Pentax unveils 40MP 645D medium format DSLR

[An4cer]

WOW i want one.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1003/10...pentax645d.asp



* Photo removed, both oversize and you breached copyright by posting it, the photo was not yours! - admin *

[ameerat42]

I am left "_____________"! Get me one as well, will ya. Am...

[Topgunn]

I think the only thing going for it is the sensor and even that doesnt seem like anything special apart from the size with an ISO range of only 200-100 (100-1600 boosted). The actual size of it though should make for some fantastic images and if you have a 645 it would be a great way to utilise the lenses. I just thought it would have had better features, the feature list reads pretty much the same as my K10D and thats 4 years old which is forever in technology. I dont know how the price and specs compare to a Hasselblad but I cant see many people forking out that sort of money for it.

[JM Tran]

I dont know how the price and specs compare to a Hasselblad but I cant see many people forking out that sort of money for it

you havent used a digital MF body have u? They are not exactly feature rich to appeal for amateurs, only basic controls and features that pros would need and nothing else, we do not need anything else. I myself would be interested in buying one for work. This was not aimed at those who would need HD filming, virtual horizon, fast frame rates, high ISO etc etc

The actual size of it though should make for some fantastic images and if you have a 645 it would be a great way to utilise the lenses

and thats exactly why one would buy it, because it will make for fantastic image and depth and tonality at 40MP

My only gripe is the shutter rated at 50k actuations.....! I do about that per year for work, ouch.

[arthurking83]

...... This was not aimed at those who would need HD filming, virtual horizon, fast frame rates, high ISO etc etc



...

did you read the features list?

I'm a bit unsure if Digital Levels feature is for checking image's level(horizon)... or images levels(exposure/histogram)??

HDR, DR Expansion(Dynamic Range boost, or Active D-Lighting, as I know it), in camera CA and distortion compensation, etc.

ISO range should have been 50-1000(tho why you'd need ISO1000 on an MF camera is beyond my ability to reason.. but if you gotta have it, you gotta have it.. I suppose some people want to do it handheld too.. so why not in camera IS too? Pentax have the tech for that already!
Also, why no LiveView mode? if someone was to use it in a studio environment, LiveView, in tethered mode would be such a bonus!
I guess they have to save some features for the next model too

Still sounds like an awesome kit
Good price(approx half the price of Mamiya's recent new 40Mb offering, and surely it;s the same Kodak sensor!!??).. but the Mamyia has interchangeable backs, and so probably a better bet in the long run, as MF sensors become cheaper, and better.

Would love a MF camera for landscaping work, and I bet 645 lens futures just went through the roof!

Although Mamiya's interchangeable back system makes more sense, Pentax's lens range is supposedly very good indeed!... makes Hasselblads look a bit sick when you compare them on price, but only time will tell.

Other thing I noticed was that this Pentax is 14bit, where the Mamyia is 16bit, and I think the Hassy is also 16bit(at least for the 40M sensor).. maybe it's a lower quality version(they both use Kodak sensors), or stunted deliberately by Pentax for data transfer/battery life reasons. DPR's specs say 14bit A/D converter, so there's the possibility that the sensor could still be 16bit? I'd be curious to see if there's any perceptible difference to the other two cameras.

[JM Tran]

did you read the features list?

I'm a bit unsure if Digital Levels feature is for checking image's level(horizon)... or images levels(exposure/histogram)??

HDR, DR Expansion(Dynamic Range boost, or Active D-Lighting, as I know it), in camera CA and distortion compensation, etc.

ISO range should have been 50-1000(tho why you'd need ISO1000 on an MF camera is beyond my ability to reason.. but if you gotta have it, you gotta have it.. I suppose some people want to do it handheld too.. so why not in camera IS too? Pentax have the tech for that already!
Also, why no LiveView mode? if someone was to use it in a studio environment, LiveView, in tethered mode would be such a bonus!
I guess they have to save some features for the next model too

Still sounds like an awesome kit
Good price(approx half the price of Mamiya's recent new 40Mb offering, and surely it;s the same Kodak sensor!!??).. but the Mamyia has interchangeable backs, and so probably a better bet in the long run, as MF sensors become cheaper, and better.

Would love a MF camera for landscaping work, and I bet 645 lens futures just went through the roof!

Although Mamiya's interchangeable back system makes more sense, Pentax's lens range is supposedly very good indeed!... makes Hasselblads look a bit sick when you compare them on price, but only time will tell.

Other thing I noticed was that this Pentax is 14bit, where the Mamyia is 16bit, and I think the Hassy is also 16bit(at least for the 40M sensor).. maybe it's a lower quality version(they both use Kodak sensors), or stunted deliberately by Pentax for data transfer/battery life reasons. DPR's specs say 14bit A/D converter, so there's the possibility that the sensor could still be 16bit? I'd be curious to see if there's any perceptible difference to the other two cameras.

Of course I read the specs list, and I'll repeat what I said earlier - this camera is not aimed at those seeking features that inhabit entry level and enthusiast cameras. This is not much different to the few digital MFs I use for work, just a lot of a hell more user friendly.

I would think that having SR on such a large sensor is very costly and will be prone to being knocked out of calibration or shock damage, as that large and very expensive sensor moves on 2 axis if it was to be implemented like on their DSLRs.

I would gladly shoot this handheld for a wedding job as it seems to be a lot more robust with weather sealing than current digital MFs, not to mention being prone to overheating the backs when shot for long periods of time.

[Topgunn]

you havent used a digital MF body have u?

Geez forget I even said anything. Do you think looking at what camera I have I would have used a MF camera?
How dare an amateur have an opinion...
Im not going to bother saying another word as Ill just get slammed for it anyway.
I forgot we live in a time when basic functions satisfy us. Oh thats right only us amateurs want great features in their gear.
Oh well I didnt come here to argue so Ill just butt out and crawl back into my hole and keep my opinions to myself, I mean a forums not a place for that anyway.

[Adrian Owerko]

At just over 10,000 AUD.. A Pentax 645D MF digital would be great for a wedding with my K-7.. Formals & Bridal portraits @ 40 mp.. A Bride asks me how big can I print? I say how big is your wall?

[arthurking83]

Geez forget I even said anything. ......

Don't sweat it TG.

I've had a very brief play (but not expose anything) on an uncle's TLR Rollei(he gave me my first camera way back when I was 10yo), and then at my cousins wedding approx 25 years ago, I had the pleasure to play with a Hassy of some description.. once again no exposures just play with focusing(easier than SLR) and trying to frame(very hard with the waist level finder).

Jackie! I bet the next model, or upgrade(to 50 or 60Mp) will have more 'entry level and enthusiast features'.

If HDR and DR Boost aren't entry level/enthusiast features... I dunno what is
Highly unlikely to ever have video mode though.. seems like a waste and the data throughput could be an issue.

Camera Exchange have(had??) a few 645's, amongst other MF systems, still sitting on their shelves.. every time I dip in for a peekaboo session(which is generally for old lenses.. or Gitzo tripods ) and they do look a lot easier in some ways to manage handheld than the larger looking and unwieldy Mamiya. Of course never tried either for real or play.

I doubt very much that most of the newbie extra features would add shock value to the cost of the body, and the way marketing departments work, they're not going to be too far into the future. Stuff like IS and LiveView would be user features anyhow, selectable by those that want/need it, and not detrimental to the overall performance of the camera.
it looks as though the MF market is starting to look overcrowded with Leica's new system little while back, and now this one, and that hybrid thing I read about a few months back.

if this thing delivers the goods, which it surely must, and at half the price of other systems(at least for the 40Mp model)..... add the new relatively cheap 50mm/2.8 AF they also announced, and the range of old 645 lenses a user could tap into .. bodes well for Pentax.. and bluddy well 'bout time they finally announced it too!

Real question for me is.... where do I get 10K from!.. stuff the D3x

Seriously! If I had 10-15K this thing would be higher on my shopping list than a D3x, and possibly nudging a D700/D700s off the top of the tree.
(my list is shaped more like a tree, not a ladder. At the top ATM is a D700(or D700s??) but the other branches close to the top, but not quite there, get blown about violently in the the typical Melbourne storm, and become intertwined with the D700's sturdy yet tenuous main branch. Who would have thought a silly lil thing like a Spyder3 would have the power or momentum to knock the D700 down a few branches. Then after many convoluted efforts using the Spyder3, it's come to the conclusion that the D700 is even less important and has elevated a new screen to one of the new branches swinging wildly across the D700's main branch. I'm currently looking at various screens, closer to $1K than the original $300-500 that I wanted to spend.. but that's life in Melbourne! Violent storms strike suddenly and cloud your judgment and response. I'm sure I saw an old Ais lens swaying close to the top the other week too!

Did I say if I had 10-15K?... Oops I meant $10-15M.. I reckon I'd be the only person in Australia that would be bitterly disappointed in only winning a million dollars in a lottery. That would barely get half the camera gear I think I need (oh! and leave a few dollars to buy some groceries for the next week, that is!)

[Kym]

Not been online for 4 days... and look what happens!!

http://pentaxdslrs.blogspot.com/2010...-in-japan.html

Hoo flippin ray!!!! An affordable MF !!!

[knumbnutz]

I think 40mp is just about enough.. hehe
.....and my P67 lenses can fit
I reckon in a year or so, price will be well down from $10K too, maybe 6-8K and that forces a lot of people to rethink their options if they were looking at high end canons and nikons.

Lots of reasons to like this, all the good bits like SR, decent iso's and HDR and expanded DR and reasonably fast shutter speeds.
I bet ALL P645 Glass just got a whole lot more valuable !!!

Good news all round and I guess the "pentax is doomed" people might be looking elsewhere for a while.
Cheers Neil

[Kym]

I think 40mp is just about enough.. hehe
.....and my P67 lenses can fit
I reckon in a year or so, price will be well down from $10K too, maybe 6-8K and that forces a lot of people to rethink their options if they were looking at high end canons and nikons.

Lots of reasons to like this, all the good bits like SR, decent iso's and HDR and expanded DR and reasonably fast shutter speeds.
I bet ALL P645 Glass just got a whole lot more valuable !!!

Good news all round and I guess the "pentax is doomed" people might be looking elsewhere for a while.
Cheers Neil

Studio and landscape will go well! It does set a new game plan for the professional.

I reckon it will drop in price by 2011.

Maybe Oly is doomed ??

[arthurking83]

.....

Good news all round and I guess the "pentax is doomed" people might be looking elsewhere for a while.
Cheers Neil

With Samsung behind them?

not likely.. yet
(lol! only joking)

good range of lenses and Kym's right. Hopefully force Nikon to reprice(.. read lower by a considerable margin!) their top end range at least.

[An4cer]

"The PENTAX 645D incorporates a high-performance CCD image sensor produced by Kodak."

OK WHY CCD, this is old tech, CMOS is way better. CCD sensor is noisier than CMOS. CMOS is better is low light.

Maybe they found a way to make it even par with CMOS in low light.

[JM Tran]

"The PENTAX 645D incorporates a high-performance CCD image sensor produced by Kodak."

OK WHY CCD, this is old tech, CMOS is way better. CCD sensor is noisier than CMOS. CMOS is better is low light.

Maybe they found a way to make it even par with CMOS in low light.

this camera is not meant for low light work, and the ISO above 400 is only there for emergency.

u should read up on CCD vs. CMOS, and will realize CCD has its advantages as well.

[knumbnutz]

mmm.
Sorry An4cer, but it is a badly flawed or naive arguement. Perhaps some truth a long time ago in electronics but certainly not now.
Only one or two manufacturers use CMOS over CCD and it is more based on differenciality than anything or hasselblad, leica, pentax and sony have been wrong for so long....

Infact it is the firmware and hardware behind the sensor that gives the camera the performance rather than the sensor alone.
There are many examples especially, say with sony sensors as several camera makers use the same sensor and obtain better performance or differing performance based on their hardware and firmware. eg K10D & D80

One thing is for sure IF there was a gain to be had using one or the other, everyone would be taking advantage of it.

The only thing CMOS has going for it is lower current draw.

If you look at MF (or even large format) it is slower more deliberate process and most MF is still film. Digital is almost a black art...
I am sure a lot will change over in the long run but they care nothing much for high iso, FPS or such fancy things.
They also dont pixel peep, look at diffraction limiting Fstops or worry about size and weight.
MF'ers will take this as a quantum leap, same as hasslblads and mamiya when they came out as digitals, but they will get loads of quality legacy lenses to choose from, and all the features they need at half the cost of the others.

It is the equivalent of bringing out a CanonD1mkv / nikon d3? at $2000.

Will it be the best 40mg sensor? maybe/maybe not, but it will be the best value option and it gets a whole lot of people tantalizingly closer than before.

I wonder if the same people that paid $10K for a Canon 1Dmark3 etc thought they were too expensive or whether the same people that say the 645D is too expensive said the 1D was too expensive as well ???

Cheers Neil

"The PENTAX 645D incorporates a high-performance CCD image sensor produced by Kodak."

OK WHY CCD, this is old tech, CMOS is way better. CCD sensor is noisier than CMOS. CMOS is better is low light.

Maybe they found a way to make it even par with CMOS in low light.

[Kym]

645 Lens list... http://www.pentax.jp/english/imaging...45n2_list.html

Not a bad start!

[knumbnutz]

Japan site with lots of interesting comparison pics

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/r...15_353742.html


Interview with a Pentax Rep at PIE, japan's bigest camera show where the 645D was launched
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/re...645d-1st.shtml

[dsaini]

Its meant for a different user group. If one compares 645D with other MF kits, it has at-least same amount of features, if not more. These users don't demand feature list and usually take what is given and work with it, otherwise Hassleblad's would have had same list of features as 1D series.

645D is a studio camera and one can control the light in the studio as he/she wishes