Mamiya ZD Vs Phase One P25

[Guy Mancuso]

Lance does not have the P25 plus with him just the P25. But I have several images side by sides and there is a lot more for me to process and shoot but right out of the gate today. I see a big difference . In this one look at the side walk in the ZD it is almost blown and the Phase is hanging on much better. I like the color better although this really needs a better test also. But generally I like it more . The shadows details are about even but I lean to the Phase . What does impress me here is the highlights holding on much better and better tone. More coming and a lot more shooting But functionally very simple the damn think just works out of the box. Lance gave me the 2 minute drill and off to the races not a blurp not a skip just nailed everything in sight. Also The beta of C1 Pro is so nice with the Phase backs. This is fine tuned machine here. I REALLY like it so far

Zd
P25

 

[Guy Mancuso]

BTW ISO 400 is very clean on the non plus back . I did shoot through the range but I expect even better with Plus series. Okay the P25 LCD is not so hot but certainly not the worst and the Plus is a major step up and will look at that tomorrow with the Pus 45 and 30 that are here. Lance had another demo this morning but landed and ran the P25 over to me so I can play right away. Great Guy

BTW this in LR just because I can go back and forth easier but the highlight and shadow tools with there backs is completely amazing what you can pull down and also pull out.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Phase 25 ISO 400 handheld at 1/60 at 6.3

Than a 100 percent crop. Very slight noise and should be alot better in the Plus by a stop , this is really good. I did nothing to this file C1

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Phase 25 ISO 800 handheld at

Than a 100 percent crop. Little noisy and should be alot better in the Plus by a stop , this is what I expected I did nothing to this file C1

 

[Guy Mancuso]

I should have used a tripod but what I am expecting from the Plus is a very clean ISO 400 and that is fine with me and a better ISO800.

 

[LJL]

Guy,
Your ISO 800 shot looks a bit "painterly" deep in the recesses, sort of like it has had some noise reduction, even though you did not do anything to it. There looks like there is more preserved detail in the ISO 400 shot. Regardless, the noise levels do not look objectionable at all....just have a bit different looking effect than what I have been looking at on other files.

LJ

 

[Chuck Jones]

Guy, cut your ZD exposure by half a stop. It is just running "hot" on your meter it looks like to me. Those two files are VERY close from what I can see, if you just protect your highlights in the ZD with a tad less exposure, I really do not see an advantage here, or not a big one anyway. Just my 2 cents worth...

 

[Dale Allyn]

Guy, cut your ZD exposure by half a stop. It is just running "hot" on your meter it looks like to me. Those two files are VERY close from what I can see, if you just protect your highlights in the ZD with a tad less exposure, I really do not see an advantage here, or not a big one anyway. Just my 2 cents worth...

That's exactly what I was thinking (though I'm not a MFDB guy... yet).

Edit to add: there is a slight color difference, but I still think there's a slight exposure difference occurring (with the luxury of viewing on my home workstation and not in a hotel room in S.J.)

 

[thsinar]

I agree with the both of you, Chuck and Dale, or then the tonal curve applied is not the same: for me the ZD looks more contrasty.

Thierry

That's exactly what I was thinking (though I'm not a MFDB guy... yet).

Edit to add: there is a slight color difference, but I still think there's a slight exposure difference occurring (with the luxury of viewing on my home workstation and not in a hotel room in S.J.)

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Yes and let's not forget I did nothing which will never happen. We always make some adjustment. Just showing the working mans look so far. I would not call this too technical in nature. The biggy for me and let's even call it equal in image quality at this point is the function of the back. Certainly the ISO will be better out of Phase the ZD just sucks at ISO 400 but it's speed and the way the back functions cannot be overlooked. I love the 4 button setup the power on and off actually switch. The review speed is like a Nikon D3 or Canon and you can get around very easy because of the simple interface. Like any of the Sinar's or leaf , Hassybacks you need to take the way they work and there speed in serious consideration . Let's face it our arsch is on the line and fiddling with controls is not part of shooting and that whole functionality issue is important. I will keep looking at the differences but so far I am getting the P25 plus, no question. The files look better and there is just more elbow room I see in the Phase files. You can bend these all over the place

 

[cmb_]

Guy - are you shooting the Phase back with the Phase 645 camera (or another) or are you switching backs on the Mamiya? Any comments on the camera handling?

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Switching backs on the Mamiya. Jack and I did also shoot with two camera's one with ZD and one with Phase Backs both with the current Mamiya AFD-II. Now the workshop started it will be a little tough to show everything but we will do what we can on breaks

 

[robmac]

Agree, the first two files look like a slight exposure and saturation adjustment would bring them up to par. Love the detail in both.

Keep the input coming and enjoy the weather (bloody sucks here for this time of year)

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Just the Phase P25 the first one straight from the box and the second tweaked to balance it nicely. Lot's of range here

 

[Guy Mancuso]

That was the Mamiya 28mm lens. Gotta get one of those. We also shot the P45 plus here so we will have to compare that one also