Phase One A Series - A Roadtrip Diary

[dougpeterson]

I took the A Series on the road with me for a work trip to San Diego, San Marino, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Miami and wrote up a diary of the week including some of my thoughts.

Here's a link to the full article:
Phase One A Series - Roadtrip Diary

Here are a few of the images (email me or PM me for raw files):

 

[jagsiva]

Doug, thanks for the post and the article.

How did you find the in-camera LCC features, and how do they integrate with C1?

Very interested in how Phase may evolve C1 in this area.

 

[dougpeterson]

Doug, thanks for the post and the article.

How did you find the in-camera LCC features, and how do they integrate with C1?

Very interested in how Phase may evolve C1 in this area.

On the back is an option for Camera Mode. When you're using A Series Mode there is an option in the menu to select the lens you're using.

Once you've done this (correctly) you can forget about LCC. The raw files come out pre-corrected for lens cast.

The concept works really well for the A Series since it has no movements. Since I only had one lens with me on the trip, and it remembers the lens you're using between shooting sessions I gave exactly zero thought to LCC the entire week. It was pretty nice.

 

[jagsiva]

Very cool Doug. Does the camera take an LCC "behind the scenes" or is it going by some built in library? If the latter, any idea how aperture info is being passed?

Here's hoping Phase don't limit this to "A Series Mode", as the functionality could be supported by any tech cam/lens combo when centred.

Thanks again.

 

[GrahamWelland]

Doug - I knew we'd have you shooting Alpa at some point

 

[Bill Caulfeild-Browne]

Nice, Doug, thanks!
Bill

 

[dchew]

"It is enormously restrictive, yet simultaneously freeing"

Nice way to put it Doug. I have often said in posts that no focus, light meter, viewfinder or electronic anything may seem limiting, but to me it feels like all rules and laws have been discarded and I am free to create.

Dave

 

[gerald.d]

Nope.

I'm not gonna let this one pass by without a comment.

Doug. You are reviewing a camera without movements. A camera that has a highly focused and specific design, for highly focused and specific reasons.

And yet you sign off on your review with...

" In that case I'd recommend the Arca Swiss RM3Di as the "working photographers" equivalent of the A Series. "

Zero objective credibility whatsoever. It's not the equivalent. AT ALL.

Someone remind me what the price of the RM3Di is, compared to an Alpa TC please?

You've just written a review where you can't even bring yourself to provide a direct link to your own information page for the the very camera you're reviewing, yet pepper the article with links to other pages on your website?

Just incredible.

Not at all surprising given the background to this of course, but incredible none-the-less.

 

[Dogs857]

I would have to agree with Gerald on this one.

If you are going to write about a system shouldn't you have your summing up paragraph about that system, not about how awesome the Arca is?? Surely for someone buying into an A series their "working mans" alternative would be the Alpa Max.

I have never really understood the appeal of the A series myself, but you should have kept your post to just that. Up until the last paragraph it was really informative.

 

[torger]

I think the A series is very obviously a luxury product rather than a photo enthusiast product. It does look very special and luxurious and shot from a tripod you get wonderful pixel peeping, I think it will have an appeal on the typical luxury customer that thinks Leica is too mainstream.

If you're into tech cameras for real though you'd want movements. I've not understood why one would want to do handheld street photography with an Alpa TC, unless you already have a "real" Alpa body with movements and just have the TC as an extra.

But I guess there's not a law against liking tech cams without movements

 

[torger]

Very cool Doug. Does the camera take an LCC "behind the scenes" or is it going by some built in library? If the latter, any idea how aperture info is being passed?

It looks like a standard Alpa body, even with lens synch cable, so I don't see how any aperture or focus distance information would be fed back to the digital back.

My guess is that there's say a library of hyperfocal-focused f/11 shots, and that is used as a "good enough" match for any focus distance or aperture. I haven't tested recently but I would guess focus distance is a larger source of mismatch than aperture, but as long as you don't make macro shots I think the mismatch would be small enough for most to not notice. The lenses are also centered so the cast should be mild.

I'm sure it won't bother the targeted audience, which probably have no idea of these issues anyway. I don't think it's a camera targeted at us "nerds", but more to the casual photographer that wants a special luxury product.

 

[drevil]

well i didnt like the article myself and i dont like the A system either, but to defend doug, anyone clicking on that article knew what it was about.

its clear that this camera is very limited and i am far from being interested in that system but the recommendation for the arca in the end IS odd

 

[f8orbust]

What a curious 'review' - a sales pitch for the RM3Di designed as a review of an Alpa 'A' series camera.

Generally, I'd prefer if retailers refrained from reviews ... however well intentioned, it's difficult to approach objectivity. Kind of like asking a chef if their food is any good.

Better just to lend the gear to a 3rd party and have them review it IMHO.

 

[Geoff]

Probably better if a review stays as a review, or a sales pitch stays as just that. Mixing both can get some folks wound up. See above.

 

[jlm]

regardless of limited functionality, once you have held a TC, you will probably want one. a modern equivalent, with changeable lenses, to the hasselblad SWC

 

[dchew]

regardless of limited functionality, once you have held a TC, you will probably want one. a modern equivalent, with changeable lenses, to the hasselblad SWC

I visited Alpa in October. They showed me everything. FPS, Max, all the lenses...

I have an STC (4 years running). What did I walk away from that visit lusting for? A TC...



Dave

 

[Paul2660]

I would have thought the Arca Factum would be a better comparison, as the rm3di has a lot more size/weight than a TC.

Back to the review, nice to see that the built in LCC correction worked well. I assume that you don't even need to take the LCC frame anymore? The camera just uses a series of built in corrections.

I do have to wonder how well such built in corrections will work 100% of the time. In the field, many times my LCC"s will take on a unique color cast, mainly to the yellow side, when shooting into or near into the brighter sunlight.

Gave this a bit of thought and still can't see how Phase could work this to correct or movements, as each person would move the lens a bit more or less, at least on an Arca as there are no indents for 15mm of shift or rise / fall. Plus different apertures will create a darker or lighter vignetting when shifted, which I guess a auto correct setting would not be able to account for.

But it's a start for sure.

Paul

 

[jagsiva]

Gave this a bit of thought and still can't see how Phase could work this to correct or movements, as each person would move the lens a bit more or less, at least on an Arca as there are no indents for 15mm of shift or rise / fall. Plus different apertures will create a darker or lighter vignetting when shifted, which I guess a auto correct setting would not be able to account for.

But it's a start for sure.

Paul

Paul, I'm hoping it is an implementation that takes the LCC similar to how a dark frame is currently taken. So LCC take per shop automatically and seamlessly. Somehow they would have to find a way to do with without having an LCC card in front of the lens. Of course, we should have the option of turning the feature off!

 

[jlm]

nice as the TC is, i would get a STC (not much bigger); no rise/fall is the bugaboo of the wide angle SWC

 

[torger]

Paul, I'm hoping it is an implementation that takes the LCC similar to how a dark frame is currently taken. So LCC take per shop automatically and seamlessly. Somehow they would have to find a way to do with without having an LCC card in front of the lens. Of course, we should have the option of turning the feature off!

I guess it's a similar feature to what the Aptus-II has, described here:
Aptus-Arca

...but only correction of cast, not vignetting, and no movements since the TC does not have any. Without vignetting correction and no movements you need only one file per lens, if you disregard from focus distance effects. Light temperature has some effect too, but generally only when you have a some crosstalk. For really high end I guess you'd want to make the boring LCC shot, one per scene, but this is intended more as a luxurious casual camera as far as I can see.