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Leaf Aptus 22, any good?

tjv

Active member
Anyone here have any opinions about the Leaf Aptus 22 digital back, released circa 2005? I've been offered one with an H1 and several lenses. How does it compare to other 22mp backs out there, and what are the pros and cons of using it with a Hassey H1? From what I have found online, the specs don't exactly scream appealing on paper but perhaps real world experience gives it the thumbs up?
Thanks.
Tim
 

yaya

Active member
Anyone here have any opinions about the Leaf Aptus 22 digital back, released circa 2005? I've been offered one with an H1 and several lenses. How does it compare to other 22mp backs out there, and what are the pros and cons of using it with a Hassey H1? From what I have found online, the specs don't exactly scream appealing on paper but perhaps real world experience gives it the thumbs up?
Thanks.
Tim
Tim I have a wide collection of images taken with the Aptus 22 in various conditions. Let me know what type of work you're after and I'll see if I can send you some.

--
Yair Shahar | Product Manager
Leaf Imaging Ltd.
e: [email protected] | m: +44(0)77 8992 8199 | www.leaf-photography.com
Leaf, a Phase One company
 

tjv

Active member
Wow, that would be great. I'm after natural light, documentary / portrait type samples. All the work I do is in the field, environmental portraits of people and landscapes both urban and rural. Any help at all you could give me would be very much appreciated!

Do you have an opinion on the Hasselblad H1 system?
I've been offered the following:

1 x h1 hasselblad 645 camera body
1 x hasselblad lens 35mm
1 x hasselblad lens 80mm
1 x hasselblad lens 50-110mm
1 x leaf aptus 22 digital back
extension tube
film back
2 x batteries
30 gig hardrive
Firmware fw version 4.700

Thanks again for your help.
Tim




Tim I have a wide collection of images taken with the Aptus 22 in various conditions. Let me know what type of work you're after and I'll see if I can send you some.

--
Yair Shahar | Product Manager
Leaf Imaging Ltd.
e: [email protected] | m: +44(0)77 8992 8199 | www.leaf-photography.com
Leaf, a Phase One company
 
D

ddk

Guest
I can't tell you anything about the H1 but among other Leaf backs I also have the Aptus 22. For what you're shooting I don't see the 22 giving anything up to the newer, higher spec'd backs, unless you want to print poster size. You can use the same Leaf software as the rest of them and you get the same wonderful Leaf colors and tones which imo are the best among all DBs out there today. In reality, bar a few bells and whistles and some extra mps, I don't see the IQ from the current crop of dbs any better than the previous generation...
 
D

ddk

Guest
For what you're shooting I don't see the 22 giving anything up to the newer, higher spec'd backs, unless you want to print poster size.
Sorry, I meant billboard size!
 
D

ddk

Guest
Actually posters are harder than billboards usually requiring more resolution.
Nick-T
Since I never made a billboard, I only assumed that you'd need more resolution, in that case the 22mp has enough resolution for poster sizes; thanks for the clarification.
 

John Black

Active member
The image quality of the A-22 is very good; however, an important consideration is its base ISO of 25. A friend of mine used one for catalog work and museum reproductions. For those applications we has pretty happy with it. But for outdoor shooting he gave up because ISO 25 resulted in very low shutter speeds. Handheld photography was borderline. Landscapes were iffy if it was windy. And so on. If you plan to shoot outdoors much like you would with a 1Ds3 or D3X, something like the H3DII-31 or P30+ would be more user friendly due to their base ISO of 100. The A-22 ISO can be bumped up to 50, 100, 200 and 400 (I think). 25-100 is usable, whether 200 & 400 are usable will depend on your threshold for noise.
 

tjv

Active member
Thanks. Yes, a base ISO of 25 was something I was a bit iffy of. I really don't like going below 100ISO even for tripod work for the type of images I shoot. I like to keep the depth of field up with the shortest shutter speeds in case of subject movement.

Thanks everyone for their advise.
 
D

ddk

Guest
Thanks. Yes, a base ISO of 25 was something I was a bit iffy of. I really don't like going below 100ISO even for tripod work for the type of images I shoot. I like to keep the depth of field up with the shortest shutter speeds in case of subject movement.

Thanks everyone for their advise.
Processed with Leaf Capture the files are very clean up to iso 200 but even at iso 400 I find the noise level quite acceptable and still very useable. ISO 100 is no problem at all for the this back. I almost never shoot with a tripod!
 

yaya

Active member
Wow, that would be great. I'm after natural light, documentary / portrait type samples. All the work I do is in the field, environmental portraits of people and landscapes both urban and rural. Any help at all you could give me would be very much appreciated!

Do you have an opinion on the Hasselblad H1 system?
I've been offered the following:

1 x h1 hasselblad 645 camera body
1 x hasselblad lens 35mm
1 x hasselblad lens 80mm
1 x hasselblad lens 50-110mm
1 x leaf aptus 22 digital back
extension tube
film back
2 x batteries
30 gig hardrive
Firmware fw version 4.700

Thanks again for your help.
Tim
Tim, perhaps you can send me an email so that I can forward you a link for downloading some samples?

Regarding the H1 much like any other system it has it pros and cons.
Ergonomically it's either it fits your hands or not. Some of the lenses are very good although I am not a fan of the 35mm. The zoom is quite good but also quite big and heavy.
The viewfinder is large, bright and the AF it fast and accurate.
The 1/800 max shutter speed might present some limitations in certain conditions but maybe not, really depends on your style and needs.

As others will tell you Nick-T is your go to guy for anything Hasselblad and is very well respected world wide. You should look at availability of lenses and accessories and any service/ repair costs as you are buying used.

I also have a mate in Auckland who's an experienced Aptus+H1 user who's also a bloody good photographer, whom you might want to have a chat with.

Let's start with some images so I'll be waiting for an email from you.

All the best

Yair

-
Yair Shahar | Product Manager
Leaf Imaging Ltd.
e: [email protected] | m: +44(0)77 8992 8199 | www.leaf-photography.com
Leaf, a Phase One company
 
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