Hey Tom,
Thanks for the kind words. I will resist the temptation to flame you
I didn't mention the 55-110mm only because I don't own one, and it is a bit slow for my tastes. It is also a very hard lens to find. I don't know how useful a zoom range it will be with the 1.3x crop factor, either. I will try one at some point for sure, but I think the 45-85mm is a better bet as a standard lens, unless there are any optical performance issues. I didn't mention the long teles for lack of time, but also they are hard to use on digital. Getting sharp images with them is extremely difficult without a very large tripod or very high shutter speed.
Of course, their existence is another big plus for the 645D - on that I couldn't agree more.
As for exposure....that's more because I have been trying to drag Pentax out into the rest of the world on this one, somewhat kicking and screaming. The answer on availability seems to be 'when we're good and ready'. For sure not before October, but my guess in closer to the end of Q4. This is not because of any problems, but as best as I can figure it because of (i) demand in Japan (ii) production constraints and (iii) distribution and support issues. Buyers of a $10K camera expect a certain level of service, and figuring out how to get that in place on four continents is no mean feat.
I was within milimetres of buying one out of Japan myself, but held off because of warranty issues. Contrary to popular misconception, people like Michael an I actually buy our gear with our own money, and this would be a major investment for me. While Pentax Canada has been excellent to deal with, they couldn't fix a broken 645D right now, even if they wanted to. On a $10K+ purchase of bleeding-edge technology, that's more risk than I was comfortable with (same reasoning that would keep me from ever buying a later-model MF back from anyone but a dealer).
But soon........I think Pentax has harkened to the level of demand out here, and we will see the camera as soon as realistically possible.
- N.