

If you remember my post from December last year, DxOMark briefly published their test score of the Pentax 645Z medium format camera (now $1,500 off) and then removed it a few hours later. The results are now officially available on DxOMark’s website:

It’s clear from our testing that the Pentax 645Z’s sensor is extremely capable, coming within a whisper of matching the performance of the Hasselblad X1D sensor (our highest-scoring sensor to date). The 645Z’s high dynamic range and color sensitivity make it ideally suited for capturing the types of scenes that are traditionally favored by medium-format photographers — landscapes, weddings, portraits, and still lifes (commercial). Medium-format shooters are interesting capturing images with lots of detail, low noise, and smooth tonal gradations.

In addition, the Pentax 645Z controls noise well, making it suitable for use in relatively low light, and perhaps expanding the range of conditions in which medium-format cameras are traditionally used.

It’s interesting to compare the Pentax 645Z sensor against the Nikon D850’s because although the former is about 1.7x larger, it’s also around three years older. While the 645Z beats the Nikon sensor in our tests, the Nikon comes closer than you might expect, given the size difference. If Sony made a medium-format sensor with the same design as the D850, it would beat the sensors in both the Pentax 645Z and the Hassleblad X1D-50c.