Dubai Press Conference

[eurostar]

Look at the standard lens for the 645D on the lens roadmap: it's a 55mm. Just a little more than the standard lens for "FF" /24x36mm).

So, I think it' easy to see that the 645 will not be rally a digital MF, but a "slightly-larger-than-FF".

Using the 645 bayonet lenses, Pentax could delivery istantly a full system that beat Nikon Canon by their own marketing stategy, that bigger sensor is always better.

I don't believe that it will be called 645D, as those numbers mean nothing on this camera, nor I believe that the mock-up Pentax has shown in the past years will resemble the actual camera that will be presented. Why a so big mirrorbox when the actual mirror would be basically the same dimension of the mirror of a pentax 24x36 film camera?

[Kunzite]

The sensor used in 645D is twice as big as the 35mm frame, so the mirror must be bigger. The 55mm lens is actually wide, not normal on that camera.
I hope we'll see it on market, but I doubt I'll afford one.

[MikePerham]

Originally Posted by eurostar

Look at the standard lens for the 645D on the lens roadmap: it's a 55mm. Just a little more than the standard lens for "FF" /24x36mm).

So, I think it' easy to see that the 645 will not be rally a digital MF, but a "slightly-larger-than-FF".

Using the 645 bayonet lenses, Pentax could delivery istantly a full system that beat Nikon Canon by their own marketing stategy, that bigger sensor is always better.

I don't believe that it will be called 645D, as those numbers mean nothing on this camera, nor I believe that the mock-up Pentax has shown in the past years will resemble the actual camera that will be presented. Why a so big mirrorbox when the actual mirror would be basically the same dimension of the mirror of a pentax 24x36 film camera?

Actually, most MF digital backs are not 45mm X 60mm. For instance the Mamiya 645 ditital is only 36mm X 48mm.

Cheers, Mike.

[Kunzite]

Isn't the 645 frame smaller than 6*4.5?

[thibs]

Originally Posted by Kunzite

Isn't the 645 frame smaller than 6*4.5?

Well, no. The 645 is 6x4.5 film camera and the prototype shown by Pentax has a Kodak 48x36 sensor. This is indeed twice as big as a 35mm FF sensor.

[Pål Jensen]

Originally Posted by eurostar

Look at the standard lens for the 645D on the lens roadmap: it's a 55mm. Just a little more than the standard lens for "FF" /24x36mm).

So, I think it' easy to see that the 645 will not be rally a digital MF, but a "slightly-larger-than-FF".

?

The 645D sensor have twice the area of a FF Canon....

[Kunzite]

From bhphotovideo: " Format 6 x 4.5cm (actual image size is 56 x 41.5 mm)"
Pentax | 645N AF Camera Body | 15722 | B&H Photo Video

[JanG]

Originally Posted by MikePerham

Actually, most MF digital backs are not 45mm X 60mm. For instance the Mamiya 645 ditital is only 36mm X 48mm.

Cheers, Mike.

Ummh, ah, tried guessing myself several times, asked a few scientists, and emptied some sets of batteries on pocket calculators: the result was always that 36 x 48 is twice the size of 36 x 24 ....

[Chickenhawk]

Originally Posted by Kunzite

The sensor used in 645D is twice as big as the 35mm frame, so the mirror must be bigger. The 55mm lens is actually wide, not normal on that camera.
I hope we'll see it on market, but I doubt I'll afford one.

I can't afford it either BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER. If a 645D hits the market (and if I can still use my 645 lenses on it) I am buying one right away; I don't care what it costs or how long my kids have to go without shoes or food. I am buying one.

I am sure I paid for my local Pentax rep to take his whole family to Dubai with all the stuff I have bought in the last three years, so he better start planning his cruise vacation right now if the 645D really comes out.

If the 645D really happens, I have a bunch of prime Pentax lenses and a couple of istD bodies that I will be selling the very next day. (For the life of me, I can't figure out why I would need TWO 43mm lenses in black; why do I need a 135mm f2.8 when I have my gorgeous 50-135mm, and I never really seem to use my 20mm, 28mm or 50 f1.4 anymore.)

If you are in my area, please feel free to drop by and try out my new 645D. I will be easy to recognize; I am the one wearing Salvation Army clothes, carrying a $10,000 camera and surrounded by hungry kids in bare feet.

[Gruoso]

Originally Posted by Chickenhawk

If you are in my area, please feel free to drop by and try out my new 645D. I will be easy to recognize; I am the one wearing Salvation Army clothes, carrying a $10,000 camera and surrounded by hungry kids in bare feet.

I will be the shady and merciless foreigner that will steal your camera and will runaway taking pictures of your desperation.

[c.r.brown]

How much for the children?

[m8o]

Originally Posted by c.r.brown

How much for the children?

Holy Cow... I'm coughing from laughing so hard.
John Belushi ... r.i.p.

[Confused]

Hi Mike (MikePerham)

IMHO yours are the wisest, most pertinent and erudite words to be found in this entire post:

Actually, most MF digital backs are not 45mm X 60mm. For instance the Mamiya 645 digital is only 36mm X 48mm.

To the best of my knowledge, neither Leaf, Phase One, Mamiya (nor any other competing companies for that matter) have yet seen fit to produce a GENUINE fully-functioning commercially viable 6 x 4.5mm digital sensor. Even if they did, the world-wide demand for such a device would be 'relatively' tiny by comparison to DSLR or compact digital markets, due to the limited requirement and sky-high retail cost. The principle is called 'supply and demand' and I sometimes begin to wonder whether many photographers have the faintest idea about the technical complexities involved in fabricating a flawless CCD/CMOS sensor and just how difficult the process is ? The 'rejection ratio' of faulty sensors might shock many of you !
Therefore could someone with a modicum of common sense KINDLY EXPLAIN to me how a corporation with Pentax's relatively meagre R&D budget (courtesy of Hoya's recent financial injection) could all of a sudden magically generate the astonishing ability to outsmart the rest of the photographic world in one fell swoop and leave them trailing in their wake by producing a
true 6 x 4.5mm medium-format DSLR ? Sorry folks, but I fear some of you are entering into the realms of fantasy YET AGAIN !! Wasn't it Shakespeare who penned the immortal phrase "Perchance to dream" etc.......

Best regards
Richard

[Pål Jensen]

Originally Posted by Confused

Hi Mike (MikePerham)

IMHO yours are the wisest, most pertinent and erudite words to be found in this entire post:



To the best of my knowledge, neither Leaf, Phase One, Mamiya (nor any other competing companies for that matter) have yet seen fit to produce a GENUINE fully-functioning commercially viable 6 x 4.5mm digital sensor. Even if they did, the world-wide demand for such a device would be 'relatively' tiny by comparison to DSLR or compact digital markets, due to the limited requirement and sky-high retail cost. The principle is called 'supply and demand' and I sometimes begin to wonder whether many photographers have the faintest idea about the technical complexities involved in fabricating a flawless CCD/CMOS sensor and just how difficult the process is ? The 'rejection ratio' of faulty sensors might shock many of you !
Therefore could someone with a modicum of common sense KINDLY EXPLAIN to me how a corporation with Pentax's relatively meagre R&D budget (courtesy of Hoya's recent financial injection) could all of a sudden magically generate the astonishing ability to outsmart the rest of the photographic world in one fell swoop and leave them trailing in their wake by producing a
true 6 x 4.5mm medium-format DSLR ? Sorry folks, but I fear some of you are entering into the realms of fantasy YET AGAIN !! Wasn't it Shakespeare who penned the immortal phrase "Perchance to dream" etc.......

Best regards
Richard

Because Pentax is a huge megacorporation compared to the backyard shed outfits you cited above. If Mamiya, which is indeed tiny and bankrupt trice, can pull it off, Pentax certainly can.
The market doesn't exist because no one is currently making a modern MF based DSLR.
Pentax can take both hardware and software from excisting K-series bodies (like the K20D) and save lots developing cost for a 645D. The 645D will also use the chassis and finder system of the 645 film camera; long time paid for. The question is the sensor. If they are smart and if it is true that the coming 14mp sensor is Pentax design, they may have made facilities for getting the sensor in various sizes....

[k10dbook]

Originally Posted by Confused

Hi Mike (MikePerham)

IMHO yours are the wisest, most pertinent and erudite words to be found in this entire post:



To the best of my knowledge, neither Leaf, Phase One, Mamiya (nor any other competing companies for that matter) have yet seen fit to produce a GENUINE fully-functioning commercially viable 6 x 4.5mm digital sensor. Even if they did, the world-wide demand for such a device would be 'relatively' tiny by comparison to DSLR or compact digital markets, due to the limited requirement and sky-high retail cost. The principle is called 'supply and demand' and I sometimes begin to wonder whether many photographers have the faintest idea about the technical complexities involved in fabricating a flawless CCD/CMOS sensor and just how difficult the process is ? The 'rejection ratio' of faulty sensors might shock many of you !
Therefore could someone with a modicum of common sense KINDLY EXPLAIN to me how a corporation with Pentax's relatively meagre R&D budget (courtesy of Hoya's recent financial injection) could all of a sudden magically generate the astonishing ability to outsmart the rest of the photographic world in one fell swoop and leave them trailing in their wake by producing a
true 6 x 4.5mm medium-format DSLR ? Sorry folks, but I fear some of you are entering into the realms of fantasy YET AGAIN !! Wasn't it Shakespeare who penned the immortal phrase "Perchance to dream" etc.......

Best regards
Richard

And what if the full 6 x 4.5 frame could be done with multi sensors, coupled together by electronics (Sort of a panoramic picture) and internal software to merge all the sensor captures into one photo?

Regards,

Yvon Bourque