Not many of us need, or can afford, a DSLR that costs as much as a good used car. Cameras like the Canon 1DX and Nikon D4S are full 35mm frame cameras that cost this much. Their features, build, and quality are what sets them apart from lower priced, but they are very expensive. In the $5K-$7K range. For those that need them, tho, they are indeed worth it.
The next step up from those are medium format cameras. Leica S and Hasselblad H5D variants can run from around $15K to over $40K.
In between stand Mamiya and Pentax 645 cameras. Mostly hovering around $10K to $12K.
Pentax has announced a new 645 style camera with a whopping 51.4MP sensor. And it comes in at a price closer to pro 35mm full frame digital cameras, under $8500, body only.
Still not a product that too many of us will be buying. Then, why am I excited about it?
Way back in the early 2Ks, I told myself I wouldn't think about going digital for my professional work until a digital camera could match Kodachrome for color, sharpness, depth, etc... I stuck by that thought. Well, the digital world caught up with (and later passed) my Kodachrome standard with the introduction of the Canon EOS-1D mkII in 2004.
That $6500, 8.2mp DSLR was a game changer. Even tho I couldn't even come close close to affording it, I knew that the its tech would filter down into consumer grade cameras eventually. It didn't even take that long. In 2008, I got my own 10.2mp DSLR camera system at an affordable price and haven't looked back much at all to film.
So, with this new endeavor of Pentax and its monster Sony sensored camera, I expect that to filter down to things I can afford in the near future. Maybe sooner than any of us expect.
