erick.boileau
Member
what are the best MF for landscape and architecture (with tilt/shift but also Autofocus when not using TS lenses ) ?
thank you
thank you
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MF for landscape architecture
- Thread starter erick.boileau
- Start date
dougpeterson
Workshop Member
We have an article on our website detailing some of the technical arguments for tech cameras: Tech Cameras for Architecture/Landscape.
My (heavily biased) opinion is a Phase One P45+ (if long exposures are needed in your style of shooting) or an IQ160/180 (if 1 min will suffice for max exposure length) with a Tech camera and also a Phase One DF is the most versatile and high quality kit available. That's one huge benifit of open platform medium format systems - just take the back directly off the Autofocus, TTL Focus/Composition, Built-In Metering DF body and put it directly on to a Tech Camera with large format lenses and built in rise/fall/shift/tilt.
That way you have convenience/speed when needed/appropriate and also the best possible quality (and movements on every lens) when you have the time to use the tech camera.
Hasselblad also makes an HTS system which you could use on a Phase, Leaf, or Hasselblad back (though they've closed the H3 and H4 to doing so you can still do so on the H2 body). However this magnifies the lens focal length by 1.5 and does so using optical elements (quality wise it's always best to avoid adding optical elements when possible) which means the widest lens they offer, the 28mm lens, becomes a 42mm. Depending on what lenses you've found you've used in the past with your current camera that may be fine or may be a deal killer.
If you've never had the chance to shoot with a tech camera like an Arca Swiss RM3Di or Cambo Wide RS with large format glass from Schneider/Rodenstock you simply MUST get one in your hands for a test before you buy anything else. It is, and I say this without equivocation, the highest quality which is currently attainable in medium format.
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
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My (heavily biased) opinion is a Phase One P45+ (if long exposures are needed in your style of shooting) or an IQ160/180 (if 1 min will suffice for max exposure length) with a Tech camera and also a Phase One DF is the most versatile and high quality kit available. That's one huge benifit of open platform medium format systems - just take the back directly off the Autofocus, TTL Focus/Composition, Built-In Metering DF body and put it directly on to a Tech Camera with large format lenses and built in rise/fall/shift/tilt.
That way you have convenience/speed when needed/appropriate and also the best possible quality (and movements on every lens) when you have the time to use the tech camera.
Hasselblad also makes an HTS system which you could use on a Phase, Leaf, or Hasselblad back (though they've closed the H3 and H4 to doing so you can still do so on the H2 body). However this magnifies the lens focal length by 1.5 and does so using optical elements (quality wise it's always best to avoid adding optical elements when possible) which means the widest lens they offer, the 28mm lens, becomes a 42mm. Depending on what lenses you've found you've used in the past with your current camera that may be fine or may be a deal killer.
If you've never had the chance to shoot with a tech camera like an Arca Swiss RM3Di or Cambo Wide RS with large format glass from Schneider/Rodenstock you simply MUST get one in your hands for a test before you buy anything else. It is, and I say this without equivocation, the highest quality which is currently attainable in medium format.
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
erick.boileau
Member
thanks Doug
the only MF I ever used was a Hasselblad H1 with P45
the only MF I ever used was a Hasselblad H1 with P45
Doug, if I may ask you directly, what would you do if the only IQ back you could afford for your tech cam was the IQ140? I'm going back and forth and still can't make up my mind. The promise of being able to use the back without thethering, a great user interface but the 1.3 crop factor versus the P45+, more than 60 seconds exposure time and a larger sensor. (If Phase comes up with slightly extended exposure times, the former might be a non-issue.)
Chris
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
I'm going from a P40+ to IQ140 just for the tech. Personally i would not buy a P45+ unless i directly need more than 60 sec. for at least 15 percent of the use. Frankly if you can find a P30+ or P25+ that can go 30 minutes i would buy that as a backup /long exp. back. No question in my mind the IQ is worth the tech and after testing it even more so. I will have the IQ 180 in my hands again in Death Valley in two weeks and looking forward to see if Phase improved it more.
erick.boileau
Member
the IQ 180 is very expensive and I don't need so many pixels, 40 pixels are enough for A2 prints
IQ140 and Alpa ? or P45+ / P25+ and Alpa ?
thanks
IQ140 and Alpa ? or P45+ / P25+ and Alpa ?
thanks
GrahamWelland
Subscriber & Workshop Member
That's my plan. I'm shooting P40+ & Alpa right now and I don't feel pixel challenged. The downside with the crop sensor is that you need wider glass for the same FoV and these get very expensive as you reach 28/24/23mm.
I've actually been through the thought process of comparing a sensor upgrade to full 645 vs the incremental cost of a couple of super-wide lenses on my DF & Alpa - it get's pretty close price-wise (although not for IQ back yet).
erick.boileau
Member
Graham which Alpa do you have ? the STC ?
GrahamWelland
Subscriber & Workshop Member
I used to shoot with the Max but now I'm using the STC for the size convenience but at the cost of losing the front rise/fall which I seldom used along with shift. Absolutely loved the Max, but the STC suits me better for travel.
erick.boileau
Member
Arca RM3Di vs Alpa STC
thanks to all
thanks to all
dougpeterson
Workshop Member
Not sure I'd call it a "typo" given that the top half of that page is meant to be a generic breakdown of the arguments of tech cameras vs. SLRs. We've been working to add the RM3Di to that page to show the other major tech camera option we endorse, but are just so darn busy. However, reading your comment I realize it could have been more clear and so have revised the wording a bit. Thanks for the feedback.
Slightly extended is always a realistic hope. But the Dalsa architecture is not a long-exposure architecture, and I would not buy an IQ140 if a limitation of one minute at ambient temperatures of 70ish degrees is going to significantly reduce your commercial or creative use of the camera.
The larger sensor is significant issue for single frames, but much less of an issue if you're already planning on doing any stitching. A four-frame flat-stitch gains you a LOT of effective sensor size for wide-ness of view and increase in resolution.
For instance a four shot stitch with a P40+ on a 43mm XL lens with 10mm of frame overlap is the same angle of view as a a single P45+ frame on a 28mm lens and would contain a net 120 megapixels of resolution compared to 39 megapixels. So you can see stitching can greatly change the equation on wideness of view. Note that I'm cherry picking here somewhat since the 43mm XL and 47mm XL have the two largest image circles for moderate-wide-angle lenses and therefore are the most dramatic example of lenses which can be stitched to achieve wider angles of view (these two lenses can handle 2, 3, 4, or even 6 or 9 frames from a P40+) without running out of image circle.
Not to further complicate an already tough decision but the P40+ also has smaller pixels (6 microns versus 6.8 microns) which means some of the non-retro-focus very wide angle lenses (e.g. the 24mm XL and 35mm XL) are not recommended which somewhat lessens your wide-angle options when not stitching-for-wideness with a longer lens.
I'm somewhat biased as there is alway motivation for me to recommend the "latest and greatest". I disclose that here, and admit it to myself in an effort to consciously overcome that tendency. Even so I find it hard to believe anyone could see an IQ back in person and recommend anything else over an IQ for tech camera use OTHER than if long exposures or cost is an issue (I'm not minimizing the importance of either of those issues). Other options have their own advantage/disadvantages (e.g. the rotating sensor, tilting screen, and relative pixel/$ value of an AFI-12R), but bottom line: I'd rather have an IQ on a tech camera than anything else - something I would rarely say before a final shipping version of a product is ready - the UI is just that far ahead of anything else.
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
erick.boileau
Member
an issue can be also the pixels, I don't see what I can do with 60 or 80 MP for A2 prints and the IQ140 is not FF ...
and what about Hasselblad H3D or H4D and HTS ?
and what about Hasselblad H3D or H4D and HTS ?
erick.boileau
Member
with the 28mm it is wide enough for me, I dont like very wide angles
the 28 becomes a 42... similar to a 110XL in 4x5... i really like that focal length... but for architecture on assignment, if you need to go larger, then...
i've just finish a job, all was made with stitching to obtain an 1x2 image... so easy to make with an RM3D...
The HTS isn't compatible with all the lenses... really a limited tool in my opinion, but probably a good tool in term of quality.
i've just finish a job, all was made with stitching to obtain an 1x2 image... so easy to make with an RM3D...
The HTS isn't compatible with all the lenses... really a limited tool in my opinion, but probably a good tool in term of quality.
erick.boileau
Member
the HTS is compatible from 28 to 100 mm I think