This seems to be an economy of scale. While MFD companies may be swapping market shares, the over-all share is pretty small.
In a Forbe's interview with Leica's head of Professional Photo, Stephan Schulz said they estimate the core MFD market at roughly 6,000 units per year world-wide, for all brands. He claimed Leica already had 20% of that (1,200 units, which outstripped Leica's ability to manufacture). Even if Phase has 50% of the market, that's 3,000 units spread out over a whole line of various different backs between Leaf and P1.
How Leica Camera Is Reinventing The Medium-Format Market On Its Own Terms - Forbes
The unknown since then is the continued impact of a persistently challenging photo economy, and the continued onslaught of high res 35mm. Hey, when you are running out of business capital, 36 meg FF for under 3K starts looking
very good.
All these sensor makers have bigger businesses in industrial and smaller sensor manufacture … both CCD and CMOS. Reinventing the wheel for every new low volume MFD camera doesn't seem likely.
Whether Leica adopts this Sony sensor or turns to CMOSIS for a upsized version of the M240 base sensor remains to be seen. Either way, it's an "odd man out" sized sensor anyway.
Whether the CCD CMOS difference is a myth, is a myth itself. It needs to be proven, and so far the difference hasn't been disproved, especially in the areas of color that is so important to consistent MFD users. Maybe Phase with Capture One will finally do exactly that. We'll see.
Gotta hand it to Phase One … they beat everyone to the punch … again. I must say, if they had a camera to go with those backs it'd be all over but the "cry in and whining". Probably P1 and "boutique" Leica left standing.
Just my opinion.
- Marc