[tonyzoc]

I've been using my newly acquired 645 and had some thoughts on the battery grip...
Why is it removable? Was there plans for optional replacements that never came to be? I would have loved to see an optional pistol grip battery that mounted on the bottom...how easy would that have been to produce. Or how about a replacement grip with a self timer built in. It seems odd the grip is removable, yet nothing exists to replace it.

[jumbleview]

That's valid idea. But I ma afraid you are a little bit late to propose the innovation for that camera.

[tonyzoc]

That's valid idea. But I ma afraid you are a little bit late to propose the innovation for that camera.

I wasn't expecting anything new to come out... Just wondering if anyone knew the history...why was it removable? The only thing I could come up with was... there is a remote battery back and the ability to connect a remote release (I think) to the remote battery pack. Still what a missed opportunity to sell owners a second or third grip. A pistol grip or a left handed grip would have been great.

[itsdoable]

The original manual listed a remote control unit that replaced the battery grip, although I'm not sure it was ever offered.

There was also a remote battery holder (for cold weather), but that plugged into the original battery grip.

[stevebrot]

I can't imagine that the basic functionality is so complex that it cannot be reverse engineered as a DIY project.


Steve

[Alex645]

I've been using my newly acquired 645 and had some thoughts on the battery grip...
Why is it removable? Was there plans for optional replacements that never came to be?

Good observation. You have to take a time machine back to 1984 when the Pentax 645 was introduced. The other medium format cameras from Hasselblad, Rolleiflex, Mamiya, and Bronica all boasted varying degrees of interchangeability of backs, viewfinders, and motor drives.

Pentax designers and engineers chose to make their 645 smaller and lighter by opting out of interchangeable backs and finders. Any photographer with an investment in their Hassie system wasn't going to switch. What this camera did was attract field and street photographers like me into medium format with a camera that I could walk and hike with.

The removable power grip was probably intended to be an upgradable alternative until the 645N was conceived. I have had occasions where I was no where near fresh AA batteries, had no power, and removed the grip just to make things lighter shooting manually albeit with worse ergonomics. The ultimate flaw with trying to shoot manually is the need to actuate the shutter and advance using your left hand and the limitation of one shutter speed, although that was a common thing for folks like me with a Nikon F3.

So to answer the OP's question: Either it was less expensive to manufacture the camera and the grip separately or Pentax did intend for an optional grip that never materialized.