Update: new details will be coming next week
It’s been a little while since Pentax first unveiled their 645D medium format camera. But according to Sony Alpha Rumors via Amateur Photographer, the company may be delivering a refresh soon. Early reports are stating that it will house a 50MP Sony sensor–which is massive to say the least. It is also being stated that it’s the same sensor in the new Phase One and Hasselblad cameras.
But this is a different beast than the big two of the medium format world. Pentax takes the approach of incorporating the sensor into the camera itself instead of having a back, camera, and lenses (the way that traditional medium format works.) So while you’ll be able to use your old Pentax lenses, you’ll need a new body.
According to early photos, it may also have a tilting LCD screen and should be coming this spring.
Now that the medium format world is using CMOS sensors, it’s going to get quite interesting as previous marketing efforts from Nikon with the D800/D800E were to attract the medium format crowd. On top of that, Zeiss created the 55mm f1.4 Otus–which we reviewed very favorably. This lens was designed for high megapixels full frame DSLRs and Zeiss has stated on record that they’re coming out with more.
It will be interesting to watch the full frame vs medium format war for a while–and in the months leading up to Photokina it should really look interesting.
