[mikeodial]

I have been saving my pennies for the upcoming FF, however am getting tempted to move towards the 645D. I have a K3, Sigma SD1 and Hasselblad 500c (film). The Hasselblad lenses might make a good combination with the 645D. I love the ease of use and wide ISO range of the K3, but the quality of the SD1 is something else. My main interest in higher quality is landscape and flowers, but I do some portrait work as well, just for the family.


Thoughts. The 645D seems to becoming very affordable.

[bertwert]

I have been saving my pennies for the upcoming FF, however am getting tempted to move towards the 645D. I have a K3, Sigma SD1 and Hasselblad 500c (film). The Hasselblad lenses might make a good combination with the 645D. I love the ease of use and wide ISO range of the K3, but the quality of the SD1 is something else. My main interest in higher quality is landscape and flowers, but I do some portrait work as well, just for the family.


Thoughts. The 645D seems to becoming very affordable.

For the hasselblad lenses, you would need this (or something like this (2 second google search)):http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Pro-Adapter-Hasselblad-Pentax/dp/B008BBI6M4

[veraikon]

I Thoughts. The 645D seems to becoming very affordable.

yea - the "last order offer" makes me realy thinking about a D . And for your Hassi lenses : https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/48-pentax-medium-format/297826-fotodiox-p...rt-review.html

[Kolor-Pikker]

The 645D is a very slow camera, which I guess is fine for the kind of subject matter you listed, meanwhile I've no doubts that the upcoming FF Pentax DSLR will be quite quick and a stellar performer in low light; two fairly different ways to go.

I had the 645D for a short while and while I liked it, I did miss having Live View as on my Canon 5D2, and that alone was worth upgrading to the Z for, among other things. I think you'll like it in any case.

[mikeodial]

The 645D is a very slow camera, which I guess is fine for the kind of subject matter you listed, meanwhile I've no doubts that the upcoming FF Pentax DSLR will be quite quick and a stellar performer in low light; two fairly different ways to go.

I had the 645D for a short while and while I liked it, I did miss having Live View as on my Canon 5D2, and that alone was worth upgrading to the Z for, among other things. I think you'll like it in any case.

It can't be much slower than the Sigma DP2M I have! However, I agree that live view is very handy and the speed of my K3 and low light is wonderful. I accept every camera cannot do every job well, and as I am not a professional, dropping $10K is out of the question for a Z. I am however, a little concerned that the operation is going to be a little too clunky with the Hasselblad lenses. On the other hand if the FF has pixel shift and better dynamic range along with more pixels, it could be a close call between the two. I have a good set of FF lenses already, so that's not the issue.

[Pioneer]

I will certainly be interested in the Pentax FF when it comes out, but the 645D has really spoiled me. I absolutely love the image quality and would find it hard to step backwards.

As for speed? Well, my personal experience is that it is no different than a lot of my manual cameras. Of course if you feel the need to chimp your photos all the time then it will seem very slow since it does take time to clear the buffer onto the card. I think this is particularly true when you are using both cards for each shot.

The biggest downside I can find to the 645D is that it is a large camera. Once you get past that it really does what I want.

If you are interested in the 645 I suggest you rent one for 3 or 4 days from Lens Rental. The cost is reasonable and you will get a great chance to see how it fits your way of working before you put your money down.

[normhead]

I will certainly be interested in the Pentax FF when it comes out, but the 645D has really spoiled me. I absolutely love the image quality and would find it hard to step backwards.

As for speed? Well, my personal experience is that it is no different than a lot of my manual cameras. Of course if you feel the need to chimp your photos all the time then it will seem very slow since it does take time to clear the buffer onto the card. I think this is particularly true when you are using both cards for each shot.

The biggest downside I can find to the 645D is that it is a large camera. Once you get past that it really does what I want.

If you are interested in the 645 I suggest you rent one for 3 or 4 days from Lens Rental. The cost is reasonable and you will get a great chance to see how it fits your way of working before you put your money down.

What happens if you decide you don't want to give it back? I know that would happen to me. I'm not touching it until I have the money to buy it. The guy at the Pentax booth at Henry's EXPOsure a few years ago, practically forced me to use it. I've been drooling ever since. I only wish I'd put my own memory card in the camera so I had a few pictures to show.

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Last edited by normhead; 06-24-2015 at 08:26 AM.

[mikeSF]

yes, the 645D is still very much a winner, especially for a more deliberate shooting style, such as landscapes, portraits, interiors, product, etc. The IQ will still surpass the FF and the price gap is narrowing, so it is a good time to pick up a D and some lenses.
I do not miss live view focusing since the viewfinder is large and bright enough even for my middle aged eyesight.
good luck & happy shopping!

[mikeodial]

What happens if you decide you don't want to give it back? I know that towel happen to me. i'm not touching it until I have the money to buy it. The guy at the Pentax booth at Henry's EXPOsure a few years ago, practically forced me to use it. I've been drooling ever since. I only wish I'd put my own memory card in the camera so I had a few pictures to show.

Yes, this just happened to me with the Sigma Merrill. Ended up selling other equipment to fund the SD1. When you see an image "look" you want to create it's very hard to resist. My wife might help with the resistance though ...

[normhead]

Yes, this just happened to me with the Sigma Merrill. Ended up selling other equipment to fund the SD1. When you see an image "look" you want to create it's very hard to resist. My wife might help with the resistance though ...

Why are those wives like that?

[Pioneer]

I use mine to shoot girls softball, Little League baseball and soccer. Of course those are all outdoors in the sun, or under the lights, so it isn't really challenging the ISO or lens speed. If I start going indoors for basketball or wrestling then it will get tougher to get what I want.

Every time someone posts that a camera isn't fast enough for a certain type of photography I have to chuckle. I've used Graflex Crown Graphics to capture some pretty good sports photos. I have also gotten some pretty good wildlife shots by setting up a blind and letting the wildlife come to me. Face it, compared to some cameras regularly used by photographers only 50 years ago the Pentax 645D is blazing fast, and a lot like magic.

Not everyone has to have the fastest camera or blazing focus speed to get the photographs they want. Sometimes all it takes is just to change your approach.

Example 1 - The batter just hit the ball out of play. Can you see it?


Example 2 - The batter is preparing to hit the ball that is quickly approaching. Can you see the ball?


These were both taken with fully manual, mechanical cameras with no exposure or focus assistance at all. Compared with these cameras, that I do love using, the 645D is a relative speed demon.

[mikeodial]

I use mine to shoot girls softball, Little League baseball and soccer. Of course those are all outdoors in the sun, or under the lights, so it isn't really challenging the ISO or lens speed. If I start going indoors for basketball or wrestling then it will get tougher to get what I want.

Every time someone posts that a camera isn't fast enough for a certain type of photography I have to chuckle. I've used Graflex Crown Graphics to capture some pretty good sports photos. I have also gotten some pretty good wildlife shots by setting up a blind and letting the wildlife come to me. Face it, compared to some cameras regularly used by photographers only 50 years ago the Pentax 645D is blazing fast, and a lot like magic.

Not everyone has to have the fastest camera or blazing focus speed to get the photographs they want. Sometimes all it takes is just to change your approach.

Example 1 - The batter just hit the ball out of play. Can you see it?


Example 2 - The batter is preparing to hit the ball that is quickly approaching. Can you see the ball?


These were both taken with fully manual, mechanical cameras with no exposure or focus assistance at all. Compared with these cameras, that I do love using, the 645D is a relative speed demon.

Agree, we can all adapt to situations when needs must. We have so much more technology in our hands today, each one giving us something else we can do, differently or better.