I’ve Got a Feeling… That 2010 is Gonna Be a Good Year for Pentax to Release the 645D

The countdown bar is getting longer at the Pentax teaser website and rumours have it that the camera Pentax is going to release soon is the much-delayed but long-awaited 645D medium format camera.

Pentax 645D?... The countdown bar is getting longer

According to various forum discussions, Pentax will unveil the 30+ megapixel camera at the 4-day CP+ industry trade show in Yokohama, Japan starting March 11.

2010 a good year for a Pentax medium format camera

After slipping in and out of consumers’ consciousness for three years now, the year 2010 seems to be a good year for Pentax to release the 645D and make that vital leap to regain the ground it lost to brands like Canon and Nikon since the advent of digital photography.

Why 2010 is a good year for the 645D?

1. First thing first, the Pentax brand is picking up

Granted that the statement comes from a Pentax user, it cannot be denied that Pentax today is a much more respected brand than, say, four years ago when it still used asterisks to name its DSLRs… think Pentax *ist DL2, Pentax *ist DL, Pentax *ist DS. How do you pronounce these names by the way?

Pentax’s slow but steady rise to its current “respectable” position must have something to do with the letter “K” in its naming convention. Consumers can now clearly see which camera tackles which segment of the market and which one replaces which.

The release of the K-7 and the K-x last year helps consolidate Pentax current position, enjoying what is arguably its highest point since the advent of digital photography — and an opportune time to shake up the market a bit by releasing what might look like a revolutionary camera.

2. Medium format is the new full frame and full frame is the new APS-C?

There’s no stopping technology. Ten years ago, the standard resolution for high end DSLRs was a meager three megapixels.

Today, the minimum is 12 megapixels; but if Canon releasing the EOS 550D — an 18-megapixel entry level DSLR — is any indication, it won’t be long before someone or somecameramaker will find the idea of an entry-level full frame DSLR a perfect business sense.

When that happens, higher end camera will move on to the realm of medium format.

3. Medium format camera manufacturers enticing 35mm photographers

Medium format camera maker Hasselblad, perhaps sensing the trend or catalysing the start of a trend, is now bringing medium format photography to 35mm photographers with the recent announcement of the H4D-40.

The 40-megapixel Hasselblad H4D-40

Hasselblad did not hide its intention in releasing the camera.

Announcing the camera early this month, Hassleblad said the H4D-40 heralds “the company’s plan to deliver the advantages of medium-format DSLRs to a new generation of high-end 35mm photographers.”

So, when legacy medium format camera manufacturers like Hasselblad are stepping several levels down to meet the photographic masses, it makes perfect sense for legacy DSLR manufacturers like Pentax to step several levels up to capture the market share which would otherwise be monopolised by medium format camera makers.

The year 2010 might just open up a window of opportunity long enough for Pentax to introduce into the market a medium format camera that will make it a leader, for the first time, among legacy camera manufacturers.