The 645 is reputed to be the toughest, most reliable camera ever made by Pentax. I know I've put mine through its paces in the abuse handling department :) I have the original one, which is manual focus, and I find it a joy to use. I shoot B&W almost exclusively with it; I'll never go back to printing from those tiny 35mm B&W negs again!
Some time ago I compiled a list of points offered by various PDML members comparing the 645 and the 67: 645n/645nII advantages: * Smaller and lighter (especially with a full kit of lenses and *especially* when a tripod is included - the 67 needs a *heavy* one) * No need for mirror lock-up (with lenses 300mm and less) * No issue with shutter-bounce blurring of images. * Autofocus * More shots on a roll of film * Better selection of lenses (especially when you consider that you can use all the lenses for the 67 on the 645 with an adaptor) and *much* better selection of zoom lenses (most of which offer *superb* performance) * Data imprinting on film (outside frames) * Motorized film advance * Multi-segment (matrix) metering (reputed to be truly excellent in its 645 implementation) * Faster flash sync speed (1/60 vs 1/30) * Extra (side-mounted) tripod socket for easy verticals With the original manual focus) 645, all these advantages except the autofocus and matrix metering apply. 67 advantages: * Bigger negative * Removable pentaprism for waist-level viewing * Has one lens for which there's no real 645 equivalent: the 35mm fisheye (you'd lose some of the coverage and fisheye effect if you put this lens on the 645 with the adapter) * Frightens small children & intimidates other photographers The major advantage of the 67 is the bigger negative. For many people that's the bottom line. That said, the difference between a 35mm neg and a 645 neg is huge (in the resulting print). The difference between 645 and 67 is not nearly as great. http://luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/pentax67ii.shtml http://luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/645nii.shtml http://luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/645-mlu.shtml -- Mark Roberts Photography and writing www.robertstech.com
