Mamiya 645 Pro (not TL) or Pentax 645N?

I recently had my <a href="http://www.photo.net/neighbor/registry/one-

case.tcl?stolen_id=14740">Pentax 645 stolen</a> so now I'm looking at

what camera will be my next one.<br>

I'm looking at either the Pentax 645N or the Mamiya 645 Pro (Not the

TL). So far, both cameras are pretty comparable, so I'm not sure on

which to choose from. I already have a Pentax 645 lens, so getting

the 645N would probably save me a little bit of money.<br><br>

These are the things that I'm looking for in a camera:<br>

Data imprinting<br>

Leaf shutter capability<br>

Spot metering option<br>

Interchangable backs would be nice<br>

Ease of use (of course)<br>

Polaroid backs<br>

The ability to use a wide range of flashes<br>

Ruggedness<br>

Other items like mirror lockup aren't that big of an issue for me as

I've already used the Pentax 645 without mirror lockup for the past 2

years.<br>

Data imprinting is a big plus for me but it won't kill me if I forego

it. I'm not too huge on lenses as I'm happy with using a standard

prime lens or prime leaf shutter lens but optical quality is very

important to me<br><br>

What do you think?

I owned the M645 Pro for several years and handled the 645N several times in a store.

I originally picked the Mamiya to switch between B&W and positive backs, but in practice never really did this ? finished off a roll and went to the next. Another reason was polaroid backs, but in practice never felt the need for one. I don't shoot in studio settings, so this could be more important for you. Yet another reason was the 80 F/1.9 lens, but I never bought that either ? ended up happy with a 45 mm, 110, and 150.

The M645 viewfinder's a bit dark; the Pentax viewfinder is spectacular - large and seemingly losing no light through the lens and prism - one of the best SLR viewfinders I've ever seen.

The M465 is bulky with a prism. With either of the power grips, it's both bulky and heavy. The Pentax 645N seems in comparison positively svelte ? the prism housing doesn't seem to occupy any space. General handling seemed better thought out, as with the 35 mm Pentax SLRs, including the two tripod sockets for vertical or horizontal orientation ? that's one feature I often wished for on the M645.

The Mamiya with power grip was the noisiest camera I ever owned. I can still hear the clatter set off by the shutter button. I can't remember what the Pentax sounded like.

I loved the Mamiya despite its faults, but I'd get the Pentax if I were choosing today.

Kevin, sorry to hear about the loss. I have been seeing pentax 645 bodies going for way cheap on that big auction site in cyberspace. I use the 645nII and couldn't be happier. I just picked up a 135mm Leaf Shutter lens, used to have the 75 LSbut sold it, and am going to start shooting with strobe. When I had the 75, I found the optical quality to be the same as the non leaf shutter lens, in other words, fabulous.

I picked the pentax over the mamiya because I rarely change film, so having interchangeable backs wasn't an issue (pentax inserts are cheap), and I do a bunch of handheld so I just plain liked the pentax for handheld better. The knobs are so much better than the buttons on the original pentax, imho. I thought I would use data imprinting more, but don't really use it much, but it does work on the pentax. Good luck on the search.

I was considering buying one of these cameras, but after considering the cost of scanning

film, may just stick with digital.

The Pentax was the clear winner for me because of handling and viewfinder brightness. If

you rely on autofocus the Pentax has it and if you don't the additional brightness makes it

much easier to focus. If you want a winder the Mamiya is pretty big and heavy with the

winder.

Unless you need a removable back I just can't find a good reason to go with the Mamiya.

Last year I traded my Mamiya 645 Pro for a Pentax 645 Nii. I prefer the Pentax in almost every way, the lack of a 110mm/2.8 being one of the few minus points. It certainly feels more rugged (although the Mamiya was fine in this respect). Personally, I rarely miss the interchangeable backs. Despite the different metering options available on the Pentax, I don't find it meters appreciably better than the Mamiya, although I'm not a fan of in-camera metering systems anyway.

I find the data imprinting absolutely invaluable, its great not to have to take time making notes on exposure etc. When using my zoom, the focal length used is imprinted to the nearest millimetre (although this feature doesn't work with manual focus lenses). The film counter (as opposed to the frame counter) is also useful. If only it would imprint the date, it would be perfect!

I've owned both. The Pentax is still with me. Medium Format's best kept secret is the

Pentax 645N & NII. No question in my mind, the Pentax beats the Mamiya hands

down. Period.