I have the 645N and 6x7 MLU. The 645N is my go-to for Portraits, Photojournalism, and Street Photography. My 6x7 is for Landscapes or XPAN Mod. They’re my favorite cameras. I would only use 220 if I’m at a party and there’s a lot of couples.
Pentax also makes some of the best glass in the world. I met a photographer once that went to the CIA's headquarters in the US after the U2 program ended, and asked someone if they knew what glass was used for reconnaissance, and it wasn't leica glass, it was pentax.
Yes, I find their glass pretty amazing and it surprisingly doesn't cost as much as other more popular brands. I've recently picked up Super Takumar 50 1.4 and I'm obsessed with it.
I'm glad to see the 645 getting some love. I think it gets overshadowed by the 6x7. The 67 I have is great - I love it. But the 645 is SO much more portable. I actually like the 1980's boxiness of it, and I find the shutter very satisfying. The second tripod mount for vertical shooting is also a great feature and helps keep the balance. Doing portrait orientation work with the 67 can be challenging. I think my one complaint is that, at least with mine, my eye has to be dead-on centered in the viewfinder or I can't see anything. When trying to shoot low or high angles where it's difficult to be exactly lined up, I sometimes have to essentially zone focus to make sure everything's where it should be. Oh, and the lenses are all crazy sharp - I was lucky enough to buy mine as a kit with basically all the primes made for the system. I've used the 120mm macro for doing negative film scanning to a digital body and it is amazing. Pentax made some truly wonderful medium format glass.
P645 is one of my favorites too, unlike 6x7 which was a total struggle. I truly tried to love that 6x7 I had but it just didn't worked out for me so I've sold it.
I was managing a camera store when this camera first came out and liked it except for having film inserts instead of interchangeable backs. I had been using a Mamiya RB67 for many years and was used to being able to change types mid roll. Also, going from verticle to horizontal was a bit awkward for me and I liked the rotating back on the RB. Pentax glass, though, has always been superb and the lens quality was excellent.
Cool video Marina! When I made “the jump” from 135 to 120 this was one of the cameras on my mind. I truly love the 645 format. It truly has its own charm.
Nice review. I have the 645 N II and love it. Great images as well. I hope to do a review on mine soon. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your content.
Extremely helpful! Thank youuu. I've been trying to figure out how to take double exposure pictures, but couldn't figure it out. Do you turn the wheel each time? Also, which external flash would you prefer for analogue cameras and how do you sync it with the Pentax?
Each time you turn that little wheel it will prevent the camera to wind film. So if you want double exposure you need to turn the wheel take first exposure, than second exposure - in this case camera will wind after second exposure. When you want triple exposure - you turn the wheel, make first exposure, turn the wheel again make second exposure and then third exposure, in this case the camera will wind film after third exposure. Don’t forget to meter accordingly. For using flash with old film cameras, check out a full video on my channel “Film Photography With A Flash”. Hope this helps 🙌🏻
I have an original 645 as well, was my first MF camera - and love the thing. I found mine in the US via E-Bay, and then bought the 75 2.8 and the 150mm lenses. The factory "leathers" were starting to peel a bit so I ordered a set of red ones from Hugo Studios. Also, I added a BlueStar Oval (Ultra Small) to the viewfinder and it is really nice!
The battery compartment will eventually get fragile and break no matter how well it is taken care of. It is a weak point of this otherwise great camera. And the reason I finally sold it... It can be 3d printed though... They say ). Ностальгирую. )
Hello everyone I have two problems with this camera. I don’t know why the film start printing picture at the frame 7. So I have to shoot 7 times without getting anything before the roll actually starts. It is weird but it is still doable. However, since two weeks, my frame count doesn’t go back to 0. It’s just continue like there is no new roll insert in the back. Do you have any recommandations ?
Hey, are you sure you are loading film correctly? You have to manually roll the film to align the start mark on the paper (the arrow) with the mark on the film back? Maybe there is something wrong with the winding mechanism and it might be a good time to send the camera to CLA. To answer your second question have you tried fresh batteries? I had something similar happened once - I finished the roll the motor kept winding the film for too long so I turned off the camera and took out the film back (in the darkroom). Turned out, the film was perfectly winded and I still have no idea why the motor kept winding.
Hello, Thank you. Yes I am winding the film correctly (based on the arrow), and for the second issue i changed the batteries like 3 times this past week (all of them at the same time and from the same brand of course)…
@@louisec5662 yeah, I think it would be good to send the camera for a service. I don't know which country you are from but you could email/call the rep (whoever services Pentax cameras), describe the issues and see what they say. I know that there is a company in Portland, Oregon that takes Pentax 67, not sure if they take 645 though.
May this not help, but wil be not useless: check metal parts of contacts betwen film holder and holder slot in camera. The camera takes information about film type and film ending through this contacts, it must bee clean.
Glory to Ukraine ;-) Nice trident pendant! Great outdoor shots from such 6x45 mf - little unusual saturation for film though. Were those positive slide film or negative one?
