Viewfinder, LCD and Live view
Aside from the image quality, the viewfinder is perhaps the best part of a medium-format camera. It is larger than a DSLR viewfinder, making it much easier to manually focus and compose your shot. Despite the apparent size of the 645D’s viewfinder, it offers only a 98% field of view, which seems unusual for such a product – especially as its main rival (the Hasselblad H4D-31) is offering full 100% coverage. It is, however, a step forward from the old 645N film model, which gave only 92/93% coverage from its viewfinder, and most will hardly notice the 2% difference.
The rear LCD is a high-resolution device that, apart from appearing slightly dark, gives great colour definition and detail. When not being used for reviewing images, the LCD screen can display more shooting information by pressing the disp button. This gives much the same information as shown on the top LCD panel, but in a clearer and more graphical form. The screen can also display the digital level, which gives an aircraft simulator-style display for pitch and roll, to help you keep the camera level.
The 645D doesn’t offer a Live View display of any kind, nor does it offer video. While this may seem surprising considering the 645D’s similarities to the K-7, it is the Kodak CCD sensor that is responsible for their absence. The depth of field preview can be used to preview an image on the LCD screen, but this is essentially achieved by taking a shot that is not saved to the card.
