Features

This camera comes with shutter speeds from 30s-1/8000s, synchs up to 1/250s, can do fill flash magic automatically, and has auto bracketing settable in 1/3 or 1/2 steps. Bracketing also works with flash and fill flash.

It can do spot, center and matrix metering, get's information on lens charesterica and focus distance from all Pentax FA and F lenses (all AF lenses) and uses this to be smart about flash metering and to pick lens secific sweet spots in the f-stop range in program mode. There's exposure compensation from -4 to +4 in 1/3 steps, an icon is shown in the display as well as in the finder when it's engaged so it's hard to forget about.

There's mirror prefire, where the camera flips up the mirror, stops down the lens and then wait 2 seconds before making the exposure. The focusing screen can be changed by the user.

Film rewinding can be set to be automatic or manual. If the leader schould be pulled into the canister or not is settable as well. These and all the other configurations can be adjusted in the field without access to manuals or other tools.

The AF system. has a single focus spot in the middle of the finder. It's fast and accurate "hunting for focus" is unheard of. There's an AF assist beam for low light work.

There's a built in flash with a guidenumber of 14 that spreads enough for a 28 mm lens. An on camera flash isn't of course the most usefull thing around, but it can save the day when caught without a real flash, and it can of course be used to sync off camera flashes with slaves. The Pentax 500 FTZ flash has a built in slave, so this is a very usefull feature.

The camera weight 650 g and at 152.0 mm x 95.5 mm x 74.0mm is a medium sized SLR. However when compared to most of the other SLR's with a comparable feature list the Z-1p is small and light weight.