Paul Spinnler
Well-known member
Now Phase One needs to collaborate with Canon to create some kick-*** "enthusiast" products.
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I keep hearing this. Yet the Phase One IQ is clearly a very innovative back.:Well the reality seems to be that the MF manufacturers don't have the financial resources to radically innovate (total MFD market is 12 000 units, with substantial margins for the dealers)
I keep hearing this. Yet the Phase One IQ is clearly a very innovative back.:
Bright, large, dense LCD
Custom touchscreen interface every bit on par with the world's best (iPhone)
Customizable everything (e.g. highlight warning level)
Focus Mask
Auto horizon and auto keystone adjustments
Review on LCD of past captured images when shooting tethered
Live View radically better than any CCD sensor live view, and without need for the computer
Optional 5-year warranty (shows their confidence in the durability/longevity/construction)
Up to ISO3200 (reduced res mode)
It's not CMOS, so no radical High ISO or movie-like live-view, and I'm sure there are lots of features you could want to add. But as far as comparing it to all previous medium format backs - very innovative.
Just because all products you could want don't get released doesn't mean innovation isn't taking place. Like an iceberg, the visible part is often only a fraction of what's coming.
Doug, yes, there is innovation. But I have the sense that we're approaching a tipping point where the sheer economies of scale will do the rest for the mdf industry. They only saviour these companies seem to see compared to Sony and Canon is to get into the luxury niche, where performance doens't matter nearly as much.I keep hearing this. Yet the Phase One IQ is clearly a very innovative back.:
Bright, large, dense LCD
Custom touchscreen interface every bit on par with the world's best (iPhone)
Customizable everything (e.g. highlight warning level)
Focus Mask
Auto horizon and auto keystone adjustments
Review on LCD of past captured images when shooting tethered
Live View radically better than any CCD sensor live view, and without need for the computer
Optional 5-year warranty (shows their confidence in the durability/longevity/construction)
Up to ISO3200 (reduced res mode)
It's not CMOS, so no radical High ISO or movie-like live-view, and I'm sure there are lots of features you could want to add. But as far as comparing it to all previous medium format backs - very innovative.
Just because all products you could want don't get released doesn't mean innovation isn't taking place. Like an iceberg, the visible part is often only a fraction of what's coming.
There are dozens of reasons why people shoot with medium format that have nothing to do with resolution or dynamic range: see this post. Which, by the way, I think Phase will still dominate in 2014 .Doug, yes, there is innovation. But I have the sense that we're approaching a tipping point where the sheer economies of scale will do the rest for the mdf industry. They only saviour these companies seem to see compared to Sony and Canon is to get into the luxury niche, where performance doens't matter nearly as much.
Say that Canon by 2014 releases a 50 MPX Canon 1 body with extremely low noise at base iso and dynamic range that supercedes MFD's best offering by 2 stops. Or let it be sony who enters the high-pixel game. I mean the D800 already impacts MFD sales, I'm sure you know that from experience. Let Zeiss and Schneider delevop new high-performance designs costing 2-3k EUR that provide sharp images for those sensors.
Dalsa by then maybe hasn't produced new sensors because R&D is too expensive, so Phase One will be stuck with their 80MPX design or whatever Dalsa produces by then. Maybe they will create a better body, but it won't match the weather sealing, 100 AF points, 12 pictures per second we might see by 2014 by the multi-billion dollar behemoths that are Sony/Nikon. There was a time in history where there was a substantial quality difference from those big CCDs, but with the sheer R&D muscle behind new products in the consumer area, there will be a time where a normal photographer won't see the reason anymore in spensing 10x the money for 5% more quality in the end.
Maybe I'm wrong, but this is what I believe will happen.
There are dozens of reasons why people shoot with medium format that have nothing to do with resolution or dynamic range: see this post. Which, by the way, I think Phase will still dominate in 2014 .
I think the impact of the D800 on MFD sales, and the death of MF, has been greatly over reported. All indications are that this will be one of the best years Phase One has ever had.
This is a key point obviously. In the press release, the CEO, Larry Hansen says: "We want to go back to our customers. Fifteen years ago, 65% of our customers were not professionals photographers. Today almost 100% are professionals. My goal is to make Hasselblad cameras accessible to all serious customers."The question is if it's successful will that then funnel into further developing their core business model, or encourage them to dedicate more resources into these rebadges. You can only focus on so many things at once, especially in a small company.
But it starts with a lens and ends in a sensor the middle is meaningless. These tweaks just help but they do nothing for IQ. Given the options in MF I know where that winds up in choices. If I can't focus or meter than I'm the idiot I agree.I think people get confused between technology and photography. Most professional equipment has survived by producing great images regardless of the automation and art filters--photographers are professionals and can easily compensate for the automation (is focus and exposure really that difficult?). So professional camera tend to be lean in features.
Over the last few weeks, I feel photographers seem to believe they are entitled to whatever technology they can dream up and to have that technology for free. Making camera is expensive. Personally, give me a machine with good handling and great results and I can compensate for any other "weakness."
And if you can't make it good, make it with a lot of chrome...
No they are not following the example of Nikon or Canon, Mercedes or Porsche. When those companies charge a premium price, they also offer a premium product. The Lunatic is nothing more than a mainstream product with a modified body shell. And to make matters worse, Hasselblad should already have learnt their lesson. Two years ago, they launched the H4D "Ferrari Edition" which actually looked pretty cool if you happen to like the Italian sports car. It's a limited edition camera made in 499 copies only, sold at a price of some $30,000, which isn't too bad either. And two years later, they are still not sold out.Hasselblad is merely following the profitable examples set by Nikon and Canon over the last few years. These two companies have products for all segments of the markets with what we can assume healthy profits that contribute proportionally to the bottom line.
Look at what Mercedes has done with their different classes of card (M,C,E etc), or Porsche with the Panamara and various SUV's.
Stanley