kodak dcs 645

[silverderek]

Does anyone have any experience with these (especially 645H)? Are

they any good; not much out there on photo.net or www regarding user

info or used buying information. What are professionals doing these

to meet their client's digital image needs with repsect to medium

format photography? Thanks.

 

d

[ellis_vener_photography]

They are terrific value for their current value as compared to other high res digital options.

beats the pants off of a Canon EOS 1Ds in terms of image quality. The kodak software is

first rate.The two major problems are that you are effectively limited to 1 second or

shorter exposures --longer exposures get noisy -- and give the best results at ISO 100

-160. By the way the ISO limitation generally applies to most medium format digital

backs.

[silverderek]

Ellis: I dont really shoot anything above 160 so it's ISO constraints are no issue and the shutter speed thing is not that much of a pain. Just curious if there was a production flaw that stopped Kodak from manufacturing these backs...

[ellis_vener_photography]

Kodak makes most of the digital sensor found in medium format digital backs. The other

companies were buying more sensors than Kodak was putting in their own backs and and

decided to stop competing with their customers. The 645 DCS backs use the first

generation of those sensors and they are now making a second or maybe now a third

generation version of the chip. Sinar, Imacon and Jenoptik were also able to get better

performance out this chip than Kodak did mainly through better implementation of

firmware and possibly through active cooling.

 

This is not to say that the 645C or 645H, and 645M backs aren't first rate photo making

devices but if you are willing to pay between $20-30k there are better medium format

digital backs being made today. The Kodak software is first rate and Kodak actively still

supports and updates the DCS software.

[andre_napier]

Derek

 

645H is not bad. There is some noise problem , overheating and lots of

disconnecting of firewire if you shoot to computer. I used it for one year and

moved on.The quality is better than 1ds but not comparable to even H101

from Phase One. The best option quality and price wise for your H1 is Sinar

54m - Almost full frame 22MP. with the unbeatable price of $14,999. I use all

digital backs due to my work arrangements with other photographers in our

studio. We also own the P25 and Imacon. Kodak pictures come very flat in

comparison to high end pro backs but this can be corrected in PS. If you can

get 645H around $5000 you are doing OK but these are much harder to get

than 645M or 645C and tend to be pricier because of it. I have seen one on

Ebay for $9000 and it definitelly is not worth the money. H101 can be

purchase new for $10.9K. Good luck.

[hans_nijs]

You can buy our Kodak DCS ProBack 645H. (Febr.2004) because we did an update to a

22M back. It's 100% O.K. Interesting? Use my mailbox. hans.nijs@planet.nl

[klyment_tan]

Hello all. =) I'm about to pick up a 645H for an H1 but I'm a bit concerned of this overheating issue. This may sound kind of strange but I intend to use this system as a primary camera for shooting weddings on location in addition to studio work. Would shooting 200 shots in a period of forty minutes to an hour cause any overheating issues? Is there any modification available for this system to get it running cooler and does the heat contribute noticeably to noise? I've been offered an incredibly good deal on a 645H back that was used as a store demo so that is why I am especially interested in this back, less so than with the Imacon backs using the same sensor which would have been my first choice.