Note: I work at a dealer that chooses to sell Phase One but not Hasseblad. So although I work very hard to present fact based answers derived from hands on testing rather than spec's or marketing materials, my opinion
must be considered biased.
I'd also point to my
recent post about why it's VERY hard (sometimes directly unproductive) to try to judge reliability of products with very different market shares (i.e. installed base) by looking for feedback on internet forums. The IQ3 100mp has been shipping, in quantity, for just shy of a year and has been Phase's most successful product. There are a lot out there.
Re reliability: Paul mentioned the battery bay, which on some XFs did not have enough height to push all batteries into a fully seated position reliably. This was addressed in production – all new XFs are free of this issue, and anyone who has an earlier XF with this issue can contact their dealer to have it resolved. There is also general consensus that the viewfinder latch is too easy to accidentally engage; Phase One has acknowledged this and it will be improved shortly. There were the expected handful of bugs and quirks in early firmware and one of the more recent firmware updates had a bug that was addressed within a week. I'd say we are now at "maturity" where the typical growing pains of a brand new body are resolved (or in the case of the viewfinder issue, resolution underway).
Some Feature/Advantages of the Phase One XF/IQ3 100 over a Hassy kit
The XF has:
- focus stacking
- hyperfocal point focusing
- time lapse triggering
- top LCD bubble level
- metering when using the WLF
- built in Profoto air trigger (can be used with any light brand - just connect an Air Receiver)
- built in Profoto TTL
- built in Profoto air control
- flash duration meter
- customizable 2nd curtain flash offset (for hacking the flash duration of any flash)
- a touch screen interface with an elegant "lock" option
- an optional vertical grip
- an elegant auto-exposure system that allows intuitive control of min/max shutter/aperture/iso
- autofocus based on a million pixel high-frequency CMOS sensor, providing one point of AF that has extreme precision
- a five year warranty including a loaner during any service or repair (when purchased with an IQ3)
None of these features apply to the H body.
The IQ3 100mp has:
- an electronic shutter option (zero vibration, infinite durability)
- built-in battery for use on tech/view cameras
- exposure clipping indication (different than a normal exposure warning)
- long exposure calculator
- focus mask
- zone exposure calculator
- power sharing with the XF body, including hot swapping without the system turning off
- USB3 charging (BC1.2 compliant)
- Firewire 800 (provides another way of charging the back, and a backup tethering port)
- Great IIQ-S compressed format that keeps the raw to roughly half the size it would be otherwise
None of these apply to the Hassy back.
The P1 lens lineup:
- Is generally more recent in design
- Were ALL natively designed for the full frame 645 sensor
- The 28LS is only okay. Every other prime and zoom lens in the lineup is at least very good, most are excellent+.
- Allows use of ANY lens that will mount to the body (see my article on
my favorite bokeh lenses) since it has a focal plane option
- Includes legacy lenses, many of which include autofocus, which vary from very good to mediocre, but can be picked up on the cheap. For example the 45mm AF (non D) is only pretty good, but can often be found for $300ish dollars. The 120mm MF Macro is excellent and can be found for $400ish dollars. I wouldn't suggest this route for your main/most-used lenses but it's a great way to flush out your range.
- Include a 5 year unlimited actuation/release warranty on all lenses purchased with your kit
None of these apply to the Hassy lenses.
Capture One (free for use with any Phase kit): [compared to Phocus]
- Significantly more featured (a complete list here would be quite long and boring; but there is no argument whatsoever that Capture One is more powerful)
- Extremely customizable
- Robust and leading support for nearly all small-format cameras, including tethering
- Developed by a team of programmers FAR larger than for Phocus, since they are funded by all the people buying it to use with 3rd party cameras)
- Includes anti-diffraction sharpening (deconvolution) which helps restore some of the detail lost to diffraction at higher apertures like f/14 or f/18.
- Support of new operating systems comes quickly
- Best 100mp LCC algorithm for use with tech cameras
- Fastest processing available (assuming decent GPU)
- Native support by
Tangent control boards
- Wide range of suppliers of styles/presets (here are
DT's Capture One Style Pack)
None of these apply to Phocus
Items not Mentioned:
There are a lot of items I left out because they are too subjective or not clear-cut-unique to the Phase kit. For example my feeling is the
Leaf Look profiles for the IQ3 100mp are the best out-of-camera skintones you can get and comes directly from the Leaf DNA inherited by Phase One's purchase of Leaf years ago. I also feel that Capture One's processing pipeline is the best of any raw processor and in particular their color engine and color editing tools are the best found anywhere. However, this is subjective and only your own testing can tell you which you'll prefer. Note that Capture One will have a higher learning curve (more power, more tools = more time to learn them) but there are free tutorials on youtube, a book available, and lots of
Capture One training classes.
Of course there are features that favor the Hassy
The Hassy does 4k video natively (the Phase can only do 1080p and only with an external recorder, at least for the time being) and has a focus called True Focus which can be especially helpful when the subject and camera are stationary and you're shooting wide open with a wider lens. Hassy users, and your local Hassy dealer can provide additional features unique to Hasselblad.
None of this matters
I've tried to give a good list in favor of Phase. You should (and are) seeking out the same in favor of Hassy. But none of that feedback really ultimately matters. Ultimately it comes down to which YOU prefer. A camera is much more personal then a set of features or capabilities or specs. It is a tool for a creative process; which one melds with you and your hand and your eye and your processes - that's the only thing that matters. So go play with both and see what you prefer. If you can't do so in your own city then, given the expense involved, fly to a city where you can. NYC is brutal this time of year, but we'd welcome you with a hot cup of coffee, a hot toddy, or a mulled hot wine and you could play with every camera made in this city. I'm sure this is true of cities closer to you (and probably cities that are warmer than here!).