Is the new Pentax 645 a game changer?: 10k USD, 100k+ ISO, 3fps, movie mode!!

I will still get an IQ250 for 35k USD!

5 (7.1%)

I will still get a Hassy for 25k!

2 (2.9%)

I just might switch to Pentax!

25 (35.7%)

I will get Pentax as a second MF camera!

11 (15.7%)

P1 / Hassy will need to lower prices or else lose market share!

27 (38.6%)

Total Members Voted: 58

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

Technical cameras like the Hartblei HCam and the Alpa FPS are actually mirrorless, both can take Canon lenses with automatic aperture control.


Initially the HCam was on my shopping list, right now I don't know.

Best regards
Erik

…

I must admit I'm a little surprised that with adding cmos that none of the camera makers has offered a mirrorless solution, but maybe I'm dreaming of flying cars.

IMO

BC

[ndevlin]

Not sure why anyone thinks the 645DII will shoot anything other than 1080? That's the spec to expect. Still, done right, that could be huge. With the right codec, audio inputs, etc, Pentax could find itself selling a *lot* of cameras to people who think $10K is a tad expensive.....for lunch, but not for a video camera.

And it sure doesn't sound like Phase of Blad will be stealing any of those sales.

- N.

   

[KevinA]

As far as Canon goes, it clearly seems that someone very influential inside the company has decisive opinions about 3 things:
- growth is in video,
- the 5DIII/6D sensor is good enough for photographers,
- Canon's sensors will remain an in house thing.

So their current failure in the high end is the result of some executive decisions/mental blocks.

Just like some people inside Nikon used to think that high iso image quality was good enough with their ridiculous D2H.

So Pentax can mostly because they want to.

Cheers,
Bernard

Their current high end works just fine. I could of switched to a 800 for the price of the X. In practical terms the only thing a 800 gave me was more pixels, which is both a blessing and a hinderance. I shot briefly the D4, 800 and X side by side, all very good cameras, I went with the X and it's been a stunningly good camera. That 12fps is really useful for handheld aerial stitching/compositing and it's very good at the low light shooting. If all the other stuff was really necessary to getting commercially saleable results I would had to have been shooting a Phaseone years ago.
I'm waiting to see what those new Sigma cameras produce, regardless of pixel count DR etc if the image has something the others do not I'll add a couple to the bag. Sony, Nikon, Olympus don't really offer anything to me that's worth the switch, they all give you pretty much the same. Come to think of it my old Kodak SLR/n files still look as good as anything about today.

[BernardLanguillier]

Come to think of it my old Kodak SLR/n files still look as good as anything about today.

ISO6 was good, that's about the only thing I liked about the SLR/n...

Cheers,
Bernard

[byarvin]

This thread is finally turning in my direction. I loved the files from my slr/c (which was beyond repair and long gone) and continue to use my Hasselblad V gear and v96c back. If I read between the lines of many of the comments here, it looks like we are heading towards a world where the files from every camera will look exactly the same and only elaborate processing recipes will give our work any sort of personal character.

[JV]

If I read between the lines of many of the comments here, it looks like we are heading towards a world where the files from every camera will look exactly the same and only elaborate processing recipes will give our work any sort of personal character.

Which is precisely why some of us still shoot film...

[KevinA]

Which is precisely why some of us still shoot film...

Spot on, the further digital goes the down the road the better film looks to me, if only I could make film commercially viable!

[KevinA]

Other than this thread I can't find any reference to this camera being a real obtainable camera, the entire  spec and price comes from a site based on rumours. I've not found it on the Pentax site, the spec is to good to be true, if it exists I doubt the spec is half correct.
So other than a rumour site is there any information to be believed on this camera?

[BJL]

Other than this thread I can't find any reference to this camera being a real obtainable camera, the entire  spec and price comes from a site based on rumours. I've not found it on the Pentax site, the spec is to good to be true, if it exists I doubt the spec is half correct.
So other than a rumour site is there any information to be believed on this camera?

There is a lot of speculation getting misrepresented as fact, so it might help to look at the few solid facts that we have so far.

First, an official press release from Ricoh:
http://www.us.ricoh-imaging.com/about/press/324/RICOH_IMAGING_to_Exhibit_Four_Reference_Products_at__CP+_2014_Camera_and_Photo_Imaging_Show which includes:

DENVER, CO, February 5, 2014 – RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. is pleased to announce the exhibition of four reference products at CP+ 2014, taking place February 13-16 at the Pacifico Yokohama convention center in Japan. Included in these reference products are a medium-format digital SLR camera, interchangeable lenses and camera accessories which are currently under development.  
...
1. Medium-format digital SLR camera
Model name (tentative): PENTAX 645D 2014
• Latest, super-high-resolution CMOS image sensor
• High-speed response in a variety of photographic applications
• Tilt-type LCD monitor
• Market launch scheduled for Spring 2014

However, all that happened at CP+ was the display of a prototype under glass. There are some photos of that at places like http://www.pentaxforums.com/news/cp-2014-in-pictures.html, some linked below.

People are debating the new red-dot button, a few pieces of black tape concealing details like the label for that red dot button,
and a few small holes on the front not present in current model, which to some suggest a built-in microphone.

[wnichols]

Only remaining advantage seems to be the ability to use P1 / Hassy on tech cams and such stuff as wifi tethering.

But seriously: same sensor, less than a third of the price.

You may have the same sensor and I heavily considered the Pentax 645D when I was looking but implementations are different.  And there is one big advantage to Hasselblad, Phase, Leaf, all those...

Leaf Shutters

Sync Speed as spec on the 645D is 1/125sec.  On the Hasselblad bodies it is 1/800sec and on PhaseOne up to 1/1600sec

This makes a big difference for killing ambient light when using strobes. 

I LOVE the pricing and the specs on the 645D.  I love that lenses aren't likely to be up as much as my HC lenses ($3.5k - $5k+).  When I get one in hand and see if for outdoor stuff some ND on there will suffice I may look at moving over.  But this is one advantage that I still see with Hassy and PhaseOne.  Also some features like True Focus on Hassy I use like crazy.  May be less of an issue with the multiple focus points on the 645D, have to see.

Bill

[dag.bb]

There are several Pentax leaf shutter lenses which work with the 645N (and by my understanding the 645D) including 75mm, 90mm (via Pentax 67 adapter), 135mm and 165mm (67 adapter again). These are all manual focus. With the AB-82 splitscreen in my 645N I find no problem with focusing, however.

[wnichols]

Hey Dag -

So when you do that is the focal plane shutter open and you get the advantage of higher sync speeds (like how the phase body is).  I had thought this may be a possibility.

Do you know what the max shutter speed of those LS lenses are?

[tsjanik]

Hey Dag -

So when you do that is the focal plane shutter open and you get the advantage of higher sync speeds (like how the phase body is).  I had thought this may be a possibility.

Do you know what the max shutter speed of those LS lenses are?

For the 645 135mm it's 1/500s; the 645D also recognizes the lens.

[mcbroomf]

I looked into this back early days of the 645D.  As I recell the focal flange distance between the two cameras is the same and an adapter pushes you past infinity, however as you mentioned Macro you should be OK.  SK grimes may be able to make a custom adapter for you.

Paul C.

This isn't quite right, the Pentax 645 flange distance is 70.87mm and Mamiya 645 is 63.30mm. 

I have an adapter plate to allow me to use Pentax lenses on a Mirex tilt/shift adapter for Mamiya 645 to EOS.

[Aphoto]

This isn't quite right, the Pentax 645 flange distance is 70.87mm and Mamiya 645 is 63.30mm.  

I have an adapter plate to allow me to use Pentax lenses on a Mirex tilt/shift adapter for Mamiya 645 to EOS.

where did you get that kind of an adaptor? ? I would love to have one!
Or are you talking about Pentax 67 to Mamiya 645?

[mcbroomf]

Sorry, just saw your question, the email notification isn't working.  Mirex made it for me.  This was before they started making the dedicated P645 to EOS tilt/shift adapter.  I noticed that there should be enough space so I asked if they could make a P645 to M645 adapter so that I could use both Mamiya and Pentax 645 lenses on the EOS with their tilt/shift adapter.  They made one for me but then decided to offer the dedicated P645 to EOS T/S adapter.  It goes for a higher price so I guess that is their reasoning.  They may be prepared to make another one though, I suggest you email Markus.