I had first the 645D and now the Z. I chose it over Hasselblad which was about the same price because of its sturdiness when used outside. I did plan a desert trip at that time. It's like a big DSLR with better image quality and many excellent details. The Pentax is weather sealed, I already took pictures in the rain. Then there is a range of legacy lenses which can be bought for a couple of hundreds Euros on the used market. Leica and PhaseOne were too expensive for me. The Z has virtually no noise on long exposure or night shoots. I once tested a 20 min exposure time and there was no noise (ND1000 at night).
Thanks for the reply Stefan. I'm flipping the coin between a 5DS R vs a 645Z. The images on this thread is keeping decision firmly planted on both systems equally.
Would you happen to have a link to the full product list of Pentax 645 lenses with their marketing date?
As a courtesy to other FM users I would like to share my finding.
If you buy the Pentax 645Z in Japan before the end of April with a Visa card and a non-Japanese passport you can get that body at BIC Camera for the final price of 710,452 YEN ($5,972).
dolina wrote:
As a courtesy to other FM users I would like to share my finding.
If you buy the Pentax 645Z in Japan before the end of April with a Visa card and a non-Japanese passport you can get that body at BIC Camera for the final price of 710,452 YEN ($5,972).
I was JUST in Japan last week and they didn't offer me this promotion
adamdewilde wrote:
I was JUST in Japan last week and they didn't offer me this promotion
That's worse than what happened to me. BIC Camera was beside my hotel and I never bothered visiting the place because I always thought buying electronics in Japan costs 2x more than in Hong Kong.
dolina wrote:
That's worse than what happened to me. BIC Camera was beside my hotel and I never bothered visiting the place because I always thought buying electronics in Japan costs 2x more than in Hong Kong.
Is this your first digital medium format camera? If so why did you choose a 645D/645Z over say a Leica, Hassleblad or Phase One?
Simple - $.........
To expand, I have a full Mamiya RZ system. Couple of bodies and lots of lenses. I have always been waiting for a reasonably priced digital back for this system. After waiting a number of years with no results - I went 645Z. For 9 grand with a 55mm lens and then another 1100 bucks to pick up used 35, 45, 75, 150 and 200mm lenses I'm into MF Digital for about 10K. For 10K I believe I start to get the option of barely holding a body from the competitors you mention - where as I am out shooting at this price point. Still less than a "reasonably priced" digital back. I'll keep the RZ as film only - and rely on my MF Scanner to do the work.
adamdewilde wrote:
I was JUST in Japan last week and they didn't offer me this promotion
This is nothing new. Japan allows visitors to the country to buy electronics tax free. Also, for whatever reason, various credit card users get discounts. Visa users get 5% off while Union Pay users get 8% off list price. This means that in the end you can get 10-13% off the stated price. I have seen these promotions endlessly during the past 3 years of my travels to Japan, both at Bic Camera and Yodobashi.
rattymouse wrote:
This is nothing new. Japan allows visitors to the country to buy electronics tax free. Also, for whatever reason, various credit card users get discounts. Visa users get 5% off while Union Pay users get 8% off list price. This means that in the end you can get 10-13% off the stated price. I have seen these promotions endlessly during the past 3 years of my travels to Japan, both at Bic Camera and Yodobashi.
Yep, I know about tax free. Just didn't know about the promotion. Also the price I seen the camera for wasn't near the deal price.
