Pentax announces Digital 645

http://www.pentaximaging.com/footer/news_media_article?ArticleId=6458800

Wonder what the price is going to be with a CCD like that!!!

The Mamiya ZD which supposedly has the same sensor is over £8.5K

http://www.dalephotographic.co.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/DalePhotographic/Mamiya%20ZD

Well outside my price bracket even with a severe GAS attack

Kim

As usual the rumour mill is active.

Some people are saying it will have a price of around US$6,000. Others that it will be built to order (which I don't think is very likely, though it might have certain customisable options).

My view is that it will have a relatively low price. If they lose a little money on each body, but sell plenty, think of what they will make on lens sales.

What it does suggest, quite strongly, is that this is the way to go for people who want lots of pixels. The K range will stay APS. Why else bring out a DA 12-24mm?

G

Hi George,

Sorry, don't understand your comment:

The K range will stay APS. Why else bring out a DA 12-24mm?

Grateful for explanation.

Thanks, Colin

By the "K range", I mean cameras that use K bayonet lenses, and at the moment that means 35mm film cameras and digital cameras with an APS-C sized sensor.

The image produced by the DA lenses is too small to cover a 35mm frame - these lenses are only designed for APS-C sized sensors.

So far, most "digitally-optimised" lenses produced by Pentax have been DA lenses, although there have been two D FA macros which cover 35mm.

Some people are expecting that Pentax will bring out a digital camera with a 35mm-sized sensor. My view is that this is wishful thinking. The announcement of the D645 suggests to me that Pentax will stick to the APS-C sensor for K lenses, and will expect those who need more pixels to go for the D645.

I would expect that in a year or so there will be an upgraded K DSLR with a higher pixel count than 6.1M, but still using the APS-C sized sensor.

If Pentax were planning to produce a K DSLR with a full-frame sensor, there would be no need for all the wide lenses it has been pumping out lately, and they would anyway be D FAs so that they could be used on the notional full-frame DSLR.

George