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Pentax 645Z

Real Sensor Data

Brand
Pentax
Sensor Format
MF 44x33
Resolution
51.4 MP
Pixel Pitch
5.29 microns
Circle of Confusion
0.0365 mm
Crop Factor
0.79x
Announced
2014

Released in 2014, the 645Z is the oldest camera on this site's reference, and it remains genuinely relevant a decade later — a medium-format DSLR that disrupted the format's pricing when it launched, bringing 51.4-megapixel medium-format image quality to a price point dramatically below what medium format had traditionally cost.

Pentax 645Z sensor specs

Sensor
MF 44x33
Resolution
51.4 MP
Pixel dimensions
8,278 × 6,209 px
Aspect ratio
4:3
Pixel pitch
5.29 µm
Crop factor
0.79x
Circle of confusion
0.0365 mm

Medium Format sensor · DoF & Hyperfocal Calculator · Astro 500/NPF Calculator

The 645Z also introduced genuinely fast Live View autofocus for a medium-format body at the time, a real usability improvement over the notoriously slow contrast-detect systems that had defined medium-format autofocus performance in earlier generations from Pentax and its competitors alike. A real, practical usability advance for a format historically defined by slow, frustrating autofocus. A genuinely welcome change for working photographers.

Pentax also built genuinely thorough weather sealing into the 645Z, a real practical advantage for landscape photographers shooting medium-format work in harsh outdoor conditions. A real, practical field advantage.

See these numbers used live in the DoF & Hyperfocal Calculator by selecting the MF 44x33 sensor format.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a 2014 medium-format camera still competitive against modern bodies?

Its sensor specs and calculator figures remain fully accurate, and 51.4 megapixels on a genuinely large medium-format sensor still comfortably exceeds most real printing and cropping needs — its main disadvantages against newer bodies are autofocus sophistication and video features, not core still-image resolution or quality, and it remains a genuine value option on the secondhand market.