Priorities Changing

News is curently breaking that the Pentax 645D is now on the back burner and is "no longer a priority for Pentax."

I can't say I'm surprised, and I'm certainly not surprised now we have the new merger with Hoya.

A 645D would be a low priority for me buying one as well.

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Best regards,

John Riley

The lack of any comments about that is quite interesting in itself. Does this mean that it's now a really low priority for us all?

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Best regards,

John Riley

If only to keep you company John , The medium format has never been of interest to me since my college days. I only used them then as part of the City & Guilds course.

I fail to see why a hobbiest, even a very serious one, would need such a beast. There are of course those who simply indulge their 'wants' and just buy what is current/new/different etc.

The K10D fulfils 100% of my needs, not least of which is cost of ownership.

There is also a glaring absence of lenses to suit the new 645D. Other than the DA645 55mm, due at the same time as the body, ther's nothing else on the horizon. I guess they have to start somewhere though.

When the Canon 1DS Mk III (35mm Full Frame) is being advertised at £5999.00, body only, what on earth is the 645D likely to cost, if/when it is ever produced?

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Peter Smith

Body: K10D + BG, K20D(2) + BG's
Prime: FA31/43/77 Ltd, FA50 Macro, DA*55, D-FA100mm Macro, Sigma EX180 Macro, DA*300.
Zoom: DA12-24, DA*16-50, DA*50-135, DA*60-250.
Flash: AF240FT(2), AF500FTZ, AF360FGZ(2), AF540FGZ(2), AF160FC Ringflash (deceased )
Software: Adobe Lightroom 3, Photoshop CS5, Photomatix Pro, Noise Ninja, iWatermark, Picasa 3.
Backpack Bag: Tamrac Expedition 7x, Lowepro Fastpack 350, Lowepro Vertex 100AW, Lowepro Slingshot 200AW
Shoulder Bag: Tamrac 613 Super Pro 13, Lowepro Stealth Reporter 500AW, Lowepro S&F Reporter 300AW

I suspect they would be aiming this at the lower-Hasselblad bracket (the ones who need a house as well as a camera) rather than the CaNikon machinegunning reportage guys

I have heard the 645D is back on the radar but lost amongst the K-7 PR
Anyone heard anything?

Is that the longest gap between comments in Forum history? Almost 20 months!.

I think I fall into a large group of people who would love to see the 645 return, but probably wouldn't want to buy one. In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen one.

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MZ-7 ● 50mm 1.4 My Photobucket

You can call me Rip van Winkle ... but to be fair I think it is Pentax' fault

Would I want one?
Not sure, but why do people buy Hassleblads (£20k) and Mamiyas (£7k)? Could it be quality? Longevity? Interchangability?
Is this a way to go for the Pro market without following a 'me-to' DSLR approach?
For some reason Andy Rouse starting using his 645 film camera again alongside his Canon DSLR kit.....
Who knows?
(Would I really want to be seen with a girly-white lens anyway?)


Meanwhile this seems to be all there is on the subject
http://www.pentax.jp/english/news/2009/200905.html

Don't get me wrong, I would genuinely love to see medium format from Pentax as I think it could compete with the best of them. There is a lot of glass out there which people still want to use.

I was simply saying that I don't think I personally would buy any medium format camera because it does not suit my style.

Personally I am convinced that Pentax will go medium format, even if they only do it to prove that they can. There really is no other company who can say that they held their ground in 35mm and 120, and if they do it they will (once again) show the world that they are a serious photography company.

So Hasselblad are at 50Meg. Pentax are 14.5 on APS which would mean around 80Meg on 645. So they'll somehow up this to 100 which would be a startling figure for a production camera.

But that's just guessing...

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MZ-7 ● 50mm 1.4 My Photobucket

No wasn;t getting you wrong at all - genuinely curious myself.

The only spiel on the new new 645D is
-Extra-large, super-high-megapixel CCD image sensor with more than 30.0 total megapixels (tentative)
- Compatibility with existing smc PENTAX 645 interchangeable lenses

Mamiya ZD "SLR" is 22meg, 1.5kg, £8k, and has a mind numbing 1.5fps (so it's quality not speed.....)

Would I want one? Hmm... maybe... if I was forced to.....