Pentax 645Z (2014)

Name: Pentax 645Z
Brand: Pentax

A digital medium-format SLR camera with 51.4 megapixels, introduced by Ricoh as Pentax in April 2014.

Overview

The Pentax 645Z is a professional medium format digital SLR announced by Ricoh on April 15, 2014. It followed the 645D with improved autofocus and better high-ISO performance. At launch it had one of the best price-performance ratios in digital medium format. The sensor measures 43.8 x 32.8mm and has 51.4 million effective pixels, for a resolution of 8256 x 6192. The LCD is 3.2 inches with 1,037,000 dots. Metering is TTL open aperture, done by an 86K pixel RGB sensor. According to large Japanese retailer Map Camera, the model has been discontinued as of June 2023.

Specifications

Sensor resolution	51.4 megapixels
Sensor size	43.8 x 32.8 mm
Native ISO sensitivity	Up to ISO 204800
Resolution	8256 x 6192
Metering system	TTL open aperture metering using 86K pixel RGB sensor
LCD screen	3.2 inches, 1,037,000 dots
Dimensions	Approx. 156 mm (W) x 117 mm (H) x 123 mm (D)
Weight	1550 g (including battery, as per Wikipedia and dpreview); 1574 g with cards, body cap, and battery (Chris Giles Photography)

Context

The Pentax 645Z was positioned as an affordable way into digital medium format, and it shares its sensor with the Phase One IQ250. When it came out, it delivered high image quality at a much lower price than competing systems. It helped keep interest in medium-format digital alive during a period of declining sales, before Fuji expanded the accessible medium-format market. Reviewers praised the dynamic range in its RAW files and its ability to handle scenes that were previously difficult with medium-format digital gear.

Market

The Pentax 645Z launched at $8,499.95 USD in 2014. By 2017, used prices had dropped to less than half of that. Current listings show used units at around $2,349.00.