NEW CAMERA

PENTAX Imaging Company confirmed today that the long-anticipated PENTAX 645D medium-format digital SLR camera will ship to select U.S. dealers and pre-order customers by December 2010 in very limited quantities.  PENTAX also announced that the camera has received an AMERICAN PHOTO MAGAZINE EDITOR’S CHOICE 2010 award in the November/December issue.

In the current issue, AMERICAN PHOTO magazine states that “PENTAX’s first medium-format digital camera is a bombshell, delivering 40-megapixel image quality for radically less money than comparable medium-format systems.  How does it do this?  By borrowing core technologies from the APS-C-format PENTAX K-7 DSLR.  In fact, it will seem instantly familiar to any PENTAX DSLR owner.”

The article goes on, “The 645D’s gigantic 44×33-millimeter Kodak CCD boasts two-thirds more pixels than a full-frame 24-megapixel DSLR and produces 23×30-inch native image size at 240dpi, ideal for big prints.  The body itself offers superb balance and ergonomics, a light but tough magnesium-steel alloy frame with extensive weather sealing, and automatic sensor-dust cleaning, a first in a medium-format digital camera.   It also features built-in automatic correction for a given PENTAX 645 lens’s optical characteristic.”

The PENTAX 645D medium-format digital SLR is among “12 TOOLS THAT CHANGE THE RULES” and that “of all the hundreds of cameras, lenses and accessories released over the past year…these are the ones that matter most – the true innovations in the field.”

Along with the 645D, PENTAX Imaging Company also will ship the smc PENTAX-D FA 645 55mm F2.8 lens, the first model of the smc PENTAX-D FA 645 Series.

Previously announced camera and lens features and specifications follow in the associated fact sheets.

The PENTAX 645D (body only) will ship in December 2010 for the price of $9,995.95 USD.    The  smc PENTAX-D FA 645 55mm F2.8 lens will ship at the same time for $1,199.95 USD.