Slightly out of my price range I'm afraid - 'twas the 77mm that was making eyes at me given the price. Ah well back to my "Tamron 17-50 or DA 35" dilemma it is then

APS-C has been around for about seven years - it took digital compacts less time than that to kill off 35mm film compacts. So I don't necessarily think that APS-C is the inevitable future - there are still some important areas in which full frame sensors outperform APS-C ones (wide angle, high ISO, narrow DOF/bokeh).

Having said that I love my APS-C Pentax - I just think that a FF "to prove they can" would help Pentax attract the same customers (those who want a system to have FF as an 'upgrade path' they will never use) that were Sony's reason for the a900.

Why do these threads always come up on the one day I decide not to check the forum. Both Limiteds already bid on

Much of the early interest in the 645D has centred on the fact that (by digital medium format standards) it is cheaper/less expensive than competitors from Hasselblad etc. Maybe this could be noted by whoever sets the (non-MF) lens prices? Selling a good product at a _reasonable_ price attracts more customers than selling that same product at an unreasonable price (see £900 DA 12-24 for example of the latter)

They're all very good - makes me want to get out and take pictures (or live nearer to nice rolling countryside!)

I honestly couldn't pick a favourite between the first four - though I think the last one is a bit overdramatic (the clouds on the left in particular have gone a bit 'cartoony').

But by the time it gets here will cost about 6x what the Canon 5D MkII does. That extra £7500* could buy the following lenses:

*16-35 f2.8 L II - £1200
*24-70 f2.8 L - £1000
*85 f1.2 L II - £1800
*100 Macro f2.8 L IS - £790
*70-200 f2.8 L IS II (the '4 stop IS' one) - £2400

That is, in my opinion, a stellar photography kit for less money (the total cost of those lenses is £7190 - this is extremely relative of course!) than the 645D costs (the only thing missing is a long telephoto, but I'm not a wildlife photographer and you wouldn't be using a 645D for long tele either ).

* I am assuming a theoretical UK price of £9000 (compared to approx. £1500-1600 for the 5D Mk II). Given that Pentax seems to think $1 is equivalent in value to £1.50 rather than about 60-70p, this could be a conservative estimate but I have decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

The answer to all memory card questions - regardless of the type of card or the use to which it will be put - is "buy the one that says Sandisk Extreme III on it"

There is also the possibility that, if Pentax ever do a full-frame DSLR, they will do it in the way that Nikon did. In other words, DA lenses will still mount on the MZ-D (*), and for those that don't cover full frame (the DA70 does apparently) the sensor will automatically go into 'crop mode' so that the lens can still be used with the body (albeit at a lower resolution than on an APS-C sensor in an APS-C body)

I'm not at all convinced that there will be a Pentax full-frame DSLR: Pentax have made very high build quality APS-C bodies and lenses the focus of their brand. If they do one, it will basically be to prove they can (see Volkswagen and the Bugatti Veyron) and reassure all the people who demand (but would never actually buy) it that they don't need to switch to a Canikon APS-C body.

(*)Should explain the MZ-D comment. In a previous thread on here I suggested that if Pentax make a full-frame DSLR, it might well be an EVIL. This would give them a unique selling point to deflect "me too" accusations: "New from Pentax, the world's smallest full frame Digital SLR". Add the Limited primes and you're done

It also records the focal length you select in the photo's EXIF data.

EDIT: Womble beat me to it!

The 'digital coatings' don't have anything to do with colour rendition. They are essentially anti-reflective coatings (primarily on the rear element) to counteract the fact that a digital sensor is much more reflective than a piece of film (hence the chance of degraded image quality from internal reflections).