[Uluru]

Staff note: This post may contain affiliate links, which means Pentax Forums may earn a small commission if a visitor clicks through and makes a purchase. If you would like to support the forum directly, you may also make a donation here.

---

Well, the next stage in their camera design would that, in addition to 120 colour combinations, they also offer 12 different camera shapes:
Duck, horse, koala, elephant, rabbit, hippo, giraffe, lion, sunflower, classic car, shoe, ice-cream.

[Clavius]

Well, the next stage in their camera design would that, in addition to 120 colour combinations, they also offer 12 different camera shapes:
Duck, horse, koala, elephant, rabbit, hippo, giraffe, lion, sunflower, classic car, shoe, ice-cream.

LOL!

You're forgetting about the special limited Hello Kitty version though.

[jon404]

New 645D-II rumor -- that green button lets you automask the subject, creating a green-screen effect in camera, so that you can deliver green-screen photos immediately without further processing. You heard it here first.

EDIT -- above feature will definitely be implemented on the Hello Kitty version.

[mikemike]

The only thing that bothers me with those Pentax bridge cameras is that they look so much like a tiny DSLR. It might confuse buyers into thinking that a DSLR like K-50 is only bigger, when in reality a DSLR is a pretty big step up in terms of image quality, functions, and of course lens capabilities (provided you buy the lenses). Or even the Q!

That is true across all manufacturers. The bridge cameras are designed to look like an expensive camera.

[jogiba]

That is true across all manufacturers. The bridge cameras are designed to look like an expensive camera.

Some DSLRs cost much less than some bridge cameras.
Canon EOS Rebel T3 Digital SLR Camera w 18 55mm Is Lens 013803136340 | eBay
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 Digital Camera DSCRX10/B B&H Photo

[eurostar]

But the difference with the (still ridiculously overpriced) Hasselblad bellows is that its actually made for subject photography, meaning it has a potentially unlimited useful lifetime.

The Pentax bellows is made exclusively for copying film! Presumably if you have purchased the 645D to be do MF copying, your MF film body will be seeing substantially less use, meaning that once you have your existing negatives/slides scanned, the bellows becomes largely superfluous. And judging by the resale prices of those small-format bellows you mentioned, I doubt you will see much return on your investment when you try to resell this bellows.

I agree. But they could sell it as a slide-duplicator AND a macro-bellow.

[Zygonyx]

Using the 645D to copy 6x7 negatives you would retain the 6x7 DOF characteristics which are very cool. Since there is no 6x7 digital sensor (or of there is it is so expensive i don't even want to know about it), this is a tool to keep shooting 6x7 in the digital age.

Don't you think a good professionnal scanner does a better job ?
Of course you don't have it home, but...

[monochrome]

I picture older Japanese men carefully, precisely and systematically removing 6x7 negatives from translucent envelopes, patiently photographing and converting each of their decades of collected images to digital. I imagine these men continue to shoot film and will continue to shoot film until they die.

I don't picture Westerners converting old Kodachromes.

I'm not surprised by the price of this accessory because (I imagine) it isn't priced to sell it to me. What surprises me is that it is reported not able to shoot 4x5 negatives.

[D1N0]

Don't you think a good professionnal scanner does a better job ?
Of course you don't have it home, but...

Sure but this does not need driver and hardware-support it will keep working long after microsoft ore apple decide to change something rendering your scanner useless.

[Pål Jensen]

We can value it much or nothing, but it's still an accessory of a medium format camera priced many thousands of euros. And while we can find on the used market many slide-duplicator for small format cameras, for medium format the bellows available are few, and slide duplicatore accessories even less, if not at all.

Bellows have always been expensive. They are not suitable for automated production and sell in small numbers...

[eliallan]

The scanners that are out there currently are also quite expensive and not fun to use. I had a coolscan 4000 for a while and its the reason I went digital. Scanners are slow, and frustrating, often leaving a great deal of work to be done in post. I feel like the scanner market was intentionally ignored through the 2000's in order to push people into a more profitable digital market. The only good scanners available are made for labs and not as a realistic option for the home studio. I'm not going to pay $1300 for this but I sure would like to be able to. I would love to be shooting 6x7 and digitizing with a k3. That workflow sounds pretty appealing to me. There are also a fair number of people, even pros who still embrace the look of film, even to the point of wanting less resolution not more. I know a guy who shoots weddings with an old Hasselblad and one lens, and he's making very good money. Mostly because he's a very good photographer but also because he delivers something unique. So I'm a fan of this offering and I think it will be good for Pentax's high end market. If they can't eat Canon's market they can atleast take Mamiya's.

[Uluru]

..The only good scanners available are made for labs and not as a realistic option for the home studio. I'm not going to pay $1300 for this but I sure would like to be able to. .

What capitalism would hate us to do, perhaps, is to share the cost among the few interested friends. Instead of buying everything ourselves, a piece of equipment like this can be mutually financed.

[Zygonyx]

When i want digitalisation of my 6x7 or 645 MF negatives, i go to a reliable professionnal lab, that brings me with the desired files up to more than 20Mpix at a reasonnable cost.
That is another capitalistic-proof way of doing things...

[Jan67]

I bought Pentax 6x7 one year ago. I had neither MF scanner nor dark room that time.
I did'n want to invest 2000 USD in Nikon Coolscan 9000 or more average Epson V750. I decided to try macro method, inspired by:

How to scan films using a digital camera | | Addicted2light Addicted2light

I modified it to K3+macro rings 32mm + M50/4 macro + filter reduction ring + extension tube (part of the waste pipe) + 12w LED panel
The magnification is almost 1:1, so one 6x7 negative consists of 8 APSC photos (matrix of 2 columns x 4 rows), which are merged in SW. K3 focus peaking makes focusing on film corn very accurate. The setup (excluding camera) can be seen here:



Extension tube keeps the lens to film distance constant and helps to keep film flat.

One horizontal merged pair:



PROS:
Low costs. Macro rings and lens are ca 150usd; the rest is almost nothing. I also tested A50/1.4 and was not bad.
Resolution. You decide, what resolution you want. With ca 1:1 macro you get final resolution of ca 11400x9000 px and 300MB file.
Scan quality. The scan quality is comparable to Nikon CoolScan 8000.
EDIT: LED panel. It enables to focus properly. I tried flash as well, but LED panel is better, you need permanent light for focusing

CONS
Less comfort. It does not take a long time to make 8 photos, but merging is an additional work.

This new Pentax replicator would be interesting, if also enables easy and quick multiple macro shooting of the negative. Otherwise it will be just expensive solution with an average scan quality. Probably good for somebody who needs to scan hundreds of negatives and quality is not critical. I also can't imagine, how it will be with focusing since flash is not permanent light.

[Zygonyx]

Interesting.
I haven't tried it yet, but i guess this kind of equipment can do for APS-C film / 4x5" negatives in multiple exposure as well