I think you're right about the variable aperture, as my fixed aperture FA lenses - 50mm F1.7 and 28-70 F4 - don't do this and I've noticed my F35-70 lens also reads one stop slower on both the Z1 and my MZ-5N. At the slow end, both of the variable aperture lenses will read values beyond the scale on the lens ring (F27, F32 where lens ring stops at F22). The 35-70 is on the Z1 at the moment and, with lens ring at F3.5, reads F3.5 at 35mm, F4 at 50mm and F4.5 at 70mm. It never occurred to me before that they work in this way; I thought they just stopped down at the fast end when extended.

Back to the Z1; there's one on eBay for sale cheaply as 'spares or repair' with the usual mirror and flash issues, but apparently okay otherwise. I understand that the Z1's top plate comes off as a unit and, as this presumably carries the wheels, maybe I could buy the faulty camera and simply swap the top plates over. I'd have a go at repairing the flash spring attachment, but could live without this (as I do with the MZ-5N).

Thanks,

as it's a Pentax, I can control aperture with the lens ring. What I can't do is set some of the Pentax features that rely on both wheels to navigate the menus. I have noticed a couple of other things:

The aperture information in the LCD display and viewfinder often reads one stop slower than the setting with the lens ring. It doesn't always do this. I tried it on my MZ5-n and it does the same on there. I Also tried my F28-70 on the Z-1 and it was fine, so this is definitely a lens issue. What I don't know is whether it is just misinformation , or a situation that will lead to all shots with this lens underexposed by one stop. I should probably experiment with it on the K100D.

Sometimes when switched on, no information is displayed in either the LCD screen or the viewfinder. Removing and replacing the battery clears this.

There is another issue, but not one that troubles me greatly, hence not being mentioned in original thread; although it is present, the power-zoom function switch on the lens is stuck in the AS position. It looks like the switch housing has been glued on at some time, so maybe this is a bad repair,the switch having been glued on with the two sides misaligned.

Back to that wheel and slightly more encouraging is that I noticed that if I keep turning it clockwise it will change the aperture setting eventually; I managed to take it from F4.5 to F32 by rolling and rolling and rolling the wheel. Rolling it anticlockwise still seems ineffective, but switching it on and off returns it to the maximum aperture the lens allows. So, I could use the camera in all of its exposure modes,using the lens ring for aperture priority and manual, and maybe set the functions laboriously. Does this suggest an easy repair?

Hi,

I just bought a Z1 and found that the aperture control wheel isn't functioning. It sometimes clicks when rolled (though not in the way the shutter control wheel does) and sometimes is silent. It isn't controlling any functions at all.

Seller, who is a genuine guy and didn't know there was a problem, has offered to take the camera back or give a partial refund if I keep it. My question is, is this something easily repaired, or should I return the camera?