accommodation will be booked for the night of 17 October – you will also be invited to join Will Cheung, editor of our sister publication AdvancedPhotographer magazine, and experts from Ricoh Imaging for dinner. This will give you the chance to get hands-on with the Pentax 645Z, plus you’ll receive all the advice you need to get familiar with it ready for the following day’s busy shoot. Photography News will be running a major feature on the event in a subsequent issue, so this competition also offers you a chance to see your images from the shoot in print in a national magazine.

It’s been a given ever since the invention of photography that the larger the format you use, the better the quality of the picture you can produce. It’s a formula that still rings true even in these digital times, but up until nowmedium-format has been out of the reach of many due to its cost. However, all that is set to change in the wake of the launch of the sensational Pentax 645Z, which offers discerning photographers a very exciting, hugely capable and much more affordable option, and we’re offering five photographers the chance to try one out for themselves. We have a special location shoot planned for Saturday 18 October this year and you can join us. We will be based in the market town of Keswick in the northern Lakes and while the exact shooting timetable will be revealed to the five winners in due course the aim is to shoot from dawn to dusk at various Lakeland

About the Pentax 645Z

The sensational 645Z medium-format camera boasts an effective resolution of 51.4-megapixels,

super fast AF, a top ISO of 204,800 and all in a dust-proof, weather-proof body. The camera offers brilliantly slick handling, whether on location or in the studio, and the 76 dust- and weather-proof seals mean it will also work perfectly in challenging outdoor conditions, down to temperatures as low as -10°C. The innovative CMOS sensor measures 43.8x32.8mm, so approximately 1.7x larger than a full-frame 35mm sensor, and it works with Pentax’s PRIME III imaging engine to produce images of outstanding accuracy and colour fidelity. With the exceptional quality of Pentax lenses, this anti-alias filter- free sensor can resolve the finest details. Until now, medium-format digital cameras suffered from limited battery capacity, slow continuous shooting speed and limited high ISOs. The 645Z has features and handling equal to a top-end APS-C or 35mm format DSLR, with a battery that can deliver up to 650 shots per charge, continuous shooting at 3fps with a large buffer and a top IS0 speed of 204,800. Of course, there is much more: live view, Full HD video, tiltable 3.2in monitor, twin SD card slots and the option of 14-bit Pentax or Adobe DNG Raw files. And you get all this performance at a competitive price: body only the 645Z is £6800; with the 55mm lens, it’s £7700.

LAST CHANCE TOENTER

To be in with a chance of joining us for this amazing photographic opportunity all you have to do is submit your best landscape photograph. Images should be low-res JPEGs 1000 pixels along the longest dimension (max. file size 10MB), and you must have the high-resolution files available in case the judges from Photography News and Ricoh Imaging want a closer inspection. Entry images should be submitted via the Howtoenter

online form at www.pentaxcomp.co.uk. Closingdate:midnight, 28September.

If you enter this competition you must be available to be in the Lakes on the evening on 17 October and all day on 18 October. These dates are fixed and cannot be changed.

TERMS & CONDITIONS Entries must be received by midnight, 28 September 2014, and the winners will be notified by 1 October 2014. This competition is open to UK residents only, aged 18 and over. Employees of Bright Publishing and Ricoh Imaging and their immediate family and agents may not enter. Entries not in accordance with these rules will be disqualified; by entering, competitors will be deemed to have agreed to be bound by these rules. The prize must be taken as offered; there is no alternative. In the event that the prize cannot be supplied no liability will be attached to Bright Publishing. For full t&cs visit www.pentaxcomp.co.uk/terms.

π To find out more about the 645Z, go to www.ricoh-imaging.co.uk.

Photography News | Issue 12