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ALPA X-Shutter is coming soon

onasj

Active member
Great news for us ALPA customers. Let's hope conversion doesn't cost an absurd amount. Thank you for sharing!
 

med

Active member
I imagine this announcement is just reactionary to Cambo’s recent announcement. I’m sure Alpa customers have been asking since seeing that news. I’m not sure if mid-2021 counts as “coming soon” but I guess it could!

Good news indeed. Hopefully Arca Swiss follows suit and makes upgrades available. It will surely be expensive but I could maybe justify it for 1 or maybe 2 lenses.
 

Mexecutioner

Well-known member
I imagine this announcement is just reactionary to Cambo’s recent announcement. I’m sure Alpa customers have been asking since seeing that news. I’m not sure if mid-2021 counts as “coming soon” but I guess it could!

Good news indeed. Hopefully Arca Swiss follows suit and makes upgrades available. It will surely be expensive but I could maybe justify it for 1 or maybe 2 lenses.
Having the option is great, you could migrate your favorite lenses one at a time and get this functionality.
 

med

Active member
Having the option is great, you could migrate your favorite lenses one at a time and get this functionality.
Indeed! I think I still would like an option to control the shutter without an IQ4-150 attached (Alpa Silex, phone app, whatever) before I invest in a shutter, as I still shoot film and wouldn't want to give up the ability to use an old back as backup in a pinch. Of course since the 43 XL does not appear to be compatible with the X-Shutter, I guess I will always have it to work with film and back up backs :)
 

Paul Spinnler

Well-known member
Well I reached out to Drew two times - making it very clear that this uncompetitive behaviour is not ok from a customer’s perspective. I invested a lot in Alpa and XF gear, but then also bought XT as I could not wait due to a project. He then approached Alpa it seems.
 

Steve Hendrix

Well-known member
I know that discusssions between Alpa and Phase One with regard to how they wouod implement the X Shutter have been going on for quite some time, well over a year. It's unfortuate that the native XT body mount is based on the Cambo WRS Lenspanel, which does give Cambo an advantage for those who wish to use the XT body itself. Outside of that advantageous starting point (for now), it does appear that Alpa will at least have the same opportunitis that Cambo enjoys for their user base, albeit at perhaps a slightly later time frame. And who knows what unique aspects Alpa will bring to the table? What often unnerves interested parties is silence amidst what appears to be a disadvantageous situation. And yet, most of the time, whoever we thought had the short end of the stick, ended up being right back in the mix in their own way, in due time. I try to be patient, and take some breaths when I encounter this, though I have in the past encouraged certain parties in our industry to create some communication, no matter how vague.


Steve Hendrix/CI
 

Ray Harrison

Well-known member
I watched an interesting presentation by Andre Oldani who is head of Products and Communications at ALPA that aired back in August. His own timeline then was Spring(ish) 2021 for X-shutter, which seems to jive with this announcement too. It would make sense that they’d been in conversation for quite some time before that. I don’t get the particular sense that Phase are out to eliminate the competition as that’d make very little business sense, but they are obviously wanting to make money on their IP, which seems reasonable. They overdo opaqueness a lot, but I don’t see specific nefariousness by Drew or others, but that’s my own opinion of course. He’s not paid to be nefarious either, as a product manager. You have to go a bit above his role for the stroking-the-white-cat bit. :)
 
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TheDude

Member
He’s not paid to be nefarious either, as a product manager. You have to go a bit above his role for the stroking-the-white-cat bit. :)
I know this is a bit off-topic. I assume the "stroking-the-white-cat bit" is a parodic allusion to Flemming's character of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, head of SPECTRE, who was always seen stroking a white Persian cat?
 
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TheDude

Member
And a good one too. Will remember "have to go a bit above his role for the stroking-the-white-cat bit" for a funny reference to TPTB.
 
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