FYI, I just asked this question ... and as far as I was told, I can order a H4DXX, and a second H4D body and have it calibrated/integrated exactly the same as the first one for a seamless back-up.
Hassy's system of
requiring calibration/integration to be able to use a body has it's benefits. Indeed it should more or less guarentee you never have an issue with focus calibration between a given camera-back and back.
Phase's system of allowing the user to put any back on any body opens up the possibility for camera-back focus miscalibration. That is scary on paper. However, the reality is in three years, I've only had three cases I can remember where someone was dissatisfied with the registration of a body-back system. All three were addressed for free with a quick visit to the NY office - leading to the same outcome as hassy's system of
requiring calibration/registration in order to use a particular back and body.
With a Phase One back you can use any body with any back (of the same mount of course) without "calibration/integration" from the factory. This means that in a crises you can use any body from a rental house or have your dealer overnight you a body and you can stick your back on it and go.
The cost of having a backup is also very low with Phase's system since you can also use older bodies such as the AFD1, AFD2, and AFD3 without "calibration/integration". An AFD1 ($399) is a slow and mediocre body - but as a backup for a day while you get another DF rented/shipped in it would be perfectly fine.
The difference of having to rent a body only rather than a body and back kit is not minor. A body is often around $60/day and a back around $400-$600/day. Insurance requirements to rent a body is around $1-3k rather than $10k-$40k for a digital back.
In three years I've seen only a handful of back failures (no moving parts) while I've seen a dozen or more camera body failures (shutter/mirror are moving parts). So a backup body to me is much more important than a backup back.
I thought I saw somewhere that you said that it was in beta testing?
Yaya was referring to the thread linked below which I took to mean the H4D-60 could not be presently used on a tech camera, and that the firmware for doing such was in beta. Did yaya and I missread that?
http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showpost.php?p=285990&postcount=7
Doug Peterson
(e-mail Me)
__________________
Head of Technical Services, Capture Integration
Phase One Partner of the Year
Leaf, Leica, Cambo, Arca Swiss, Canon, Apple, Profoto, Broncolor, Eizo & More
National: 877.217.9870 *| *Cell: 740.707.2183
Newsletter | RSS Feed
Buy Capture One 6 at 10% off