[rbefly]

Well, color me surprised! DPR did a quick hands-on (meaning, you'll wait 6 months to a year for the full review, if ever) and they absolutely DON'T hate one camera that starts with 'P'. Give them time, they'll figure out something to dislike or Simon will edit it in, truthfull or not.
Hands on with the Pentax 645Z: Digital Photography Review
However, when did the FluCard officially become the 'Strangely named 'FluCard'? That's the only way it's been written on DPR since the introduction of the K-3. Get over it! A joke's only funny the first time.
And the reason they're not slagging it as vociferously as usual (for a Pentax product) is because C/N don't have a similar offering. Otherwise? They'd say things like 'Good for Pentax users' (ahem! Figure out that code out yet?), 'Same menu system they've used for 10 years, for better or worse' (same as # 1) and some grumbling about the fold-out screen.
Oh, wait, they did say those things.
Never mind.
Ron

[Apapukas]

I believe Z will be a success if the prices of old glass will not skyrocket on ebay!

Also, 9 people were so fast that they not only used the camera (that isn't even sold yet), but even managed to return it already LOL!

[Na Horuk]

haha well hey, its an okay review.. for DPR. Its not too biased, for those people

[panoguy]

I think some people in Colorado need a hobby to get the tin foil hat off their head... maybe photography?
Oh, wait, it's all about what other people think of their gear.
Never mind.

[delegopa]

So this time we leave the pitchforks and torches in the shed? Just imagine what would happen if Pentax acually brought a FF and they would rate it bad!

[rbefly]

Oh, wait, it's all about what other people think of their gear.

No, it's about what the largest and most-viewed photography forum on the planet WRITES about the brand I choose to use. And continues to use that bully pulpit in their misguided quest to grovel at the feet of C/N.
Are you honestly defending DPR's policies regarding Pentax? Or, just agreeing it exists but we shouldn't talk about it? Pick one.
Even with tinfoil (as opposed to a robot helmet?) on my head, I can see and hear just fine. For years now, DPR has been relentlessly slamming Pentax in any and every way possible. The very forum we're both on, is proof of that, as if anyone needs it. Well, almost anyone, eh?
And my photography is coming along just fine, thank you. Check 'Post Your Photos!', 'Photo Critique' or any of the Weekly Challenges. I post photos there all the time, unlike some others. Funny, I never see your work there. Too busy?
DPR is the enemy of Pentax, whether you agree or not. Plenty of people understand that simple fact, both here and at DPR.
Slobbering sycophants, Kool-Aid drinkers and fawning toadies defend DPR. But, they don't know any better.
JMO
Ron

[Rondec]

So this time we leave the pitchforks and torches in the shed? Just imagine what would happen if Pentax acually brought a FF and they would rate it bad!

I actually would be surprised if DP Review would rate a Pentax full frame as great, even if it compared well to the D800. I just think they would focus (rightly perhaps) on the lack of full frame glass from Pentax and would test the auto focus to the limit and then say that it didn't measure up to Canon/Nikon options (probably true as well).

Maybe I should just go ahead and write the review now and send it to them, so they can get it out within six months of the cameras release.

[monochrome]

I actually would be surprised if DP Review would rate a Pentax full frame as great, even if it compared well to the D800. I just think they would focus (rightly perhaps) on the lack of full frame glass from Pentax and would test the auto focus to the limit and then say that it didn't measure up to Canon/Nikon options (probably true as well).

Maybe I should just go ahead and write the review now and send it to them, so they can get it out within six months of the cameras release.

DPR really didn't write a bad K3 review - they just waited until Nikon was close enough to the D400 that the K3 won't be king for very long.

But wouldn't it be fun if Ricoh had had a skunkworks secretly beavering away all these months and quarters building up a complete supply of 12 or 16 FF high quality lenses with a great magnetic focusing actuator and ring motor (or whatever)? Add to the DFA's, the FA Ltd's and the one or two FA's still around and 'release' a FF system from day one?

If the AF electronics are all there, just waiting for a FW update?

If 1/500 Flash Sync is possible on the new strobes, just waiting for the camera?

If they announced it and before it actually hit stores its on back-order, and stayed there for weeks like the GR?

If Ricoh Imaging USA was screening Dealer Applications to see which ones were suitable partners to market their FF camera system?

If there simply was no possible way DPR could write a truthful 'qualified' review without showing clear negative bias?

Oh well. I can dream.

[Rondec]

DPR really didn't write a bad K3 review - they just waited until Nikon was close enough to the D400 that the K3 won't be king for very long.

But wouldn't it be fun if Ricoh had had a skunkworks secretly beavering away all these months and quarters building up a complete supply of 12 or 16 FF high quality lenses with a great magnetic focusing actuator and ring motor (or whatever)? Add to the DFA's, the FA Ltd's and the one or two FA's still around and 'release' a FF system from day one?

If the AF electronics are all there, just waiting for a FW update?

If 1/500 Flash Sync is possible on the new strobes, just waiting for the camera?

If they announced it and before it actually hit stores its on back-order, and stayed there for weeks like the GR?

If Ricoh Imaging USA was screening Dealer Applications to see which ones were suitable partners to market their FF camera system?

If there simply was no possible way DPR could write a truthful 'qualified' review without showing clear negative bias?

Oh well. I can dream.

Oh, I agree with you. The K3 review wasn't bad. It took a long time and was kind of weird that it apparently got put in a different category from the D7100/70D. But that's a different discussion for another thread.

DPR just has a really strong tendency to recommend Pentax cameras if "you already own Pentax glass."

[monochrome]

DPR just has a really strong tendency to recommend Pentax cameras if "you already own Pentax glass."

Oh I agree with you there! Then again, we sure do seem to spend a lot of time touting backward compatibility, 24,000,000 extant lenses and arguing about the aperture actuator lever.

[JPT]

I'm with monochrome on this. The K-3 review was very fair and positive. Even more positive was the K-5 ii review. This site and others were rather lukewarm to it, saying it was just a warmed-over K-5 and complaining that its launch cost was more than an end of line K-5, which you could say of any camera. The DPR review praised it and had a whole page on Pentax's unique features, which almost read like a Pentax marketing blurb.

Now I do think that a number of the writers over there are personally really into mirrorless and high end fixed lens cameras, which is why cameras like the GR and Fuji XT-1 get quick reviews and the K-3 and Nikon D4 were ignored.

Honestly, the only "power" they have to wield and abuse is the respect they've built up over the years for writing thoughtful and well written reviews.

[interested_observer]

I too was surprised with the the positive K3 review. The initial overview of the 645Z, was pretty straight forward positive overview of the technical specifications. The comments in the overview were an interesting read - the full gamut from positive anticipation to absolute doom. What I have seen in the various postings across a couple of aggregation sites, is that no one is criticizing the sensor - especially since Phase One and Hasselblad are using the same chip, but its the lenses, they are old, they are garbage in comparison. Well they might be - I don't shoot 645, so what do I know. It's just interesting to read the various comments.

One line of reasoning is that Phase One runs $35K and the Pentax is $8.5K so it can't be any good. It's using ASP-C consumer technology, so obviously they have compromised the medium format image quality. Or that you can obtain the same image quality with a FF D800, which is substantially cheaper, with a much larger lens selection.

One thing that I have found interesting are several professional photographers who use Phase One, who are starting to ask why is their equipment 5x more expensive, with substantially fewer features.

So, I think that the next 5 years will be very interesting - or at least entertaining to say the least. Perhaps by then an "old" 645D will be going for mere $1K.