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645D cancelled - or not

Pahrens
Posted 10/05/2007 - 13:52 Link
According to an article on the Nikkei website the 645D has been cancelled; Is this true? I found the article at www.fredmiranda.com. I really hope this is not the case.
Gwyn
Posted 10/05/2007 - 14:22 Link
I was just reading something similar - dpreview, photo.net and imageresource all have it:

This message on Nikkei according to a Belgian friend

Quote:

Quote:
Thursday, May 10, 2007 3:56 a.m. (JST)

Pentax To Sell Tokyo HQ, Quit Low-Profit Ops To Lift Corp Value


TOKYO (Nikkei)--Pentax Corp. (7750) plans to sell its Tokyo headquarters and withdraw from less profitable businesses under strategies the camera maker has crafted to block a takeover bid by optical glass manufacturer Hoya Corp. (7741), The Nikkei learned Wednesday.
text of article includes

"On top of this, Pentax will continue to overhaul less profitable
businesses. It will abandon the development of medium-format single-lens
reflex cameras designed for professional photographers and specialize in
digital SLR offerings for new and intermediate users."

It seems to be directly counter to Benjikans postings earlier.

I am confused.
Mannesty
Posted 10/05/2007 - 14:50 Link
Well, as I read it, the 645D IS a "digital SLR" and as such, will continue into production. I think it's just the medium format film cameras that will cease, as expected.
Peter E Smith - flickr Photostream
Mongoose
Posted 10/05/2007 - 14:59 Link
645D can't really be called an "intermediate" camera though.

I wonder if Ben will cast any light on this
Tyr
Posted 10/05/2007 - 15:01 Link
I don't think they'd stop the production of the 645D as they have been touting it for a long time.

Would be an absolute waste of R&D resources if they did cancel it and a big dissapointment. Medium format DSLRs are hard to come by and there are a fair few people looking into getting them.

I can see many good uses for this camera, especially high quality large professional printing.
Mongoose
Posted 10/05/2007 - 15:51 Link
the MZ-D was a working prototype and they cancelled that, so I wouldn't be overly shocked. Disapointed yes, but not shocked.
George Lazarette
Posted 10/05/2007 - 15:54 Link
Tyr wrote:
I don't think they'd stop the production of the 645D as they have been touting it for a long time.

That's no reason not to stop. If at any time they think that it doesn't make financial sense, then they will/should stop it.
Quote:

Would be an absolute waste of R&D resources if they did cancel it and a big dissapointment. Medium format DSLRs are hard to come by and there are a fair few people looking into getting them.

Hindsight is a great thing. It no doubt seemed to make sense at the time.

Quote:

I can see many good uses for this camera, especially high quality large professional printing.

Of course, nowhere has it been explicitly spelt out that the D645 HAS been cancelled. So far, there has been a lot of speculation around an ambiguous translation of a perhaps badly-worded press release.

G
Keywords: Charming, polite, and generally agreeable.
johnriley
Posted 15/05/2007 - 22:26 Link
I'm not sure what the market is now for medium format, digital or film. The DSLRs are becoming so good that the jump might be from APS-C to 5 x 4 to make a significant difference.

I'm only regretful that I never have owned a Pentax 67, which is a truly beautiful object. Unfortunately the time seems to have passed for using one.
Best regards, John
Chris@SRSWATFORD
Posted 18/05/2007 - 10:54 Link
Peter is spot on - it is still on course (though I'm not going to even guess when it will be with us!)

Chris
For all things Pentax please visit www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk - anything not listed please email or call!

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Tyr
Posted 02/06/2007 - 20:28 Link
Development has been temporarily put on hold from what I've seen while the Hoya acquisition goes through. Although the stage that they seem to be at would be nearing production capabilities so it will hopefully only delay some lenses.
George Lazarette
Posted 02/06/2007 - 21:44 Link
Tyr wrote:
Development has been temporarily put on hold from what I've seen while the Hoya acquisition goes through. Although the stage that they seem to be at would be nearing production capabilities so it will hopefully only delay some lenses.

What have you seen that makes you say that development has been put on hold (which, by definition, means temporarily)?

G
Keywords: Charming, polite, and generally agreeable.
Tyr
Posted 02/06/2007 - 22:58 Link
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1036&thread=23458159

Bad thread title though just mentioning cancellation, which it is not.

Unfortunately DPReview's forums are not the best source of information.
Peter Bargh
Posted 25/08/2007 - 21:21 Link
Sadly it's been confirmed that the 645 digital is no longer a priority for Pentax. At a recent press conference (23 August 2007) Hiroshi Onoda, General Manager, Pentax Europe, stated that the 645 digital was a product that the previous management team were keen to develop. Since the recent Hoya buy out this team have left and the new management team feel that it's more important to strengthen their digital SLR range. This does not completely rule out a 645 digital in the future. Pentax plan to become no 3 in the SLR market behind Canon and Nikon. When they reach this objective they will be in a stronger position to continue development of the 645.
MattMatic
Posted 28/08/2007 - 11:39 Link
http://www.mattmatic.co.uk
(For gallery, tips and links)
dev_tt
Posted 28/03/2008 - 23:52 Link
Not At ALL!!!!!

From dpreview the interview
http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/other/2008/03/28/8206.html

The important points:

* Current cameras well received and the merger dustup has settled so morale is high. Hoya supports camera business and the camera division has a great deal of independence.

* The 645 Digital is frozen, not stopped, and it is the media, not Pentax that used words like "cancel" or "stop". "Frozen" means that development can quickly be picked up again at any time. They make a point of the difference and point out that the reason simply is that all resources are needed to flesh out the low and middle end mainstream product lineup at this time.

[Not sure how to interpret the tone or meaning] 645 development will definitely continue [at some point?]. A lot of know-how has been gained the past three years of development, so the models shown publicly are old designs so the 645 will be a newer development.

* full-frame 35mm: The concept is clearly doable, and a development plan would be possible "I think~I guess" (as in, "we haven't done such a plan". I can't say it would be impossible. But the priority is the 645, not 35mm. Pentax don't have the resources to do both at the same time, so any 35mm camera would be developed after the 645 is released.

When asked if there is any planning or awareness of a possible 35mm camera in the future regarding lens development, the answer is that lenses are focused on APS cameras (as that is the volume segment they're developing). As for old FA lenses, there are issues with using such lenses with a 35mm digital sensor. Implies a 35mm camera would entail a whole new setup of lenses and other accessories as well, effectively making it a separate system.

* 645 development resumption: a 645 camera would be for landscapes and as an industrial product (as in advertisement, studio, fashion and so on), and need 30Mp at least. And as an industrial system it needs to be a "total solution", from input to output. And while Pentax won't need to actually develop all components themselves, they need to be able to point to a set of components that will work seamlessly together as a single system (they're talking in terms of tethered shooting, postprocessing, image management, printing and so on).

On the other hand, in Japan there is a large medium-format consumer segment too, and the camera will need to fit their needs and expectations as well.

So at first there wold be only one model, but ideally they'd produce two separate 645 models later on. In the film era they started developing a very high-end 645 model, but the market just wasn't there so that project collapsed. At the time a 100k yen film body was the magic limit, where lots of people would buy it. So a moderately priced body that attracts many buyers, who go on to buy lenses, is ideal. If you can offer that, the market is there.

So for the future (I think he's talking hobby medium format here), a low-cost 645 body is a challenge I want to take on. Not a camera for business use, but a camera for hobbyists that want a large sensor. A second, high-end body would be a dream, but the focus must be on a body for widespread use.
---

My comments on this: When reading this, to me it sounds like the 645 is even only barely frozen; more like turning slushy while development and lens manufacture focuses on APS. Mr. Torigoe, the Imaging Producs boss, seems to want to talk about a possible 645 to the exclusion of anything else, and seems very enthusiastic about the possibility (wonder what camera he's using in private?).

The overall takeaway message is that the number of engineers and other resources are finite, and those resources right now go to build up the APS camera segment. Once that buildup is complete, attention will turn to a larger-format camera. From this interview, it will not be 35mm, but 645, and aimed at the enthusiast market more than hardcore professionals - just like the current APS cameras in other words. Their attitude to 35mm seems to be that the amount of work needed is similar to that of a 645 camera, but with lower payoff in image quality and resolution, so 645 is a better way forward.

The talk about an affordable 645 being a challenge I interpret mostly as "we'll see when sensor prices drop enough". The 100k yen for a film body I read as a relative indicator - 100k was about three to four times more than the high-end 35mm film body, so in digital terms I guess wildly that they'd want to aim for a 300k-400k yen price point for an enthusiast 645. Which would mean it's a couple of years off still. That's just my guess, nothing else, though.

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