Pentax 645D

[p_l_jensen]

"No Todd, I guess the point is that *you* seem willing to defend the late entry of Pentax into a shrinking market,"

 

 

1) Pentax aren't late. In fact, you cannot (yet) buy a MF DSLR (the Mamiya isn't yet in shops - Pentax is one year away - not much in grand scheme of things). Only digital backs for film (film is dead BTW) cameras at prices that make sure the stuff doesn't sell in volumes making them pretty unimportant in the grand scheme of things. In fact it seems like Pentax may be first on the market of an "affordable" DSLR with a sensor of about twice the area of what you can put into a Canon.

2) The market isn't shrinking. It is expanding. It is the film MF market that is shrinking. But so is 35mm film market.

35mm size isn't brick wall limit for sensor size. It never was for film and never will be for digital.

The viability of larger sensors depend on price, not whether someone have bought a Canon.

[._._z]

Late entry for MF digital, in general.

 

Even with digi-backs for extant film bodies, sales are quite low -- there's a reason for

that, namely that pros are choosing 35mm digital and are getting the job done.

 

and what you personally think doesn't matter in the frand scheme of things is

irrelevant to a company which must make significant investments for a questionable

return, Pal.

[thomas_janik]

A rough estimate of potential demand for a 645D is some fraction of existing Pentax 645 and 67 bodies in use, actively or sitting in a closet (presumably a large number). Since anyone who has one of those bodies usually has a collection of lenses as well, he/she would welcome a 645D as a low cost path to high quality digital(if that�s where they want to go). The alternative is to sell the Pentax lenses at bargain-basement prices and then spend a fortune on new glass

[todd_k.]

Were all those pros who you suggest were formally shooting MF not doing fine before the advent of high end digital imaging technology? Of course they were, but they switched anyway because of the additional benefits that digital is able to offer. Why then would they not switch back to MF digital that is able to offer better dynamic range, tonality, and resolution than what 35mm digital can offer. Sales for MF backs are low because they are too expensive, and a pain to use. The 645D AF body will be less than the V96C back. And at less than half of the price of the H2D or the Rollie digital bundle, Hasselblad and Rollei should be worried. Also remember that the 645 crop is much more useful for advertising and portraiture than the ridiculously long 35mm crop.

[rj]

If the cost is 8k or less, Pentax and Mamiya are going to essentially create a market to bring pros and amateurs seeking larger sensors, more dynamic range, higher megapixels, presumably less noise ect. that a larger sensor can have. If Canon makes a 22mp camera that utilizes a 35mm size sensor, than a 22mp camera that utilizes a near 645 size sensor is going to be better in the users mind, bigger and more is always better. This is why there is a hype for full frame digital and this will be so in the future with larger than 35mm sensor cameras.

[thomas_janik]

Just a thought: Pentax is a unique company, as far as I know they are primarily family-owned, are often late (or never)entering into trends and have pretty inept advertising (I like that); however, they have have a history of producing some excellent, simple, functional, inexpensive and popular cameras, e.g. Spotmatic, 645, 67 to mention the obvious. Maybe the 645D is the next.

[._._z]

It is a publicly traded corporation on the Tokyo Exchange.

[thomas_janik]

Z:

 

That does not preclude majority family ownership. In any event, I�m sorry I mentioned it. I have no evidence; I simply recalled reading it somewhere. In any event, should Pentax produce a 645-sized, 22MP camera at $8000, many of the 35mm-sized-sensors users will migrate. Why? People always aspire and migrate to affordable quality and current technology indicates that larger sensors are better.

[robert_potts1]

Think not about your expanding and contracting markets. Think about instead a new market for which no man has any comprehension. We are evolving. New applications will arise with new equipment. What fun we will have with bigger files, new larger printers, more powerful computers, and new paper bases. And all things will become affordable as the industry becomes mature and profitable.

 

Nikon and Canon right now remind me of Ford and General Motors a few decades ago. If the photography market is shrinking in any way, why are so many new company names getting into the business? It is because there are openings. If Pentax does not do this, somebody else will.

[._._z]

Which business is "the business" you refer to? There's digicams, DSLRs, MF backs, and

MF DSLRs, with some overlap. Take a good look at who's going where, and you'll see

why companies are getting out of the MF market rather than entering it.

[._._z]

<i><blockquote> Think about instead a new market for which no man has any

comprehension. We are evolving.

</blockquote> </i><p>

 

We are Borg. You will be assimilated.

[thomas_janik]

Z

 

You will buy a Pentax 645D, resistance is futile.

[nhacker]

Let's look 10 years down the road when the technology has a very level playing field and is not the constraint of the image quality. Now that you have transported yourself that 2016, ceteris peribis, doesnﾒt quality boil down to the quality of glass and the frame size if thatﾒs all you have left?

 

My thoughts exactly:

"Do you all really think that the ultra high-end commercial pros that still shoot 6x7 and 4x5 are waiting around for Canons new digital offerings? Get real."

[leping]

Anyone with MF and LF experience knows the difference, especially

in the wide angle, which is not made up by mere more Canon megapixels.

 

Watch what Michael Reichmann says today, who has been the Canon's

best promoter. The lens not the sensor is the limiting factor so no

new 35mm body would be any helpful.

 

Film or digital, if you want quality you have to put 35mm behind.

 

Leping Zha

http://www.lepingzha.com

[steven_stone3]

Latest from Pentax is that it will be announced at PMA this year. Check it out, <b> 31.6 megapixels! </b>

 

<p> http://www.pentaximaging.com/footer/news_media_article?ArticleId=9590557

 

Model name (tentative): PENTAX 645 Digital

 

<p>Kodak-developed extra-large CCD image sensor with 31.6 total megapixels (tentative

 

<p>Compatibility with existing smc PENTAX 645 interchangeable lenses

 

<p>A pair of storage-media slots for the loading of an SD memory card and a CompactFlash card

 

<p>Market launch schedule to be announced at a later date

[thomas_janik]

Steven:

 

For those of us with 645 lenses it's good news that Pentax is continuing to work on the 645D. The "Market launch schedule to be announced at a later date" is a little troubling, particularly since this thread is already a year old. Maybe by the time the 645D actually appears, sensor prices will have dropped enough that I'll be able to afford one without a mortgage.

[p_l_jensen]

Based on Pentax previous track record (the K10D), I would guess that the 645 Digital is six to eight months away from release...

[steven_stone3]

<p>News, but not good news.<br>

"Pentax has revived plans to launch its long-awaited 645 Digital medium-format camera, four years after a mock-up was first shown. The camera will go on display at the Photo Imaging Expo show in Tokyo later this month, said John Carlson, product marketing and support manager at Pentax USA. He told <em>Amateur Photographer</em> that the 645 Digital is expected to go on sale in Japan. However, it is unclear whether the camera will be sold in Europe. And Carlson told us that it will not be marketed in the United States because Pentax predicted it would only sell 200 units there. <br /> We understand that Pentax Japan has decided to aim the camera at the high-end market, so it seems unlikely it will be an affordable, enthusiast-level, model"<br>

<a href="http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/PMA_Pentax_revives_medium_format_digital_camera_plan_update_news_278069.html">Pentax 645D announcement at PMA</a></p>

[charles_wood]

<p>There are lots of photographers, including myself, with a large assortment of Pentax MF lenses. I'm currently using some of mine with adapters on my Canon digital bodies. I for one, will certainly consider buying the 645D if it comes to pass and lives up to expectations. Pentax is dramatically underestimating the market if they think they would only sell 200 of the 645Ds in the US. That type of comment reminds me of the time in the early 80s that Ray Dolby told me there would at best only be a market for 10,000 home surround sound systems worldwide.</p>

<p>Pentax MF optics, generally speaking, hold up against the expensive stuff from Germany and Japan, and are bargains on the used market at the moment. If the 645D turns out to be real I suspect prices for used lenses will bump up fairly dramatically.</p>