Lucid commentary Peter. Hopefully a sobering one for many who want their MFD tool to act like a Nikon D3 except with quintuple the resolution. One need only look at what the native ISO is for these backs to realize how much minupulation is being done.You know the benefits of MFD are subtle - except for resolution. In many applications - MFD is in fact inferior to a good DSLR. I dont mind stating the obvious.
Consider the obvious for example - to get the most out of the MFD you need very good light and lots of it - note how a lot of stuff posted her is shot in BIG LIGHT situations and the better stuff has fill and reflected liht added in..
So the lighting workshop is a great idea - and one of the lessons I am sure participants will come away with is that a decent lighting set-up is going to contribute much more to your shot than an extra 20 megapixels. In fact the extra megapixels - may in fact detract from your ability to extract the subtlety from your MFD files.
if people want to push the MFD makers to deliver 800 and 1600 and more ISO - all they are asking for is a dumbed down DSLR - this will take a year or so for people to figure out - by which time it will be common knowledge..and ther ewont be any decent backs left in inventory.
cheers
Pete
I say that because IMO it diverts the manufacturer's attention away from the job at hand. Right or wrong, the back makers have to follow consumer demands to survive, and as they expand beyond the more narrow confines of the Pro studio market in order to find new areas of marketing opportunity, it's driving odd and less useful innovations that starve the areas of performance where we need that innovation. After all, there are limits to the developmental resources of these companies.
I think if we started a thread as to what innovations people want in MFD ... bet a dollar to a donut that it'd be centered around turning MFD into a 35mm DSLR ... because that's the majority of digital experience for those moving to MF digital ... and admitedly a prime target of the manufacturers trying to expand their market.
A note on lighting: anyone who has dropped a bundle on a MFD back would do well to add one more accessory ... Jack and Guy's Lighting work shop! It'll be a revelation to those struggling with their 30K investment. The guys have gone to great lengths to provide what Peter termed "Big Light" ... both inside and outside.
My personal take on lighting is exactly that. Everything I shoot with my big back is using Big Light ... when it isn't then I might as well be using the M8 or D3. My studio ISO is ALWAYS 50 ... so I have well over 12,000 w/s at my beck and call. My "lite" travel kit is a tinyl Hensel 1200 w/s generator backed up by 1200w/s of monoheads ... and that's just for small jobs. When I shoot the 31 meg back on the fly at higher ISOs, it's often with a Metz 70Mz with "lightening strike" output that I use even in decent outdoor light ... it just takes practice to make it look like no flash was used. I don't live in California, Flordia or out West where God often provides the Big Light.