Big Megapixel Tidbits from the Week [CR1]

[Eldar]

Medium Format is a money pit with shrinking demand and marginal improvements in quality.

Speaking about marginal improvements in quality, have you seen this (on dpr)?

Do you have a link?

A friend of mine just returned from a photo trip to Italy, w

If you want to torture yourself: 

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr18=Daylight&attr13_0=phaseone_iq180&attr13_1=nikon_d800&attr15_0=Jpeg&attr15_1=Jpeg&attr16_0=35&attr16_1=50&normalization=full&widget=13&x=-0.660663021189337&y=0.2962479550780386

A friend of mine just returned from a photo trip to Italy, where brought his newly acquired Phase One IQ180. He had a number of 1x1.5m prints made of landscapes around the Dolomites. And the quality was just unbelievable. But so is the price ...
Having seen these images, it is quite clear that medium format is not dead. But they will need to do something to get more volume. The R&D investments required, to stay ahead of the 35mm DSLRs will be substantial.

[Pi]

Having seen these images, it is quite clear that medium format is not dead. But they will need to do something to get more volume. The R&D investments required, to stay ahead of the 35mm DSLRs will be substantial.

There were rumors that Canon may just buy one of those MF companies. 

[c.d.embrey]

Would they not need to manufacture whole lot of new lenses of MF?

No they won't.  Phase One has lenses between 28mm (=18.6mm FF) and 150mm (=100mm FF). Hasselblad starts at 24mm (16mm FF), plus they add two longer lenses, 210mm (=140mm FF) and 300mm (= 200mm). All Canon will need at the start is a 24mm/28mm Wide Angle, an 80mm Normal (=53mm FF) and a Portrait lens 150mm/210mm.

[c.d.embrey]

Can you guys educate me on medium format photography?
1. What does it do better than a standard DSLR?
2. What doesn't it do as well?
3. What genres/styles of photography are better suited to medium format?

A DSLR and a Midium Format Digital (MFD) are two different tools. It's like comparing a hand held power circular saw and a table circular saw. They both cut wood 8-) MFD cameras are mainly  used for product shots, high-end portraits, architectural  and landscape. They seldom/never are used for sports or Birds in Flight (BIF).

4. Would medium format require specialized lenses or would the current EF/EF-S lenses work? (Ok, maybe not EF-S)

AFAIK no Canaon DSLR lenses would work. MFD require large and expensive lenses. The crop factor is to divide a MFD lens[ by 1.5 to get a Full Frame Equivalent, i.e. 240mm devided by 1.5 = 140mm.

Thanks everybody

[neuroanatomist]

AFAIK no Canaon DSLR lenses would work.

I believe the current TS-E lenses would work - they have very large image circles to accommodate the movements (although on MF, you'd be limited in TS capability).

[Don Haines]

AFAIK no Canaon DSLR lenses would work.

I believe the current TS-E lenses would work - they have very large image circles to accommodate the movements (although on MF, you'd be limited in TS capability).

but you would still have the EFS mount as a bottleneck....

[verysimplejason]

We’re told that their is a 44.7mp camera in heavy testing. However, the test cameras are eating batteries when shooting in 4K mode.

Oh please Canon! For once, can you just forget all about the bloody video-features and focus everything on the still photography part? Just give us the high resolution dynamic range monster we've all been waiting for.

Canon wants a bigger market for their camera, not only the stills people.  They also want to force-feed you of something you don't want just because you want something in return.

[c.d.embrey]

AFAIK no Canaon DSLR lenses would work.

I believe the current TS-E lenses would work - they have very large image circles to accommodate the movements (although on MF, you'd be limited in TS capability).

90mm TS-E Image circle dia. 58.6mm
45mm TS-E Image circle dia. 58.6mm
24mm TS-E Image circle diameter   67.2mm
17mm TS-E Image circle diameter   67.2mm

The Phase One IQ2 series (60 & 80 Mp) are approx 40mmx53mm The  Diagonal is approx 66mm. Hasselblad sensors range from approx 40mmx53mm to a smaller approx 33mmx44mm (Diagonal 55mm). So it all depends on what size MF sensor Canon decides to use.

They could also do as Leica did with their S2 (45 x 30 mm sensor). Medium format has been anything from 4.5x6cm film to 6x9cm film to today's approx 4.5x6 digital., there is no written in stone definition of Medium Format.