On 14/12/2012 10:58 AM, Tom C wrote:
From: William Robb
I guess viewfinders don't matter any more. The 645 is a joy to look
through, the D800 has, by comparison, a dinky little viewfinder with
dancing lights flashing seemingly at random. I realize this is a small
thing that probably won't matter to many people, but the 645 is a much
nicer camera to work with.
That used to mean something. It seems these days, all that matters is
the number of megapixels.
And in comparison to an APS-C K-5, how's the viewfinder on a D800?
Big, bright, spacious and a joy to look through, but I don't hear
complaints about the K-5 viewfinder. :)
I don't bother to complain any more, but it's pretty much a given that
APS-C sized viewfinders suck bunny bums. The D800 finder is very nice,
albeit somewhat busy.
One of the differences between the two cameras that's obvious is the
price/performance ratio. The price of a 645D pretty much puts it out
of most people's reach, and if not their reach, it's costly enough
that it's hard to justify. At 1/3 of that, a D800/E is still a costly
item, but is down in a range where many more people are willing and
able to spend the money.
One could easily say the same thing about any Pentax product as compared
to any Nikon product, no matter what the price range.
Pentax set themselves up to fail in this regard some 25 years ago when
they decided to become the budget brand. They set themselves up as a
brand that no one would spend real money on.
It's probably got a lot to do with why you bought into Pentax in the
first place.
I haven't used a 645D, but buying into that system is more costly than
buying into a FF system from another brand, not to mention lens choice
being a bit sparse, especially in AF.
My guess is that the D800/E outsells the 645D at a factor greater than
100-to-1.
Nothing much has changed since the film days in this regard. Thirty-five
mm "pro grade" cameras probably outsold medium format cameras of all
types by a factor of over 100:1.
While a camera may not become obsolete because of newer
models, they do become unused. I've spent $1200 apiece on three Pentax
paperweights (*ist D, K20D, K-7). Now more on Nikon/Sony and I plan on
using it through at least several generations of upgrades.
This is the nature of digital cameras. Had you bought into Nikon or
Canon, you would have the same complaint. Every photographer I know has,
if they are buying recent technology, has multiple DSLRs sitting around
doing nothing.
At this point, because the technology has matured, it will probably be
easier to sit on today's technology for a lot longer. This applies to
all manufacturers, not just Nikon or Sony.
Possibly Pentax should have been a bit more down to earth and spent
their R&D money on a FF system that far more people would be
interested in obtaining. With the 645D, even most Pentaxophiles give
it simply a cursory glance because it's more or less unattainable.
It wouldn't have mattered what they did, people would still bitch about
it. If they had released a 24x36 mm K-Mount, then people would be
bitching that their present lens line up was deficient, and that Pentax
had abandoned them with their smaller image circle lenses, and then they
would have to deal with the inevitable complaints about too little/too
late, and why are they wasting their money on a market niche they don't
have a hope of breaking in to in any significant way.
At least with the 645 they did a camera that operates in a niche that
the "full frame" cameras don't operate in, and when the thing came out,
40mp was a lot of mp.
That it no longer is points to how fast digital technology has matured.
I would expect the next generation of 645D, if they follow up on it,
will up the megapixel ante significantly.
Tom C. (My favorite story is The Three Billy Goats Gruff)
Mine is "The Courage of the Early Morning", even though Billy Bishop's
war record has pretty much been debunked.
--
William Robb
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