The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

First sample 645D shots

Ed Hurst

Well-known member
Hi Gary,

Yes, the steam loco. shot was on the new 55mm lens.

As for the performance of the Pentax 67 lenses, it's hard for me to give a definitive conclusion at this stage, since I haven't done formal tests. However, my initial impressions are that some lenses are good and others less so. The 75mm f2.8AL, 105mm f2.4, 135mm f4 macro (only used up close) and 150mm f2.8 have all seemed good. The 200mm f4 I have yet to achieve a really crisp shot with, but that could be because I haven't used a tripod; also, I was never totally convinced by that lens even on film. I haven't tried the 300mm f4 EDIF yet. Overall, very promising with these lenses, I must say. And the way the focus confirmation works is very slick.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Ed, thanks for posting these.

Some pretty convincing shots so far given that you just got the new camera. Pentax owners have to be delighted ... finally,

Lots more sky detail in that first "blue" building shot indicating a decent dynamic range. I noted a red cast in the pillow shot ... but it may be due to the walls reflecting into the face of the pillow.

100% views of the train shot shows pretty good performance out to the edges using the new 55mm. Are there more digital lenses planned?

Not seeing much CA or sensor fringing so far as these shots indicate.

I looked at these in Lightroom 3. Gave Phocus a try as a long shot, but no luck.

I think we'll see more out of this camera as users optimize how to post process the files.

What's the highest ISO? Longest exposure time?

Love to see some people shots in good available light.

How is the view through the viewfinder? The viewing device seems small ... is it easy to see the whole frame, or do you have to really center the eye?

Best of luck on the new adventure! At this price point, some competitive makers have to be sweating a little : -)

I must say, if I had a set of Pentax lenses this would be a no-brainer decision.

=Marc
 

thomas

New member
Hi Thomas - thanks for that - they are all uploaded now.
many thanks!
Now, the 75mm in the "Milsons Point" shot also looks very good.
To me all the images look fine... especially as they are hand hold.
Noise at ISO200 is a bit too high for my taste (not too high for ISO200, but for base ISO) but that might be just a problem of the unsupported file (RAW Developer can open it, but it's not officially supported by now). On the other hand when you push the files by 3 stops (equivalent to ISO1600) they still look remarkably good... to me. Didn't play around that much with NR but even without applying luminance NR (only color NR) they look more than usable at print size (resp. at 50% on the monitor). If I'm not mistaken that is the same sensor technology as in the H4D40...? Possibly Kodak made a very capable sensor here...
I do not like how camera raw (6.1) handles the files. I don't know why... they look a bit coarse and flat. However in RAW Developer things look really good.
Have fun!
 

Ed Hurst

Well-known member
Yes, I am pretty impressed with the dynamic range so far.

The red cast on the 'pillow shot' doesn't surprise me - it was taken in a hotel room in a mixture of tungsten and fluorescent light - and red wallpaper! So my guess is any auto white balance system would have struggled...

Re. more digital lenses - it's my understanding that they are already working on a wider lens (which by all accounts is the part of the existing P645 lens range that under-performs on digital). The existing longer lenses seem to fare well as it is. But my hope is that there will eventually be a comprehensive range of specialised digital lenses, including a fast zoom spanning something like the 50mm - 100mm range. Time will tell.

Highest ISO available (without expansion) is 1000, with 1600 available with expansion. I haven't extensively tested the really high ISOs, but so far I am impressed. Longest exposure time is 30 secs.

The viewfinder is very good. Clear and bright - with the whole frame being pretty easy to see. The screen on the back by the way is very good indeed - better than my Canon 5Dii. The only downside is that it allows you to zoom into images beyond the point where the resolution of the preview file makes this totally useful. But the screen itself is very high res., bright and clear.

I must say that right now I feel like I've made a pretty good decision!
 

Ed Hurst

Well-known member
They look very good indeed in Pentax's own software - if you use PEF format rather than DNG. If anyone has that software, I will gladly upload some PEFs, but I'm guessing none of you does!
 

thomas

New member
There is already a release candidate for camera raw 6.2 for Photoshop:
I also don't use camera raw :rolleyes:
It's a free plugin of Photoshop so I use it very rarely to open files that are not supported in other raw softwares. But if it would not be part of Photoshop I wouldn't pay anything for it.

However, thanks for the link!
 
They look very good indeed in Pentax's own software - if you use PEF format rather than DNG. If anyone has that software, I will gladly upload some PEFs, but I'm guessing none of you does!
645D can do native in-camera .DNG raws - so why do you use .PEF if you convert 'em to .DNG anyways ?
 

surfotog

New member
Thanks for the samples Ed. I'd love to see some shots with the M* 300/4 ED IF. If the more humble 67 lenses are holding their own on the 645D, the M* telephoto's should shine.
 

Ed Hurst

Well-known member
I shoot and use PEFs. I only converted them to DNGs for posting here because I know most of you can use DNGs, but not PEFs. In reality, PEF is my format of choice.
 

gogopix

Subscriber
Looks like really nice rendering.

The train image has good dimensionality, what i call "reach in" quality.

Lenses seem to mate nicely to the camera.

Victor
 

Ed Hurst

Well-known member
By the way, on the question of humble versus 'newer and hotter' 67 lenses, I should point out that the 75mm f2.8 AL lens was also a very late release and is wonderul in terms of resolution (though perhaps with a little distortion when used with very linear subjects). So I fully expected that to be wonderful too.

The pleasant surprise is how good some of the older 67 lenses are holding up as well (though perhaps not the 200; and the 165 I am unsure of as well - tripod tests needed methinks).
 

bensonga

Well-known member
By the way, on the question of humble versus 'newer and hotter' 67 lenses, I should point out that the 75mm f2.8 AL lens was also a very late release and is wonderul in terms of resolution (though perhaps with a little distortion when used with very linear subjects). So I fully expected that to be wonderful too.

The pleasant surprise is how good some of the older 67 lenses are holding up as well (though perhaps not the 200; and the 165 I am unsure of as well - tripod tests needed methinks).
I was wondering about that 75 f2.8 AL.....I had never heard of it before, so checked on the Web. I've got the 75 f4.5 and the 75 f4.5 Shift lenses....but the 75 2.8 AL looks like a beauty. Must be hard to come by.....I couldn't find any for sale at all my usual places.

I'll be interested to see how you like the P67 45mm lens on the 645D.....and of course that 300mm EDIF! :D

Gary
 

surfotog

New member
Ed, which 200/4 are you using? The latest design is supposed to be very good. Nick Brandt certainly uses one with great success. Sample variation perhaps? I've heard that can be a problem with 67 lenses ( and many other brands). It took me three tries to get a sharp 45/4.
Any chance you have the M* 400/4 EDIF or the M* 800/6.7 EDIF? I'd REALLY like to see how those perform on the 645D.
 

Ed Hurst

Well-known member
Hi Gary,

Yes, the 67 system 75mm f2.8AL is a wonderful lens. As far as I know (which is UK-based knowledge, because that's where I was at the time) it was only made briefly. It was a late release for the 67 system; surprising they were still investing in new stuff at that point. I bought it new during that period (when I was making extensive use of my 67ii's) and have never seen one for sale used. I guess not many of them were made or sold. Having said that, I believe that the 67 system continued being sold for longer in Japan, so perhaps there are some of them floating around there.

In resolution and contrast, it's simply a stunning lens - easily as good as anything I have ever used. Curiously, there is (I think) slightly more distortion than in the older 75mm f4.5, but this has never been an issue with the sort of stuff I do - and I don't think it's very marked anyway.
 

Ed Hurst

Well-known member
The 67 200 f4 I am using is the final version. It's not a bad lens, but I was never 100% convinced by it even on film. If the 165 and 300 EDIF were not so fantastic, I might have accepted it, but it was always sort of 'good but not exciting'. Having said that, it might be ok with the 645D once I have tried it with a tripod. I need to test more to be sure. Or, as you say, I might just have fallen foul of sample variation. It's a good lens, but I am fussy :)

Sadly I don't have anything longer than the 67 system M* 300mm f4 EDIF lens (which is a stunner). But if anyone wants to loan me a 400 or 800 to test with the 645D, I would be delighted to do so.
 
Top