Dear all;
I'm faced with issues about my ZD back, great image quality at low ISO, but with a few operational issues. I shoot mainly fine art nudes in a studio setting. Some glamor, and if I need to go outside, I use my D300.
The ZD issues ....
1) Top real ISO is 100, 200 in a pinch with noise reduction, but then why bother
2) The camera is easy to out shoot, slow frame rate, and small buffer
3) It will lock up at least once a shoot, requiring a few minutes of mucking about to fix it.
All that said, the image quality under studio strobes ( my application ) is exceptional, and just putting up with the problems is an option. That said, I'm still looking into three alternatives:
1) Get a Sony A850 + CZ 24-70 + CZ 135 .... This nets out to about zero additional cost assuming I sell all the Mamiya stuff at a reasonable price, and buy used for the body and lenses.
2) Get a used P30+, fixes all the issues at around a 5-6K upgrade price. IQ will be better, but curve is so flat, and I shoot the sweet spot of the ZD that IQ would become a pixel peeping issue. Could print a bit bigger/crop a bit more, but again, the extra 8 mpix are not a slam dunk in advantages.
3) Get a used P45+ fixes all the issues at a 10-12K upgrade price. IQ and cropping become a slam dunk.
With that extra money not spent on a back, I could take the trip of a lifetime to West Africa (P30+), and with the money not spent on the P45+ I could bring the wife! I don't have enough cash laying around to do both.
Any thoughts from out there in forum land? There is a thread out in this forum really praising the Sony's in terms of IQ, and that is what led me down this bunny trial.
Thanks for the input.
Dave
I'm faced with issues about my ZD back, great image quality at low ISO, but with a few operational issues. I shoot mainly fine art nudes in a studio setting. Some glamor, and if I need to go outside, I use my D300.
The ZD issues ....
1) Top real ISO is 100, 200 in a pinch with noise reduction, but then why bother
2) The camera is easy to out shoot, slow frame rate, and small buffer
3) It will lock up at least once a shoot, requiring a few minutes of mucking about to fix it.
All that said, the image quality under studio strobes ( my application ) is exceptional, and just putting up with the problems is an option. That said, I'm still looking into three alternatives:
1) Get a Sony A850 + CZ 24-70 + CZ 135 .... This nets out to about zero additional cost assuming I sell all the Mamiya stuff at a reasonable price, and buy used for the body and lenses.
2) Get a used P30+, fixes all the issues at around a 5-6K upgrade price. IQ will be better, but curve is so flat, and I shoot the sweet spot of the ZD that IQ would become a pixel peeping issue. Could print a bit bigger/crop a bit more, but again, the extra 8 mpix are not a slam dunk in advantages.
3) Get a used P45+ fixes all the issues at a 10-12K upgrade price. IQ and cropping become a slam dunk.
With that extra money not spent on a back, I could take the trip of a lifetime to West Africa (P30+), and with the money not spent on the P45+ I could bring the wife! I don't have enough cash laying around to do both.
Any thoughts from out there in forum land? There is a thread out in this forum really praising the Sony's in terms of IQ, and that is what led me down this bunny trial.
Thanks for the input.
Dave
). I went with Aptus 65 because it was sligh less price than Aptus 22 at the time. Actually a used Aptus 22 was more than a new Aptus 65! Why? Aptus 65 is a 44x33mm crop sensor instead of a 48x36mm sensor. Makes much difference? Both are crops. What did make difference to me was that Aptus 65 was a newer generation sensor and same as Aptus 75, except for the sligh lesser crop factor. That meant slight higher ISO capability than Aptus 22 and slight better noise characteristics. You could also look at Aptus 75 of course. Those are nothing like ZD, they rock in image quality.