The release date for the Pentax 645D is listed as May 20th on the Yodobashi.com website and May 30th on the Amazon.co.jp website.

I have already ordered at 645D through Amazon.co.jp Hopefully they change the shipping date and send it out on the 20th!

Exciting stuff!

Chris

After a long wait the Pentax 645D will soon be available to photographers living in Japan. For the last 8 years I have shot almost exclusively with the Pentax 67II system and it has been great, but from next month I will be shooting with both the Pentax 67II and the Pentax 645D. The camera is on order and should arrive later this month sometime between the 20th and the 30th.

I won't be able to give a scientific review, but I will regularly post images on my blog and give comments about my own experiences with the camera. Looking forward to starting an exciting new chapter as a Pentaxian!

Chris

link

One of my 2009 resolutions was to start (and regularly update) a blog about working as a travel photographer. The blog is not fully integrated with my website yet but you can check it out at the following link
http://travel67.wordpress.com
Hopefully it will be of interest to fellow Pentaxians, photographers, travelers or Japanophiles.

Happy New Year

Chris

Glad you like the photos.

I use provia film and a polarizer for most of my photographs. Don't do too much adjustment in photoshop main thing is dust removal, a little sharpening and adding a watermark.

Chris

I just added a new gallery with images of Japanese Festivals taken over the last few years with my Pentax 67II.

http://www.travel67.com/gallery/

Amazing festivals are perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of life in Japan, whether it is huge flaming torches, thousand of half naked men fighting or a huge fireworks display they offer a lot of good subjects for the photographer.

Chris

A friend recommend looking at the EIZO range of LCD screens.
They seem to be cheaper in Japan than they are in the UK or US (around 500 pounds for the S2410W) but it would still be a big investment.
It seems that very few places in Japan are even selling CRT monitors, is this an issue in the UK also?

Chris

www.travel67.com

I'm looking at getting a new monitor and need some advice. I heard that some monitors are more suitable for gaming while others are better for editing pictures in photoshop. What are other photographers using?
Thanks for the help,
Chris
www.travel67.com

Does anyone know any more about when the 645D will be released?
I haven't made the switch from film to digital yet (I still do all my work with the Pentax 67II) but the 645D sounds like it would be a fantastic piece of kit.

Chris

I chose the 67 system so that magazines were more likely to publish travel features and use 2 page spreads as well as smaller images. Although the differences in resolution between 35mm film (and most digital cameras) and medium format may not be noticable on the web it is for larger prints.

I am looking forward to the Pentax 645D. It may be the camera that tips the balance toward digital for me although I will still love looking at big transparencies on a lightbox.

Travel Photographers Network and Photoportfolios.net have both been a useful resource - they haven't led to any direct sales, but they both have a great bunch of people and it gets your photos out there. I have had some success with Alamy which is great if you have images that not so common. Photos of Tower Bridge no matter how good are unlikely to ever get a sale as there are thousands of similar images.

You do stand out walking around with a Pentax 67, however, living in Japan as a "very white, big nose, skinny man" ( a compliment a student once gave me ) you get used to people looking at you.

Even in Japan its getting difficult to get roll film processed. I now have to send all my film to Tokyo to process. As I live in Okinawa ( a thousand or so kilometers from Tokyo ) it isn't exactly helping my carbon footprint!
How are things going back in the UK with regards to processing?

Chris

I have used the Pentax 67II system for the last 5 years and have set up a website to show my photography and travel writing.
Although I'm originally from Manchester I now live in Okinawa, Japan. Over here the 67 is known as Gulliver due to its gargantuan size. Personally I have had a wonderful time experiencing my own Gullivers Travels and hope I can share this with other members of the Pentax family.

www.travel67.com

Looking forward to hearing your comments.

Chris