Equipment->News: June 2005 Archives

PDNOnline.com has an early preview of the new The Mamiya ZD titled "Hands-on with the most interesting digital ever." . The ZD is a 22-megapixel digital medium-format camera with a huge 36mm x 48mm sensor. If the price comes under $10,000 as rumored, the ZD will be a class-leading product:

The Mamiya ZD, even in its current iteration is a powerful camera. Engineers in Japan will need to ensure that the image processing time is short enough to make the camera a viable option in the studio or in the field, but aside from the buffering times and the image-quality quirks of the early version firmware, the Mamiya ZD is already good to go.

When it ships, the ZD will be lighter than the Canon 1Ds Mark II, with nearly twice the resolution of the Nikon D2X, and vastly more lenses than the Olympus E system. If the company can bring the price in line (a few thousand more than a Canon 1Ds Mark II, but less than a AFD plus back) will make this a very powerful addition to Mamiya%u2019s lineup.

DigitalCameraReview.com notes that Pentax Announces the Pentax *istDL Digital Camera:

PENTAX Corporation is pleased to announce the marketing of the PENTAX *istDL digital SLR camera. With a compact, lightweight body, simplified operations and outstanding cost performance, the *istDL is designed to extend the advantages of high-quality digital SLR photography, including lens interchangeability, to photographers of all levels, even those who are unfamiliar with digital and SLR photography.

The 10-megapixel Leica DMR digital back for the Leica R8 and R9 SLRs is due to be released on June 15th (2005), well behind schedule. Sample cameras are already in the hands of photographers who are starting to upload photographs taken with the camera/back combination. Here are some examples: