645 or 645n???

[stephen_komp]

Hello Everyone -

 

I am considering purchasing a Pentax 645. I'm not really looking for an

autofocus system and probably wouldn't use it that much.

 

Besides the autofocus, are there significant improvements in the 645n over the

older 645? Is there a reason why I should spend the extra money?

 

Also, a friend told me that once, while shooting with a Pentax 645, he turned

the camera at a strange angle (almost upside down) and the focusing screen came

loose inside the camera. Is this a common problem or was this a defect in his

particular camera?

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Steve

[kelly_hughes]

If you're going to use manual focus lenses, then I think the biggest advantage to the 645N would be the knobs that let you roll your shutter speed and exposure compensation without using up/down buttons. Having the 645N would also allow you to use AF lenses in the future if you wanted, but all the older MF ones work fine too.

 

Now that Pentax announced the 645D development is dropped, eBay prices for the 645N have dropped to what a plain 645 sold for about a year ago. There also seem to be more AF lenses on eBay these days than MF, but the 645N bodies are still rarer than 645 bodies.

 

Also be aware that the default screen on the 645N is a matte center spot screen (no split prism or microprism collar like the 645), and finding alternative screens is tougher for the 645N than the 645 for some strange reason). Tougher, but not impossible if eBay isn't repulsive to you. Bear in mind that the "stock" screen for the 645N is easy to find -- B&H carries them. It's the others like gridlines and split prism. Also, Pentax didn't make a split/micro prism collar screen at all for the 645N -- only a microprism spot OR a split prism, but none with BOTH. Beattie (sp?) does/did, but they are almost $300.

[kelly_hughes]

Oh, I forgot to say that the focusing screen is behind a frame that latches pretty firmly from what I recall. While I haven't tried shooting nearly upside down myself, I'd be surprised if it let go on its own. I'd guess your friend either had a defect, or more likely, someone didn't fully latch it back right after having it open.

 

And one more thing on choosing between them... the 645N has focus confirmation, even on MF lenses. So you get the little green dot in the viewfinder (and the beep, if you want it) when the camera thinks the focus is right, even though you're using the old MF lenses.

 

FWIW, I did upgrade to the 645N, but I did it when 645 were going for $300 and 645N were going for $800. Nowadays, I'd say the prices are more typically $250 and $500. Either way, they are great cameras, and you'll have fun with either.

[Ian Taylor]

I have the N system. They are going for cheap on E-buy, no reason to go manual.

[xato]

I do landscape so the AF feature is not much use for me, but what bothers me about the older model is the fiddly up and down buttons, which are not super easy to use. If you do a different style of photography, ie. things that move, you might want to get AF for sure.

[godfrey]

I have a P645 and find it an excellent camera. I like the improvements in the 645N body's

controls, but not enough to make it an urgent "go buy one" thing. I only have two lenses,

the A45 and A75, and they are sufficient for my uses.

 

These cameras are tanks and very reliable. I've never heard of anyone else having a

focusing screen come loose like that, but that can happen to any camera if the latch isn't

fully seated or if the camera is subjected to lots of high frequency vibration. I once had a

Nikon F SLR practicaly dismantle itself in the bag after a particularly buzzy flight on a prop

engined plane.

 

Godfrey

[stephen_komp]

Thank you All. This helps me a great deal.

 

This is why I love photo.net!!!

 

You guys are great!!!

 

Thanks again - Steve

[danny_wong2]

I hated the button, they were a PITA to use.

 

With the dail you can click the shutter speeds with the eye on the viewfinder, something you cannot do with the buttons.

 

I did not fully adopted the Pentax 645 system until the N came out in 1997.

 

Although I have MF and AF lenses I prefer the rolling of the dial which I was used to from way back. When the 645N came out and the buttons were replaced with the dials the feed back was everyone hated it.

[dougmiles]

I prefer the dials to buttons too. And there's another issue to be aware of: The N puts 16 shots on a 120 roll, and the older 645 does 15. While 16 is preferable, all else equal, there's a drawback if you leave a roll in the camera unused for some days or weeks. That time gives the film an opportunity to take a kink where it turns back sharply upon itself on either side of the pressure plate.

 

With 16 exposures, the inter-frame spacing is such that the kink is placed within the area of film to be exposed on the second shot when the camera is used again. With 15 shots, the frame spacing puts the kink between frames, for potentially better film flatness for that one shot.

 

I haven't tested for this film-flatness problem, but if you're picky you could simply waste that 645N mid-roll second shot or prefer the original P645 for its 15 frames. Pentax did recognize this issue in the 645NII, where there's a user-accessible custom setting to run either 15 or 16 on 120, also resulting in either 30 or 33 on 220 film.

[Ian Taylor]

And yes, they are built incredibly well. Mine spent a couple of winters on the road in Cambodia and it performed perfectly. The ultimate film camera IMO. Sure the Contax 645 is nice, but I wouldn't subject it to what I did with the 645N.

Tons of these photos taken with it (on Portra NC):

<p>

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=184426

 

(third through tenth rows)

[dawn_kelly]

I have a 645N and love it! I do use the autofocus, which works very well. I did have a problem with the 120 back I have, not allowing the film to advance properly, but my husband took the friction assembly apart, cleaned and regreased it and now everything works perfect.

[peter_weimann1]

Hi Steve,

I use the 645NII and I really love the user interface. You can handle it even with gloves on and it works at even 25 degress Celsius below!!!! zero for more than 6 hours. One set of six Lithium AA batteries lasts for more than 250 rolls of 120 film. The autofocus is dead on as you can see in my portfolio:

 

http://www.photo.net/photos/Peter_Weimann

 

Hope this helps

Peter

[lee_shively]

I might be the only one, but I like the buttons on the original 645. They seem to me to be well placed and intuitive to use. I've not used any of the later models, however. All models of the P645 seem to have really good reputations. I've never heard of the focus screen failure mentioned but odd-ball things can happen to any device. My 645's don't get abused but they suffer a lot of neglect and they always work unless the batteries are dead. The lenses are great, by the way.

[gregory_logiodice1]

Is the 645D really dead? I thought that was still unconfirmed...

[yuri_huta]

645N has dual six zone matrix meter! That is a big reason I moved up to them from the 645.

 

645N has exposure bracketing and will imprint some exposure and other information on the

negative (outside of the actual photograph frame). The info imprinting can be turned off.

 

The viewwfinder offers up more information on the 645N.

 

The 645 is a nice body, but the 645N is quite lovely.