I normally lurk in the background on this forum, but the release of the XF and accompanying conversation has driven me to add my opinion to this thread.
Let me provide a use case, which will be a common scenario:
Background
I own a P40+ and 645DF. The back is fantastic. The body is poor. I upgraded the battery, and that solved many issues. However the focus capability is poor at best and I often have to turn off/on the body/back to get things working again. It can be unbelievably frustrating. In a landscape scenario I can imagine that this would not be too bad. However if you work with people, things can go south very very quickly.
I have made an overall investment of £20,000.
I have waited patiently for a new body since 2010. I am perfectly happy with the P40+.
Upgrade
I am now in a situation where I cannot upgrade just the 645DF and Phase are retiring the DF+. I have been waiting for several years having invested in what I thought was a MODULAR camera system.
So ok, lets consider upgrading the body and back. I contacted a dealer and have been told the price to upgrade to an IQ350 / XF is £20,000 (ex taxes).
Twenty. Thousand. Pounds
In US$ thats more than $30,000 (ex taxes). And that is only if I trade in my perfectly good P40+ / poor 645DF.
I am put in this situation because Phase have cut off an upgrade for the P/P+ owners. I must be amongst many hundreds of photogs who have spent some time considering this, and have only one conclusion. That this is a deliberate business tactic by Phase One and not a technological issue. I mean come on. Get real Phase One. We can read between the lines on this one. Show us the technical reason that you cannot make the body / P/P+ backs work.
Conclusions
This is where Phase One are making a mistake. I, amongst many hundreds of P/P+ users, now know where we stand. To stay on the Phase One roadmap, long term, will cost at least £20k. I've been pushed into looking at the competition, by a business decision of Phase One. Crazy. I am now getting quotes for a Hasselblad H5D-50c and a Leica S (type 007). Remember. If I could buy a Phase One XF for my P40+, I would do it, immediately. However Phase One have made this not possible.
I'm now in a position where changing platform is back on the agenda. It really is. I cannot for the life of me work out why they would do this.
Feedback
So if any dealers / Phase One employees are reading:
1. Not allowing P/P+ owners to upgrade their bodies is creating a scenario where the competition comes back into play.
2. To avoid an equivalent Hasselblad "closed platform" PR disaster, you guys need to fully explain why the P/P+ backs won't work.
3. You should have made the XF work with P/P+ backs, but with very limited functionality. People would get that. They would buy the body and work with it. Phase would keep people invested in their system and those people would eventually be driven to upgrade. However at a pace that didn't ostracise them.
Disclaimer
I am not a "hater" or "troll". I am someone who is working logically through the outcomes of the Phase One XF announcement. I am describing a real life scenario that I'm sure is common amongst the photog community.