Pentax 645D Pro Reviews

At close to $10,000, the Pentax 645D's price tag might shock you, but this medium format digital camera produces superb images, and it's a bargain compared with competing systems.

I was pleasantly surprised by the clever design and stunning picture quality of the 645D. It is almost the perfect blend of medium format image detail with DSLR ease of use and ergonomics. At a fraction of the price of a Hasselblad, the 645D is certainly appears great value, and there are plenty of compatible lenses out there for it. That said, if Pentax wants to be a serious contender in the digital medium format market it needs to invest in delivering a range of calibrated lenses to complement the capabilities of the 645D camera body. Hopefully, the company won’t take as long as it took to bring the 645D to market or the allure of this camera's excellent bang for buck will be very short lived.

If your top priority is detail in your images, you love the distinctive shallow depth of field look that a medium format sensor characteristically produces and you don't need the speedier performance or bells and whistles offered by the comparably more compact - and more affordable - full frame DSLR alternatives, then the Pentax 645D is an option that we'd certainly recommend investigating. It is cheaper than the medium format competition, but perhaps still not quite within easy grasp of the average pro photographer. On the other hand, if only medium format will do and you can stretch your budget, it's the best value package around.

The 645D will no doubt attract a niche audience, though its almost-£10k price tag is firmly out of reach for the majority. The experience of using a medium format digital camera is very different from a DSLR and has many advantages, especially for landscape photographers. To be clear: the 645D is less of a studio camera than its competition, but its weather-sealed single body design firmly fixes it as one to use in the field or where large, resolute files are a must. However the vertical run shutter, non-customisable construction and no tethered shooting ability may pose issues for certain users. However its handling is a winner and easy to pick up. For general use a pro-level DSLR still has more versatility but, so long as speed's no issue, the Pentax 645D is a pleasure to use.

Each of these two cameras are excellent at what they do best. For example, the 1Ds Mark III is a more flexible tool, capable of holding its own when high levels of detail are needed, but without sacrificing aspects for handling such as the compact 35mm form factor, impressive autofocus and high speed continuous shooting.