Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Not sure where I am going with this but after about 20 years of only digital capture I think maybe one of the most qualified folks to talk about this. Not going to get into the way past here but it started back in 1991 with a Kodak 460 and a Nikon E2 which shot to a PCMIA card at about 1 mg per file. LOL
Man have times have changed but back in 2001 when I got laid off as Chief Photographer at Honeywell International Aerospace in particular i had some tough choices to make. I was shooting digital Nikons and Hassy V with film just prior to leaving. So big choices had to be made at that time on what to do. I almost went MF digital out of the gate and it was a close call but price at the time was a serious 40k or more investment and after being laid off was maybe not a prudent start. So it started with a Kodak 560 if memory serves me and went through Canon like a train wreck than Nikons , Leica's with DMR and M8's and everything along the way but my heart always knew MF was where I needed to be.
I sit here today thinking about all this after starting with a ZD, P25+, P30+ and now own a P40+. Not only that I tested a lot of systems along the MF path even though I have not done reviews on all of them but maybe for the first time in my working Pro career I lost that screaming painful and down right costly mindset that I need to keep buying up all the time to get better and better gear. But I sit here today with about a 90 percent I am happier than pigs in a mud pen. I left that 10 percent out because things can always get better and maybe some things I want like a Tech cam but maybe the whole point of this thread or thought pattern is i have NEVER been happier with the files and the IQ that comes off these sensors that MF produces. This is not about Phase per say because it could maybe be said for Hassy, Leaf, Sinar or Leica but it is the files that come off these bad boys that just make me smile a mile wide when I am looking at them in C1 as they come in than after I process them I stare at them with amazement since nothing I ever shot in my past come even close.
Like I said not sure where I am going with this but I THINK I finally hit a point of being CONTENT on what is being produced from these MF files. It in my mind just does not get any better than this and honestly with all due respect to those that say it does not matter in the scheme of things I have to COMPLETELY disagree as it makes ME feel satisfied as a artist and my clients are reaping the benefits and they tell me all the time they just love my files. Not sure I can put a price tag on this or that I want too. At some point the ROI just means very little although it is paying for itself but lets get real here also I could easily cheat and shoot 35mm but that is not the point of this thread. What is the point is and my driving force is deliver the absolute best I can that the gear will allow and my artistic endeavors to flourish. At the end of the day or bottom line regardless of brand I am actually happy NOW. Tomorrow who the hell knows. LOL
Gear slut confessions. :thumbs::salute::talk028::bugeyes:
Man have times have changed but back in 2001 when I got laid off as Chief Photographer at Honeywell International Aerospace in particular i had some tough choices to make. I was shooting digital Nikons and Hassy V with film just prior to leaving. So big choices had to be made at that time on what to do. I almost went MF digital out of the gate and it was a close call but price at the time was a serious 40k or more investment and after being laid off was maybe not a prudent start. So it started with a Kodak 560 if memory serves me and went through Canon like a train wreck than Nikons , Leica's with DMR and M8's and everything along the way but my heart always knew MF was where I needed to be.
I sit here today thinking about all this after starting with a ZD, P25+, P30+ and now own a P40+. Not only that I tested a lot of systems along the MF path even though I have not done reviews on all of them but maybe for the first time in my working Pro career I lost that screaming painful and down right costly mindset that I need to keep buying up all the time to get better and better gear. But I sit here today with about a 90 percent I am happier than pigs in a mud pen. I left that 10 percent out because things can always get better and maybe some things I want like a Tech cam but maybe the whole point of this thread or thought pattern is i have NEVER been happier with the files and the IQ that comes off these sensors that MF produces. This is not about Phase per say because it could maybe be said for Hassy, Leaf, Sinar or Leica but it is the files that come off these bad boys that just make me smile a mile wide when I am looking at them in C1 as they come in than after I process them I stare at them with amazement since nothing I ever shot in my past come even close.
Like I said not sure where I am going with this but I THINK I finally hit a point of being CONTENT on what is being produced from these MF files. It in my mind just does not get any better than this and honestly with all due respect to those that say it does not matter in the scheme of things I have to COMPLETELY disagree as it makes ME feel satisfied as a artist and my clients are reaping the benefits and they tell me all the time they just love my files. Not sure I can put a price tag on this or that I want too. At some point the ROI just means very little although it is paying for itself but lets get real here also I could easily cheat and shoot 35mm but that is not the point of this thread. What is the point is and my driving force is deliver the absolute best I can that the gear will allow and my artistic endeavors to flourish. At the end of the day or bottom line regardless of brand I am actually happy NOW. Tomorrow who the hell knows. LOL
Gear slut confessions. :thumbs::salute::talk028::bugeyes: