[jon404]

Well, as for auto-focus... if the 645Z is like my film 645N, it has a little light that comes on when it's in focus. Easy enough, and it beeps, too. No problem in daylight, just put it on f/16...

[Uluru]

Well there was that rumor about the Japanese military ordering an unspecified large number of units - enough to jump-start production - enough to suggest there will be follow-on sales to Police forces.

But that was just a rumor. Kind of an extension of the 'irrational' Abenomics / Kurota-san Stimulus strategy. And since Aristophanes hasn't ever heard of such a use - then of course it must have been an unfounded rumor.

Notwithstanding the fact that Pentax is today's only manufacturer of digital Medium Format system cameras from Japan. All others are based somewhere in Europe & Middle East — no wonder that MF is dying then, and is priced among the European bunch so exorbitantly. Only player able to revitalise that market and move it forward is a Japanese company versed in a totally different production and development approach.

Then, of course they get deals and exclusivity to work on projects that are of strategic interest far Japan. Who else would get them? Samsung or Hasselblad? Ha!

[jon404]

@uluru -- you know, you'd think the US might gang up with Japan to offset the growing Euro gang... maybe buy 645Z's for all those TSA folks... just tell them it has a special Fleshomar lens that can see through clothing... after all, $8,500 is peanuts when you're on a government budget...

[thibs]

As I said, I prefer an optical viewfinder, certainly over liveview. But the shear size of the 645 ensures it will always be a small-volume seller. Nothing wrong with that if Ricoh can still make money on it and maintains its enthusiasm. However, if you could get a MF sensor in a mirrorless body not much larger than a current FF camera, and at a price of say $4k, how would that sell? And to whom?

To the whole (yep very big I know) market traditionaly served by Hassy and Mamiya/PhaseOne and the lower part becasue this market lowers in price so becomes more affordable.
Then, maybe, they'll need to think about mirrorless necessity (which doesn't mean they should go forward right now).
Of course they have their very own market (film 645) to go to.

And btw, the so-called full frame 645 is NOT 60x45 mm (stupid I know) but 56x41.5 mm.

[RonHendriks1966]

Well there is room for a mirrorless MF camera. And if Sony wants to they can.

So lloking at this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flange_focal_distance

Sony maybe can make the focal flange distance as close as the Samsun NX with 25.5 mm wich is a lot smaller then Pentax 645Z. Talking about Samsung, they can do the same trick.

[Uluru]

..
Sony maybe can make the focal flange distance as close as the Samsun NX with 25.5 mm wich is a lot smaller then Pentax 645Z. Talking about Samsung, they can do the same trick.

"Look children, I'll make a tennis ball disappear in thin air".
"But you did that same trick a month ago"!?!
"No, I used a golf ball then" ...

When some repeat all the same approach all over again, and the other guys fall in the line to copy it, it s hardly a "trick".
It is a worn out parlour comedy everyone knows. It cannot excite even the children from the first row. Sony can surely pull out one more same parlour "trick" as before — we have come to expect it from them, yes.

[thibs]

Samsung won't. They could but they won't.
Their GX didn't sell.
Their NX doesn't sell much either (does NOT mean it is not interesting)
They'd launch an MF where they have NO history at all (and in MF market it IS important).

I don't believe it a second. They don't even have an FF.
No way.

And if they do, it won't sell.

[mecrox]

"Look children, I'll make a tennis ball disappear in thin air".
"But you did that same trick a month ago"!?!
"No, I used a golf ball then" ...

When some repeat all the same approach all over again, and the other guys fall in the line to copy it, it s hardly a "trick".
It is a worn out parlour comedy everyone knows. It cannot excite even the children from the first row. Sony can surely pull out one more same parlour "trick" as before — we have come to expect it from them, yes.

So I take it you won't be buying one then?

If Sony or anyone else thinks they can make a solid business case for a portfolio of products built around this new sensor, then all the best to them. For some outfits, it might be another way to edge around the dead weight of the Canonikon duopoly and that's no bad thing either. For Pentax it must make perfect sense in their home market of Japan because the popularity of their 645 system there is long and strong, going back many many years.

[D1N0]

Fuji used to have great looking MF Rangefinders. They could make one like the x-pro1

[Kunzite]

As I said, I prefer an optical viewfinder, certainly over liveview. But the shear size of the 645 ensures it will always be a small-volume seller. Nothing wrong with that if Ricoh can still make money on it and maintains its enthusiasm. However, if you could get a MF sensor in a mirrorless body not much larger than a current FF camera, and at a price of say $4k, how would that sell? And to whom?

"PentaxIsDoomed" refers to the loud ones complaining about what the 645Z (or any other Pentax camera) isn't but "should" be; I understood what you're saying.
This "if" is highly doubtful IMO; more than halving the price just by removing the reflex viewing system and dedicated PDAF? I instantly reject any "business plan" involving such miraculous price cutting, sorry, it's a bad habit of mine

On a more realistic note, the price will still be very high (not by DMF standards), they will need a high quality EVF (how about using exactly the same model as in a $600 APS-C camera?) and a new lens line.
They might do it eventually, at the "right" moment and when EVFs are good enough (by DMF standards). They might also find a way to build a more compact 645 DSLR; size reduction is not as important as pursuing the "ultimate" image quality - and the lenses are rather large - so this is still an option.

So I take it you won't be buying one then?

Rumors are being sold now? What happened with them being free, posted on public Internet sites?

[Mistral75]

Fuji used to have great looking MF Rangefinders. They could make one like the x-pro1

Fuji more than used to have medium format expertise: they actually do! Who do you think designed the Hasselblad H series and their lenses and is still producing part of the bodies and the entirety of the lenses?

[monochrome]

Well there is room for a mirrorless MF camera. And if Sony wants to they can.

I truly do not understand the imperative to change everything to a skinny, shiny hipster plate. Is it Apple deign envy?

[Boris_Akunin]

Any guesses if Pentax will keep designing their 645 lenses to cover the full 645 image circle?

[JPT]

One bit of bad news. The AF points on this camera are not spread out across the whole frame. The AF system is exactly the same as the K-3 and the AF points are clumped in the middle of the frame.

Of course, this is probably too be expected and still much better than the AF of competing MF systems!

[tuco]

Of course, this is probably too be expected and still much better than the AF of competing MF systems!

The Hasselblad has only one focus point. Really bad right? But that one point you can focus, recompose the camera and it will automatically calculate and adjust the focus from where you locked on to where you are aiming the camera now. So the single focus point is both versatile and not as bad as it sounds.