[larkis]

I'm getting tired of waiting. I think my 645D2 will say Leica S on it.... Mainly due to the slow lens arrivals at Pentax. The legacy glass is just so-so and the new amazing glass is painfully slow to market.

I'm in the same boat as far as the 645D goes at the moment. I was going to purchase the 90mm 2.8 lens but given the lack of any concrete announcements from pentax i'm on the fence when it comes to investing more money into the system at the moment. If they do announce another body, perhaps a mirrorless one, will it even support the same lenses ? Sure the camera has been, and still is a great tool for me, but given how small things can get now, having a huge mirror box as in the 645D may not be something that has any advantage going into the future unless the quality gap between it and smaller systems is drastic.

Cost aside, the size and weight saving of a D800e vs the 645D was not worth a nikon purchase for me. The sony a7r however (which I have on pre order) makes me wonder what pentax will do in order to compete on the image quality to size ratio front. If the 645DII is going to be another DSLR form factor camera, it better be 80MP to justify it's size. I doubt the a7r will have better image quality than the 645D when modern lenses such as the 90mm 2.8 are used, but given the huge weight difference between the two systems one might be inclined to leave the pentax in the car when going on longer photographic hikes.

[bull drinkwater]

i am happy with mine and have no plans to upgrade.i have not seen a live view camera that was easy to focus the images sucked. as for mirrir lock up, for me it's only good for still objects.with longer lenses i up the iso and go for a faster shutter speed.

[Lacunapratum]

Agree with larkis and atInq9: the new Sony A7R appears to be a very tempting alternative even for serious Pentax medium format enthusiasts. The camera is lighter than other full-frame options, more compact, less expensive, and appears to have excellent dynamic range and image quality likely on par with the 645D. The lack of a mirror should only increase camera longevity and perhaps reliability over the P645D. Image quality may still be acceptable even at high ISO values, likely a four to five step advantage over the 645D.

I was about to post my old Minolta MD lenses on ebay, but this camera promises to provide a new home for them, including the 600mm and 400mm APO, the 1600, 500, and 250mm mirror lenses (don't have the 800mm), the 85mm Varisoft, the legendary 58mm/1.2, and the late 135mm/2. I don't know how the wide angles will fare, but the opportunity to adapt Canon's TS-E lenses or use some of those new Voigtlander designs is more than attractive. Rarely seen a camera with so many creative opportunities.

I just went out with my 645D, 35mm A, 120mm FA, and 400mm ED IF 67. Love the feel of the lenses and the image quality, especially the bokeh on the 400mm. But boy is that bag heavy... Even if the 645D image quality is slightly better, the Sony will give it a run for the money. It's time for Pentax/Ricoh to move to the next step.

[larkis]

Even if the 645D image quality is slightly better, the Sony will give it a run for the money. It's time for Pentax/Ricoh to move to the next step.

I think this is the biggest benefit I see in the sony camera. The D800e was not enough to tip the scale for me, the a7r however is exactly what I want for a travel camera. I hope pentax will have a medium format answer to this.