Pentax 645n

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How much do you think these are worth? And do you think these camera hold there value too?

I saw this on ebay Italy, 12month warranty, it look spotless too.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pentax-64...Fotocamere_Analogiche_APS&hash=item3f450cc124.

From what I see the price fit the price of these camera in japan but I'm not so keen on buying from japan and dealing with eventual problem + duty. The one in Europe with similar lens are going around 600/700+ and to be honest their's a bit of a mental blockage for 500+£ item in my brain.

But is it too good to be true! The same seller has this a 645 (not N) with non auto-focus lens with 6 months less warranty for much more money! They must be something wrong?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pentax-64...Fotocamere_Analogiche_APS&hash=item3ccefddf9c

I kind of almost don't want to ask the seller in case they have inverted the price by mistake, I could be a bit cheeky and click the buy button! Well... apart if one of you reading this message is even more cheeky and click the button buy after reading my message!
 
The pricing certainly looks odd as a 645n is worth a lot more than a 645 (it's a much better camera too) and the AF lenses normally sell for around twice the MF ones, as a very rough guide.

I'm not buying it as I have one already ;). I'd say that price looks very good, especially given the condition of it. You could certainly sell it on for a similar amount I reckon.

By the way I bought two lenses for mine from a seller in Japan and no duty was every asked for or paid.
 
The price on the one from Italy is a little bit low, but not insanely so. They are fantastic cameras and the lenses available for them are all very good. I've the 645N with the 75mm sutofocus, and the manual 45mm and 150mm lenses. It makes for a very nice system. To be honest though, it doesn't really see enough use - I've a toddler. so while it's not particularly heavy, I'm usually loaded up with lots of other stuff! It does just work like a big SLR - and that's a definite plus point in my view.

Some sample pics:
20130722145611_scan-130719-0010.jpg


20130722145609_scan-130720-0011.jpg


20131125130627_scan-130904-0003.jpg


20131125130852_scan-131108-0014.jpg
 
I've just decided to buy one! Not this one but one that come from the UK. It was price at 599£ but I made a much lower offer considering the price of the Italian one and it went through. Looking forward to get it through the post!
 
Nice one. I really like using mine. What lens did you get? I have the 35mm A (manual focus), 75mm FA (autofocus) and 150mm FA (autofocus). All are excellent IMO....I used to have the 55mm A also which was fantastic too but needed to prune down my camera kit a bit!
 
It come with the 75 FA lens. I will get a grip with it first and sell some bit and bobs before thinking to buy any lens.

But I've already looked a bit and I saw that the 45mm (or the 35mm) and the 150mm (or maybe 120mm macro) all manual focus can be added for not much money.
It seems to be a pretty broad range of pentax lens available!

Here's the link to the camera http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331453094146?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
 
Looks great (and it's the NII so the newest version). Generally speaking the MF lenses are much cheaper than the AF ones, though if you're patient there are bargains to be had (on ebay or elsewhere). The 45mm AF doesn't have a great reputation and the 35s all have a great rep. The 150s are both great (have had both), and the 120s are also supposed to be excellent.

Enjoy!
 
Sorry no images yet but I was playing around with my newly bought pentax 645n yesterday for the first time. I finally downloaded the English manual (as the one included was in Japanese...), got round to put some batteries in it (6 AA!) and load a film. First impression is that this camera is a bit more imposing that I would have thought. Apart from this camera is a pure joy. What a great handling camera!

A few details that I have really liked:
-the viewfinder is huge and bright, it's almost like looking the reel size world in there! The depth of field preview is the best I have seen too, much better that on my canon 70D. On my dslr there is the same depth of field function but when the button is pressed the viewfinder is too small and dark to really see any difference.
-built-in lightmeter and very good exposure lock button which stay on until you press it again (I think on my dslr it's stay on for 10 sec and vanished which is annoying)
-very intuitive mirror lock up
-very intuitive multi-frame
-tripod mounts on both side of the camera for using horizontal/vertical
-...

One of the great thing is that this medium format camera works like a big slr so there is no getting used to it, it feels right straight away. I know that's maybe not an advantage to all film lovers but it is to me. I come from a slr and it's nice to be able to find all the function really easily available, to have a built-in lightmeter and even an autofocus lens!

Really chuffed with it, hopefully I can show you some results soon(ish).
 
Maybe you could do a quick review when you're more used to it? There's a film camera review thread on here somewhere, see the Resources sticky...
 
ChrisR said:
Maybe you could do a quick review when you're more used to it? There's a film camera review thread on here somewhere, see the Resources sticky...
Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing this out. I hadn't visited this thread yet! I don't promise to do it shortly but I might slowly do my bit with this. Maybe I could do a review of my polaroid too they hasn't been any yet!

thorton said:
Go get yourself the 105mm 2.4 for 67 mount and adapt it. You'll not be disappointed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, I'm not really looking to buy more lens yet but I'll keep that in mind. The 75mm FA seems to focus pretty close so it might be able to do as tight portrait as the 105mm. For general use I usually prefer something a bit wider. The 35mm was mentioned but that very wide, very landscapy maybe a 55mm.
 
I rate the 35mm and 55mm very highly (in fact it was me said so earlier in the thread!). A couple of shots:

35mm:
14378491099_ca4ccef2c9_o.jpg


55mm:

13559793244_5418859878_o.jpg


Both manual focus versions, but to be honest for shorter focal lengths I don't think AF is much use anyway.

The 55mm you should pick up for no more than £150 (Here's a nice looking one, for instance, which you might get for £100 if nobody else bids: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141569131194?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT)
The 35mm is a rarer more expensive beast, and is likely to set you back £350+, partly because of its reputation. I got mine for £300 but it does have a slight mark on the front element (which has no effect that I'm aware of....I even tested shooting straight into the sun and it refused to flare).

The 45mm might be a good option too...I've seen those selling for around £100 because they don't have the best reputation, though I think that's more the autofocus version than the manual one.

As you point out yourself, this is quite a big camera already, and the 75mm is by far the most compact lens. The wide lenses are only a little bigger to be honest, but the telephotos (I have the 150mm FA) and zooms definitely add to the already considerable bulk.
 
Thanks for your input Francesco. That's picture taken with the 55mm is really sharp. Actually both are very sharp with great depth of field.

I was following that 55 and nobody did bid on it, it's just relisted now! I didn't think to buy but you are tempting me, I did though I should get use to the camera before spending money which might be a sensible thing to do. I have thought of selling my bronica first as I can't justify having 2 medium format camera and I find the bronica learning curve a bit too steep.
 
I decided to sell my 55mm a while back when I was rationalising my kit so kept just the 35mm, 75mm and 150mm, though it was reluctantly. There is a bit too much of a gap arguably between 35mm and 75mm but it works pretty well as a three lens set. The other thing to mention (without wanting to create too much temptation!!) is that while the autofocus lenses are excellent and beautifully made, the manual focus ones seem to have a silky smoothness that I think is as good as anything I've ever handled. They really are a pleasure to operate. But you're probably right not to rush into anything and get used to the camera first. The lenses aren't commonplace but do appear fairly regularly on ebay and with the usual dealers if you're patient.

EDIT: just for pedantic clarity I think the shot on the 35mm was taken with Tri-X whereas the one with the 55mm was on Acros, so it will look a bit sharper/finer grained as a result.
 
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