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!

Talking 645Z

Ed Hurst

Well-known member
Hello all,

I thought some of you may like to see this... If this isn't appropriate for the forum, please accept my apologies and delete.

It's an interview run by C.R. Kennedy (the people who distribute, market, sell and support Pentax cameras in Australia). They asked me to appear to talk about medium format in general and the 645Z in particular.

You can view it here. Skip to 2:35 into the track...
Pentax | Shooting Medium Format with Ed Hurst and the 645Z - YouTube

Warmest,
Ed
 

Shashin

Well-known member
Very nice Ed. You might be interested in the link below. B&H medium format offerings from 1998.
Tom
It was amazing how varied and diverse film medium-format offerings were. I really miss that diversity (but maybe not the dust and spotting). I forgot how developed the Bronica line was.
 

rdeloe

Well-known member
Very nice Ed. You might be interested in the link below. B&H medium format offerings from 1998.
Tom
Thanks for the link. I downloaded and saved a copy. This is a great resource for finding parts, part numbers, etc. for these systems.
 

D&A

Well-known member
Wow, so outdated and incomplete Tom. They even omitted the 645Z :). Seriously, great link and its amazing how many of the Pentax FA 645 lenses listed are still (or have recently been) in production.
Thanks!

Dave (D&A)
 
Last edited:

D&A

Well-known member
Nicely done Ed and really enjoyed watching the entire interview with you. Hmmm....what about that pronunciation of "Marin Headlands"??? Ouch! Here's a link on how to pronounce "Marin"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDit6rkkN6M

Of course just having a little fun with you Ed and no doubt you would get me on mispronouncing dozens of words.

Dave (D&A)
 

jduncan

Active member

How, this is amazing
The diversity and the low prices. Adjusting inflation since 1998 the factor is. 1.58x (https://www.usinflationcalculator.com) let's take 2x. That implies that we had AF state of the art "mirrorless" with AF (GA645Wi 6x4.5 AUTOFOCUS CAMERAS) less than. 3000$.
Other manual focus modular, 501CM Camera Body (Chrome) around 3000$ in today's dollars.

Back to diversity: 6x8 , 6x9, 6x6. , 6x7 the list goes on.

It was truly a different time. MF was to go to for high quality, nowadays yo don't need high quality as often and FF cameras can deliver massive quality and most people are not willing to deal with Dante for few inches per mile of image quality (when you factor AF and other factors of image taking).

Thanks for sharing.
 

Abstraction

Well-known member
Ed,

Have you gotten your camera back from the repair shop? What was the problem and how much did it run you?
 

Ed Hurst

Well-known member
Ed,

Have you gotten your camera back from the repair shop? What was the problem and how much did it run you?
Hi there,

Well, it's a bit of a long story. Here's the story so far...

1. My camera stopped working because the shutter died
2. It was handled by Pentax's agents in Australia, C.R. Kennedy, who shipped it to the Philippines (all this happened very quickly and efficiently) - the repair set me back AU$935.00
3. I received it back in a very short space of time
4. BUT - the camera got damaged in transit and when I unpacked it, I found a badly damaged lens mount - making it unusable
5. C.R. Kennedy took full responsibility, returned it to the Philippines and provided me with a loan camera (another 645Z) until I get mine back
6. So far, I am still using the loan camera

Ed
 

drevil

Well-known member
Staff member
ed, nice interview.

since you are using pentax for 20 years, have you considered alternatives, as pentax has been relatively quiet on the 645 front?
 

Ed Hurst

Well-known member
ed, nice interview.

since you are using Pentax for 20 years, have you considered alternatives, as Pentax has been relatively quiet on the 645 front?
Thanks, my friend.

To be honest, I have never felt that urge. Of course, as a medium format enthusiast, I closely follow developments and innovations from all the providers (when I started, that involved quite a few players that no longer exist!), but remain very happy with Pentax's approach, with the 645Z I have and - importantly - with all the glass I have amassed. It would take a lot to move to another system, especially at the price point of some of the alternatives. Also, call me a dinosaur, but I remain very attached to optical viewfinders, which immediately discounts some of the options (that's personal preference though).

I am just so happy with their gear that I am very loyal.

Now, if innovations occur in the field and any provider doesn't eventually update their offering, then a point would naturally arrive where one has to reappraise. But I remain hopeful that a new Pentax MF camera will come... I very much hope that a 100MP version, with pixel shift / astro-tracing capability, comes along very soon. And even better high ISO performance, though it's very good already.
 

Abstraction

Well-known member
Hi there,

Well, it's a bit of a long story. Here's the story so far...

1. My camera stopped working because the shutter died
2. It was handled by Pentax's agents in Australia, C.R. Kennedy, who shipped it to the Philippines (all this happened very quickly and efficiently) - the repair set me back AU$935.00
3. I received it back in a very short space of time
4. BUT - the camera got damaged in transit and when I unpacked it, I found a badly damaged lens mount - making it unusable
5. C.R. Kennedy took full responsibility, returned it to the Philippines and provided me with a loan camera (another 645Z) until I get mine back
6. So far, I am still using the loan camera

Ed
I'm glad they provided you with a loaner. At least, you're not dead in the water. You should consider getting another body as backup. Perhaps a used body, so that it doesn't set you back all that much.
 
Top