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They've announced a new 40MP 645 digital camera.

Mind you, a 44mm x 33mm sensor is not really a 645. It's a crop 645, just as the APS sensors inside the Nikon D300 et al is a crop to a 35mm frame size.

Pricing doesn't seem too bad, given what it is.

nikons rumors of MX comes to mind. pentax stole nikons thunder...if indeed they ever had any.
a very clever move from pentax imo. they are clearly losing the apsc war so they create a new market altogether. very clever indeed. much respect.

Well a 645 was really a crop 6x6 anyway. Capable of printing to A1, presumably. Not much point if you only want web images. Same price range as Nikon D3x, larger sensor and it's quite cheap to buy the entire dedicated lens range for this camera. No doubt that comparison will be made in the first review.

Quality of lenses will be the key point and how quickly others appear. Being able to use old Pentax 645 lenses an advantage since main use will be landscape, provided those lenses are any good. I know I was most unimpressed with a Mamiya 645 I used for a while in the late 80s (my 1937 Rollieflex was miles sharper). An adaptor for old Pentax 67 lenses would be useful too.

Hopefully will spark competition and drive the price down further....

... seems to catch Mamiya off guard. They just announced the same sort of camera for twice the price.

i must say it looks hideous! although extremely resonant of its dad (645).. still no dedicated aperture and shutter speed dials either..

brentsky wrote:still no dedicated aperture and shutter speed dials either..

?? are you sure. i can see a front and back wheel.

More lenses and more ISO; They would have hit jackpot then.