My Newest Fascination

I've had the good fortune to play with a digital medium format camera in the past (a Leica S2), but as much a I loved it, I simply can't justify the cost.

So in an attempt to satisfy my medium format lust I recently bought myself a
Pentax 645N with the 75mm f2.8 LS lens that allows syncing up to 1/500th of a second when you use the shutter and sync port on the lens (otherwise The sync is 1/60).

The camera is a joy to hold, deeper than a regular DSLR front to back but not much larger otherwise. It's heavy but not horribly so and the lens is light so it's not as front heavy as you'd think. The grip is really nice to hold and the knobs and buttons on the camera are well laid out. I did read the instruction manual to learn to load the film properly and figure out some functions but it's a short book and once you read it you'll be using the camera like an old pro. I have the 120 and 220 inserts for the back and I understand that should I ever feel rich the lenses will work on the digital 645D.

I've just finished my first roll of film so I can't comment too much on the quality of the images. Film being the great equalizer I'd say the only risk is missed focus or a poor lens and from what I understand it's a very sharp lens. Focussing manually is a breeze with a huge bright viewfinder which is a dream compared to any DSLR viewfinder. There is a focus confirmation light/beep for manual focus lenses like mine but Pentax also made some autofocus lenses as well.

More to come about this camera for sure. Thanks for dropping by the blog.

OK, so bad photo, but it's an iPhone photo  :)