Pentax 645D Countdown???

[Darren Addy]

Forget "35mm full frame" DSLRs???

Pentax appears to be on the verge of introducing the (long awaited) most affordable medium format digital system. A countdown has begun on the Pentax Japan page (which is halfway over) and it is doing a sloooow reveal of the camera (which began as a silhouette). For a look at the real deal (perhaps), one can look at a screw-up in the image gallery of the newegg.com K7 page. Check out the 2nd picture. Hint: It's NOT a K7.

Rumors ahead of the official announcement are rampant, but some expect it to use the Kodak 31MP sensor used in the Hassy. Others speculate that it will be the newer 39/40MP which is in the same 44x33mm format that Pentax has been talking about all along but now with the new, improved 6 micron TrueSense pixels.

If Pentax continues the philosophy seen on its APS-C DSLRs, it will be backwards compatible with the older Pentax film 645 lenses, but again all this is speculation... as are rumors of the price: $6500. If true, it would be remarkably cheap, considering it would share the same sensor as either a $16K or $22K Hasselblad. And it could represent some competition at that price point for other manufacturer's 35mm "full frame" cameras.

This is a revival of a camera Pentax planned to build almost 3 years ago, before the company was bought by Hoya. It looks as if it is finally (almost) here.

 

[Jim Saueressig]

Did you notice the missing mirror up button from the NewEgg photo on the upper left?

Also for those wondering you can click here for an example of what sensor they might be using.

 

[Greg Campbell]

Phooey! 44x33mm is NOT real medium format!
That puny 'crop' sensor is only about 60% as large as a real 6x4.5 negative (the smallest standard MF format.) So much for wide angle capability.

Wake me up when they make a non-puny Full Frame 56x56 digital back for my Bronica SQ.

OK, I'll grant you that any (pseudo) MF digital camera that costs less than a car is cause for celebration.

Ya know, Pentax could score some real brownie points if the camera included focal length reducing optics. The FL decrease would counteract the 'crop factor' magnification and allow your lenses to produce proper 6x4.5 image FOV. Since the camera is presumably new-from-the-ground-up, integrating such optics into the system should be straightforward.

 

[Darren Addy]

Did you notice the missing mirror up button from the NewEgg photo on the upper left?

Why is so much being made of the "missing m.up button"? (Have seen this mentioned in other discussions also). I don't get it.

 

[Jim Saueressig]

Why is so much being made of the "missing m.up button"? (Have seen this mentioned in other discussions also). I don't get it.

I dunno, can't speak for the other discussions but I am thinking they redesigned it a bit more since the prototype that newegg is using or the website is using a prototype picture. Either way they are similar but not the same, even the contour above and around the button newegg picture has a sharper longer edge than the Japan picture