PENTAX 645D Wins Camera of the Year Japan

Pentax 645D Camera of the Year Japan

When Pentax finally launched their Medium Format Digital Camera a few months ago, to say it made waves would be a major understatement.  This camera literally put all of the other major MF camera manufacturers on a 24 hour  “I hope it doesn’t work” vigil.  Well unfortunately for them, the new Penatx 645D is working and very well and I am pleased to announce that it won the prestigious GP Japan Camera of the year award. Earlier this year, the Pentax 645D was selected by the Technical Image Press Association, TIPA Award for best professional camera.  It seems that BKBlog was on the mark when back in December of 2010, we chose the Pentax 645D camera as the High End Pro Camera of the Year. All well deserved indeed.

PENTAX Imaging Company announced on behalf of PENTAX Japan that the PENTAX 645D medium-format digital SLR camera, first launched in June 2010, was selected as Camera of The Year at Camera GP Japan 2011 Awards. The winning camera features exceptional reliability and superb operability, along with remarkable, super-fine image quality assured by approximately 40 effective megapixels.The Camera Grand Prix Awards is held annually under the sponsorship of the Camera Journal Press Club (CJPC), a group of photography writers from the top 11 photo and camera magazines in Japan. This is one of the most prestigious camera awards in the country, representing the CJPC’s selection of the most distinguished still cameras introduced to the Japanese market during the year. In addition to Camera of The Year, the group also selected winners in three different categories: the Readers Award, with voting by magazine readers; the Editors Award, a selection by professional writers from all photographic and imaging products; and the Lens Award, a new award established this year.

Winners are decided by a 57member selection panel consisting of the editors and publishers of club-member magazines, photographic experts, technical writers and professional photographers, as well as CJPC members. The PENTAX 645D was selected over 172 other new products introduced in Japan from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011.

The panel concluded that, as the first medium-format digital SLR camera launched by PENTAX, the 645D represented a  combination of many advanced and photographer-friendly features, including an extra-large CCD image sensor, designed to deliver super-fine images and all housed within a highly dependable dust-proof, weather resistant body. It further praised PENTAX for never abandoning the development of the 645D, bringing it through a series of trials and errors over many years to perfect it as a super-high-resolution, multi-featured medium-format digital camera that is far more affordable than competitive models. The camera’s compatibility with conventional lenses also played a crucial role in the decision of this year’s Camera of The Year.

 

Pentax 645D

Founded in 1984, the Camera Grand Prix Awards this year celebrated the 28th Camera of The Year winner. PENTAX has had three winners in the past: the PENTAX Z-1 Quartz Date in 1992; the PENTAX 645N in 1998; and the PENTAX K10D in 2007. The 645D now joins them as PENTAX’s fourth winner of this prestigious award.

The PENTAX 645D has already been selected as the Best D-SLR Professional in Europe 2011 by the prestigious Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) as well as an AMERICAN PHOTO Magazine’s Editor’s Choice.  These highly coveted  awards in Japan, Europe and the United States help demonstrate the 645D’s outstanding performance and technical excellence.

About Benjamin Kanarek
Fashion and Beauty Photographer. Some of the magazines I have shot for include: VOGUE (China, Portugal, Brazil, Italia, Paris and South America & Mexico editions), RG VOGUE Brazil, Harper’s BAZAAR (China, en Español & Latin America, Hong Kong, Italy editions), L’Officiel Paris, ELLE (Spain, Portugal and Greece editions), Madame Figaro (France), Cosmopolitan (France and Italy editions), Glamour (France), Votre Beauté, Jardin des Modes, Dépêche Mode, New York Daily News, Fashion District News, New York Times Magazine, W (British edition), WWD, Fashion Magazine (Canada), Flare (Canada), Oyster, Tank, WestEast…