With a decent video engine, recording ProRes, or CineDNG, the 645Z could have easily matched the Canon 'Cinema' range - the EOS C100/300/500 - but add in the preexisting lenses for it's mount, and guys like me are wishing it was 4K capable.
If Pentax wants to be serious about video, the APS-c based cameras could be made in to fantastic HD cine cameras, having the Medium Format sensor doing 4K would have been a simple and logical next step for us Cinematographers - it would have created a new option to keep customers, and given others a viable alternative - all of the EOS Cinema range are stupidly over priced, and none of the competition in the 645Z's price bracket - from GH4 with Yaghe, BMD 4K, Ursa and Aja Cion can match sensor size or characteristics.
Originally posted by TCSJordan I feel they made a huge oversight by underserving the video crowd, as filmmakers will pay a lot for a unique aesthetic, which the 645Z certainly could provide.
Got it in one.
It would have a unique 'look' to it's vision, and that appeals anywhere where you don't want your product looking the same as everyone elses.
This is the reason people are choosing the Bolex D16, or the Kinefinity KiniMini4K - They don't look the same as every other camera out there.
Heck, at the RRP listed, if it did 4K 4:2:2 out of its HDMI, you could add the new Atomos recorder to the price and still beat the EOS range for value for money.
Originally posted by TCSJordan The external recording was so bad that Chris and Nick just threw the footage away.
This doesn't suprise me actually - I've been suspecting recently that the output send to the HDMI port is AFTER the down-conversion to the resolution used by the on board LCD screen, and then line doubled to be a 1080 signal - Did the footage have 'jaggies' along nearly horizontal shapes in the image?
Edit: Listening to the round up at the tail end of the review, I can see you've run in to the same issues with the low data-rate that I have with my K-01, and that I'm sure K-3 owners do to.
To shoot at 1600 or 3200 you absolutely must light a scene to avoid the data loss that occurs in CoDec in the black and near black areas of the image.
And the description of the blockiness that was seen in the external recorder does sound very much to what I see on playback.
That need to roll and check exposure - I get that when using stop-down metering of K-M lenses.
K-A lenses in the A position give correct live view when the body is controlling the exposure.
(I have no idea about the 645 lenses and whether their Iris is controlled the same way.)