Fellow Pentax MF users: I would appreciate any feedback on the Pentax 645 600 5.6 EDIF lens, field, studio, or test experience. I'm considering the P 645 NII camera (w/MLU) as a backup to my P 67 system, and think this would be an ideal setup for long MF glass. The ED optics (in theory) would allow me to shoot wide open with a MFD of 16 feet. It weighs only 10.7 lbs. These specs far exceed those of the P67 600/4 (39' MFD at 13 lbs.) for a few dollars more (new). Naturally, the trade off would be a smaller format, nonetheless, the lens seems to stand out in my mind among medium format long lenses, especially compared the non-ED 67 beasts with long min. focusing distances and necessity to stop down for image quality. Any thoughts? thanks! mark smith

-- mark smith (msmith@fayar.net), January 29, 2002