[Royce Howland]

I have both the 645D and 645Z, currently... 2 of the former and 1 of the latter. (At least 1 of the D's will be sold once an on-going shutter repair saga is concluded.) The Z is a far more shootable camera in a far wider range of situations due to its performance, high ISO range, Live View for static situations, etc. But if I was on an extremely tight budget to start into a 645 digital system, I'm not sure which way I'd go. The D still produces phenomenal files within the range it can operate effectively, so it's still a strong contender.

The major decision factor is whether you can live within the limitations of the D in exchange for the lower cost. I did for 3.5 years... but having the Z opens up the use of the camera in a tremendous way, so I personally wouldn't go back just to the D now. In fact, my current debate is whether to sell on both of my D's and get a 2nd Z instead of keeping a single D as my backup.

[ivanvernon]

Thanks for these two sets of comments. Your comments are just about what I have been thinking myself. Maybe better to bite the bullet hard and go for the Z instead of saving a few dollars and still wishing for something else! Robert, good luck in capturing the BlueAngels. I had some fairly good results year before last at Cleveland Airshow just using K-7. The cropping capability of my K-3 is much better than the K-7, and I can only imagine cropping from 645Z images!

---------- Post added 10-08-14 at 05:44 PM ----------

I have both the 645D and 645Z, currently... 2 of the former and 1 of the latter. (At least 1 of the D's will be sold once an on-going shutter repair saga is concluded.) The Z is a far more shootable camera in a far wider range of situations due to its performance, high ISO range, Live View for static situations, etc. But if I was on an extremely tight budget to start into a 645 digital system, I'm not sure which way I'd go. The D still produces phenomenal files within the range it can operate effectively, so it's still a strong contender.

The major decision factor is whether you can live within the limitations of the D in exchange for the lower cost. I did for 3.5 years... but having the Z opens up the use of the camera in a tremendous way, so I personally wouldn't go back just to the D now. In fact, my current debate is whether to sell on both of my D's and get a 2nd Z instead of keeping a single D as my backup.

Thanks again for your comments. Can you share with me the nature of your photography--advertising, landscape, or what? Thank you.

[Royce Howland]

I do mostly landscape and travel, with a smattering of other things from architecture to industrial to events to street. Not much portraiture at this point. I'm not a studio shooter so tethering isn't something I care about, nor do I use strobes so I also don't care about flash sync speed or leaf shutter lenses. Aside from that, an excellent versatile camera (e.g. the 645Z) is worth more to me than an excellent but more narrowly applicable camera (e.g. the 645D). I use an array of lenses from adapted manual 67 to manual 645 A to autofocus 645 FA to new 645 DA... whatever I can afford that works in the situation.

[rcdurston]

I've posted some of my images up here on page 6, if you want to see.


Thanks
Rob