The Pentax 645D is a medium-format digital SLR. Much of the photography on this site from Maine and Tokyo were taken with this camera. You can see work from the Pentax here: Pentax 645D.
I have a four lenses and a teleconverter:
- Pentax 645 A 35mm f/3.5 [example image]
- Pentax 645 D-FA 55mm f/2.8 [example image]
- Pentax 645 A 120mm f/4.0 Macro [example image]
- Pentax 645 FA 300mm f/5.6 [example image]
- Pentax Rear Converter-A 1.4X [example image]
95% of my work is done with the 55mm lens.
This is a heavy system. In order to carry this in the field and on flights, I use an Osprey Farpoint 40 backpack (click on the image below for a larger view). The harness is very comfortable, allowing me to hike with this equipment for 8 to 10 hours a day. I find this a far more comfortable backpack than models specifically designed for photography. The harness can also be hidden behind a cloth panel for going through airports—handles on the side and top of the pack as well as a detachable shoulder strap makes carrying easy.
I organize the pack using pouches and inserts. I carry my lenses in a Think Tank belt system. This allows me to remove them from the pack and work with them around my waist as well as giving them protection when stored in the pack. The camera is keep in a padded insert in the main compartment. I use a stuff sack over the camera to protect it when around my neck or on a tripod from rain and dust. Other pockets on the inside and outside of the bag give me room to carry food, water, and clothing. I also use this bag when traveling with my Fujifilm X system.
I use a Manfrotto 441 carbon fiber tripod with a short center column and Arca Swiss P0 ball head. Two integrated tripod sockets on the Pentax 645D body allow the camera to be mounted either horizontally or vertically. This balances the camera directly over the tripod head, making it very stable for long exposures.
I often use neutral density filters with the Pentax 645D. Over a number of years, I have found a 6-stop ND filter the most practical. It allows me to focus under most light levels through the camera’s optical viewfinder, while giving exposures long enough to blur motion. This camera and filter combination was used for our book Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Emptiness: Tokyo Landscape.
