Phase One Unveils the Future of High-End Photography

Hector1970

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Mar 22, 2012
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I wasn't clear from their blurb.
Does some other company supply the sensor?
Is it an enlarged Sony sensor?

I'd love to use one and see how it benefits.
I'm sure if would have lovely shallow depth of field at a wide aperture.
I do like that in medium format pictures.
There is a lovely photograph of an Elephant in the book "A Shadow Falls" that I presume is taken with medium format. It has a lovely effect.
I could see in the time when my camera was 6MP and a Medium Formatt was 20mp that it was leaps ahead.
I wonder how big would the difference now between a 50mp Canon and this camera.
The gap must surely be narrowing in terms of human ability to discern the difference.
 
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Oct 16, 2010
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In relation to the difference, I guess the same people who can instantly tell the difference between a current Sony APS-C sensor and a current Canon FF sensor in the final intended use (eg web display, printed image etc) could also easily discern the difference between a 50mp Canon and a medium format image. I assume those people exist? Maybe??

There are probably specialised uses where this is ideal, but personally, I've got doubts about digital medium format. Current post production techniques, pixel shift technology, image stitching and merging remove most of the high MP benefits. Without very wide aperture lenses, you also don't get much of a narrow DOF benefit.

Still, I shoot medium format film cameras and Fuji mirrorless cameras, so I can appreciate that many people just like being different for no valid reason. And when Canon gets into the medium format market, I'm sure it won't take much to convince me that they are the greatest cameras ever.
 
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This sort of high quality is great for specialist uses and pixel peepers but ultimately these Phase One camera systems are more of a status symbol for clients to buy in to than anything else.

Ten year ago I used to assist a very big car photographer who used a 22mp Imacon back for big brand brochures and ad campaigns. At the time, 22mp MF was cutting edge and what all the big agencies wanted. Sadly, by the time the digital images went to cmyk print press, the conversion process left very little discernable difference between a $30,000 MF back and a modern 22mp dslr.

As i said, most people won't need these MF cameras and most clients won't be able to tell the difference between them and a 50mp Canon 5Ds. In some instances the new Canon will beat the MF hands down due to usability, autofocus etc.

These MF backs and whole systems are still vastly overpriced and need to come right down in cost ...
 
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Nitroman said:
But seriously ... at those still ridiculously inflated prices, how many professionals can really afford to buy a system?!

My Canon 5Ds will give it a good run for the money at one tenth of the price.
Keep in mind that it's about total cost, not just the camera.
For me the Phase One pays for itself due to saved air fares alone. Despite that CPL reducing that factor.
 
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Most pros who will be using this gear will rent it, just as they do with most of the equipment they use on a shoot. Then simply bill the client for the rental charges. Perhaps obvious to say, big time big budget clients.

Sure there are some amateurs who will want to purchase this equipment. In particular the people shooting technical cameras will want the back for the megapixels and the long exposure that will now be available.

Pretty exciting stuff.
 
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Feb 26, 2012
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AB
dilbert said:
Nitroman said:
But seriously ... at those still ridiculously inflated prices, how many professionals can really afford to buy a system?!

My Canon 5Ds will give it a good run for the money at one tenth of the price.

Highly unlikely.

At 50MPX, the Phase One back is larger, so expect your 5Ds to give it a run for its money just as much as an APS-C gives FF a run for its money. When comparing it to the 60 & 80MP models, the sensor area is 2.5 * that of the 5Ds. Or to put it differently, your 5Ds is to a 60 or 80MP Phase One back as a m4/3 sensor is to your 5Ds but even that's not fair on the m4/3 (ratio of 2x compared to FF.)

area vs linear scale error
 
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Jeffrey said:
Most pros who will be using this gear will rent it, just as they do with most of the equipment they use on a shoot. Then simply bill the client for the rental charges. Perhaps obvious to say, big time big budget clients.

Sure there are some amateurs who will want to purchase this equipment. In particular the people shooting technical cameras will want the back for the megapixels and the long exposure that will now be available.

Pretty exciting stuff.

Sadly the CMOS back (the 50mp) doesn't work well on a technical camera. The CCD backs (60 and 80) do, but a tech cam is where live view would really shine and live view on the CMOS backs is, uh... sub-optimal.
 
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