Pentax adds tethered shooting to 645D medium-format DSLR

Pentax has announced tethering software to allow the 645D to be triggered from a computer and its images transferred across to a designated location. The Pentax Image Transmitter software, available for both Mac and Windows, doesn't allow any other camera control over the camera but is still likely to broaden the camera's appeal for studio work. It will be available from March 2012 at a recommended price of $199.99.

Press Release

PENTAX RICOH IMAGING AMERICAS CORPORATION ANNOUNCES PENTAX 645D IMAGE TRANSMITTER SOFTWARE

DENVER, CO. (February 7, 2012)…PENTAX RICOH IMAGING AMERICAS CORPORATION announced the PENTAX IMAGE Transmitter exclusive software for the transfer and saving of images taken with the PENTAX 645D medium-format digital SLR

camera to a personal computer. The transmitter software is equipped to automatically transfer 645D images from camera to PC via USB cable.

Overview of the software:

• Available in CD-ROM format
• Transfer recorded images to a designated file on a personal computer
• Records the images simultaneously on an SD memory card installed in the camera
• The camera’s shutter may be remotely released using the personal computer
• Available in Japanese and English
• Operating manual included on the CD-ROM

The transmitter software will be available in March 2012 for $199.95 USD on www.pentaxwebstore.com.

NOTE: The camera’s firmware must be updated to the latest version in order to use this software. The latest firmware is contained in the CD-ROM. With the Windows version, Microsoft’s .NET Framework 4 software must be installed on a personal computer in advance.

System requirements

Windows version

Macintosh version

You may also like

Sigma USA gives details of 60mm F2.8 DN Art for mirrorless cameras May 2, 2013	Samsung announces NX2000 mirrorless APS-C camera with Wi-Fi and NFC May 1, 2013	Zeiss names and defines new lenses for Sony NEX and Fujifilm X cameras Apr 30, 2013	Lens reviews update: 70-200mm lenses added to our test data widget Apr 29, 2013

Comments

Total comments: 18

By locke_fc (Feb 12, 2012)

That's all good and well, although I would balk at the price if I were a 645D owner.
How about implementing a solution (a cheap one, plesase) for the K-5, Pentax?

0 upvotes

By OttoVonChriek (Feb 9, 2012)

With such a large camera I'm surprised they didn't implement RFC1149

0 upvotes

By GIUSEPPE GUICCIARDI (Feb 8, 2012)

Bad: High Sys requirement... ,
it comes after two years, (but they were acquired by Ricoh...)
pricely and with a nikon d800 approaching.

Pro: you can save the file on cpu and sd at the same time, until now I have ever worked with the 645 and preview by hdmi, I have seen too many photographers shooting with blad tethered and in the middle of the shooting see the spinning pizza on the screen and on the photographer eyes too...
It's unsafe.

645d vs. d800, it will be a real challenge?

645 is a really good camera, just hope they cut the price.

For the wi-fi fan: try to send a raw file (or a tiff...) with an eye fi card, and be patient, really patient.

Comment edited 1 minute after posting

0 upvotes

By aaanorton (Feb 8, 2012)

$200 for an application that performs exactly one function?
Should be free. Shoulda been included with original release.

7 upvotes

By Archer66 (Feb 8, 2012)

You mean like GP-E1 GPS receiver fro Canon 1DX ? Oh wait...

0 upvotes

By samhain (Feb 8, 2012)

$200 for something that shouldve come standard(free) on a $10k camera? Ouch...

Comment edited 1 minute after posting

3 upvotes

By Zebooka (Feb 8, 2012)

Sys Requirements are amazing.
Why do they need Core 2 Duo or i5, 2 GB RAM and 1 GB HDD for sending commands via USB ?
This is ridiculous.
For professional usage they should have done WiFi module, not outdated wired USB.
Shame on you Pentax.

PS: Also such long wait for such easy app... what are they doing when they have all specs of camera protocol? I'm telling this as programmer.

2 upvotes

By Maxfield_photo (Feb 8, 2012)

In retrospect it seems like this is the result of Hoya's 18 month holding plan, "just get it on the shelves and let the next sucker take care of the support" To Ricoh's credit, I think it was first brought to their attention a month ago at CES.

0 upvotes

By ogl (Feb 8, 2012)

Anton, you are not Pentaxian..Why do you care?

0 upvotes

By Alizarine (Feb 8, 2012)

It's about time.They should have done this in the first place when it was released though...

0 upvotes

By love_them_all (Feb 7, 2012)

For such a big body the next step is to do a built in wifi.

3 upvotes

By Maxfield_photo (Feb 7, 2012)

Holy hell, they listened!

0 upvotes

By Ashley Pomeroy (Feb 7, 2012)

To be honest this should come free with the camera - Canon does it, Fuji used to do it, you'd think with a medium format camera tethered studio shooting would be the most common application. The business model seems a bit underhand.

7 upvotes

By DStudio (Feb 7, 2012)

This is good news. It's very important that Pentax is doing this.

The K-5 can already be tethered through free third-party software, but it's not as refined as it could be. What we really need is to see Pentax tethering support in major applications like Capture One Pro.

0 upvotes

By Jeroen Bouman (Feb 8, 2012)

CaptureOne doesn't support Pentax 645d-files (OK, C1 does show the DNG's but they look absolutely horrible), and probably never will as the 645d competes with Phase's own digital backs. But you could probably use Lightroom running alongside with this new PIT-software.

0 upvotes

By SETI (Feb 7, 2012)

Looks like we'll never get one for K-5 =(

1 upvote

By Zebooka (Feb 8, 2012)

Yeah, this is a unique super-duper feature. Very costy and hard to implement...

0 upvotes

By Pultzar (Feb 7, 2012)

Seems like a lot of money for a feature that should just be there.

7 upvotes

Total comments: 18