When the medium-format Pentax 645Z was announced, we were given a price point of $8,500 and a release date of "June 2014." Of course, there are 30 days in June, so if you've pre-ordered yours and you'd like a more specific date to anticipate, you'll be happy to note that Ricoh Imaging Japan has provided one.
It's here. The Pentax 645Z Medium Format camera has arrived just as the rumor sites said it would, and the camera's release date was far from the only rumor that has proven to be 100% true. In fact, we'll have to look hard to find anything they got wrong.
From some talks with a Leica rep at the 2014 NAB show, it looks like Digipixelpop has found out that the next Leica S will be announced at Photokina in September. Packing a 40-50MP medium format CMOS sensor and 4K video, it's an interesting addition to Leica's current line-up, but one we probably should've seen coming considering PhaseOne, Pentax and Hasselblad have all already hopped on the CMOS medium format train.
Just like Nikon did with the D4s, Hasselblad announced their CMOS sensor-toting H5D-50C before they... well... announced it. Revealing little in way of details, the company said that the camera would become official in March -- and today, they fulfilled that promise.
We weren't able to send anyone all the way to CP+ this year, and some of the products and details emerging from the trade show have us a little sad about that.
We already shared the news that Fuji will soon be debuting a 50mm tele conversion lens for the X100/s, and now we've got some specs and price information for the upcoming Pentax 645D CMOS Medium Format camera.
So much for a medium format CMOS sensor being a novel idea. Following closely behind Hasseblad and Phase One's CMOS medium format announcements is the news that Ricoh is working on its own CMOS MF model, a followup to the 645D that is tentatively being called the Pentax 645D 2014.
Every announcement out of Hasselblad recently has had the model names Lunar or Stellar attached, and as such has been more mockery than announcement. We'll be honest... we're not really Hasselblad's target market where those cameras are concerned.
But Hassy has something new for us, and it's not a Sony dressed in Hasselblad clothing: it's 'the world's first 50MP medium format CMOS sensor camera.'