The Pentax SMC D FA 645 55mm F2.8 AL (IF) SDM AW ($1,199.95 direct)($999.99 at Amazon) was the first lens that Pentax released with the 645D($999.99 at Amazon) digital medium format camera, and with good reason. It's a standard-angle design, which is an excellent lens for general use, and it's quite sharp. Like the 645D, it's weather-sealed, so you can take it out and shoot in rain and shine alike. The $1,200 price tag is a bit on the high side—Mamiya's similar lens for its digitial medium format system can be found for around $800. But even though the 645D is now priced $1,200 below its original $10,000 asking price, getting into digital medium format photography is not an inexpensive proposition. The lens itself is fairly squat when you consider the big image sensor it's designed to cover. Even though the 645D's 40-megapixel CCD sensor is a bit smaller than a 6 by 4.5cm film frame, this lens produces an image circle that lets you pair with your 645N film camera if you choose to...
The Pentax SMC D FA 645 55mm F2.8 AL (IF) SDM AW is likely the first lens you'll get with the 645D—and it's a good one.
Very sharp; Standard-angle field of view; Weather sealed; Fast aperture; Minimal distortion
Expensive