Hi guys, thanks for the comments. It's early morning here so I've not seen the overnight comments so the questions I can answer, I'll address now:
Q. Have you worked the Zed tethered with the FluCard, the Image Transmitter software or anything else?
A. No, never. Tethered is something I've not or ever intend to use. But if I get the chacne to I will, and will publish the findings. I've heard the Flucard isn't exactly quick so I'd want to use it properly tethered.
Q. I do quite like your flash solution. If I correctly understand your usage, you're using (or at least have the choice to use) P-TTL with the 540 on camera passed through the V6 plus manual RF remote control of 600s via the V6. Is that a reasonable assessment
A. You understand it perfectly.
Q. As a Capture One pro 8 user, their website still suggests only file support (no tether) for all pentax units. The 645 system is not listed however.
A. It's a bit of a moan right now that Capture one doesn't. You can mess around with the Exif or something to get it to work, but they also block out Hasselblad too. I don't expect this to change. Lightroom does a great job though, especially with Hasselblad files also.
Q. The service reputation for Pentax was poor at best .. I found that even when looking at it, the guy in the shop wouldn't even put a battery in it for me ... so I just had to play with it dead and just manual focus it in the shop.
A. That's pretty bad. I didn't cover the service side of things but my findinsg in the UK were as follows. Regardless if you buy a Z in the UK or grey market Johnsons, the service people for the UK, will send everything back to Japan anyway other than for sensor cleaning. This is seen as a good thing by many. I'm platinum CPS and most of my stuff has to go back after a rushed repair. I don't like the idea of it going away for several weeks. However treating it more like a Modular system than a DSLR for a minute, the Hasselblad went back to Sweden and took 6 weeks. I can't comment of Phase UK or how they deal with it.
Q. Some spoke of the "special sauce" just in the algorithms Phase One has to make or give that same sensor so much more than any other brand can extract out of it.
A. If Phase one supply me with their IQ250 I'll happily prove that. Hasselblad have a special colour curve unique to them too, I think it was Torger on Luminous Landscapes who discovered it. BUt I've seen the files of the 50c and they don't hit me as anything special compared. But still, I need the body in front of me, one a tripod, shutters synched with the 645z to do any true comparison.
Q. Do you have any example of the two stop high ISO difference between the 645Z and the 1DX? The DPReview samples seem to show them within a stop but I assume you must be seeing something to convince you otherwise.
A. I've only got what I have right now. It's something I need to do, agreed. It's mainly because I have been using the 645z on the right side of my Spider belt and the 5D3 on the left. I'm confident though that it's at least two stops better. There's a certain ISO I won't shoot above. On the Canon 1D3 it was 1600, 5D3 3200, 1DX was 6400. But I'll go higher on the Pentax 645z. You could then do lots of fanboy trolling and say 'I can push it two to three stops more in post even at ISO12800' but that's when factual performance starts to get ambiguous. I would say, on the back of the envelope, in decent light that you've got 4 stops extra if you really needed it. I wouldn't even say it's that pretty but the Canon files fall apart at high ISO. You can push a low ISO Canon 1DX file much better though.
The review is a work in progress. I'll be making note of the things I'm asked here and on other forums and will add to the review as time goes by
