Phase One XF Try out

[Maxx9photo]

Folks,

Just want to share here, For the very 1st time I have the opportunity of trying this camera, I was at Capture Integration yesterday and had the pleasure to try out, hosted by Steve Hendrix himself.

My 1st impression is the size of the camera... it's huge!!!, I know as everyone here probably already has the experience or currently own. Coming from Hasselblad X, I never handheld anything bigger, also Steve showcased some of the lenses up to 240mm, and I was like surprised again with the size!!!

Since I've been shooting with XT for the past few months, curiosity of using XF is growing on me. I know, they are most likely for different applications. Both camera, I can emphasize this should only be used on tripod unless you really really have sturdy hands which I don't due to age LOL..J/K.

I would probably going to rent the camera for more extensive shooting trial and have most of the features from the camera. Yesterday's event wasn't enough to see the full potential of this camera.

Currently, I only own an XT and would love to have a second camera to play around and accompany the XT, I was thinking of the XF but also consider going back to X with X2D and the new V 2 lenses (38 and 90).

Cheers,

Ike

 

[Ray Harrison]

I may be in a minority but beast though it is, I love, love, love the XF, mirror and all. My main camera is a Cambo WRS-1600 but I do enjoy taking the XF out in the field on occasion and of course for studio projects. I love the customizability of it and the built-in features. I have the 80, 45 and 150(2.8) BR lenses and find them superb. Plus, I can take down any gang of miscreants armed with just the XF and the 150 .

My Leica M gear is great for walking around, super light, great image quality. That said, I have been seen out hand-holding my XF "on the street" on occasion. It's funny, people are less concerned seeing me with my XF or Leica than perhaps a "normal camera" - they're actually friendly conversation starters most of the time. If I needed lighter MF gear, I'd certainly consider the X2D for sure.

 

[buildbot]

My Leica M gear is great for walking around, super light, great image quality. That said, I have been seen out hand-holding my XF "on the street" on occasion. It's funny, people are less concerned seeing me with my XF or Leica than perhaps a "normal camera" - they're actually friendly conversation starters most of the time. If I needed lighter MF gear, I'd certainly consider the X2D for sure.

Yep, I walk around with my XF a lot. People typically think it's a video camera the few times I have been asked about it. Maybe it is so huge it short circuits the "ew camera" response some people have or something.

 

[Bill Caulfeild-Browne]

I may be in a minority but beast though it is, I love, love, love the XF, mirror and all. My main camera is a Cambo WRS-1600 but I do enjoy taking the XF out in the field on occasion and of course for studio projects. I love the customizability of it and the built-in features. I have the 80, 45 and 150(2.8) BR lenses and find them superb. Plus, I can take down any gang of miscreants armed with just the XF and the 150 .

My Leica M gear is great for walking around, super light, great image quality. That said, I have been seen out hand-holding my XF "on the street" on occasion. It's funny, people are less concerned seeing me with my XF or Leica than perhaps a "normal camera" - they're actually friendly conversation starters most of the time. If I needed lighter MF gear, I'd certainly consider the X2D for sure.

Great minds think alike! I like the Leica M for casual shooting i.e. when I'm not going ourt specifically to take photographs. But the XF is my favourite tool and has been ever since it was introduced, mostly because of the DR of the IQ4/150. I have the 45, 55, 80, 150 and 240 mm lenses. For truly wide-angle work I have the XT.

Weight is certainly an issue except with the 80mm which I will often hand hold. I'd love Phase to introduce a light-weight version of the camera. The prism alone weighs a ton.

 

[anwarp]

I love the XF! I usually use it with the waist level finder. That reduces a good half a kilogram!

My other cameras are a Cambo Actus and a mamiya RZ! So the XF is the only autofocus camera I own now.

My normal walk-around kit is the XF with IQ4 150, along with the 55, 80 ans 110mm BR lenses. I can fit all this + 4 spare batteries, comforrtably in a small shoulder bag (Tenba Cooper 13 DSLR). Removing the prism makes the entire setup compact and a lot lighter!

 

[John Black]

No doubt, it's a big camera, but once in sync with its menu's, etc., it's pretty quick to work with. Being able to swipe via the top screen to different capture modes is really handy - if shooting single shot, it's just one swipe on the top screen move into bracket mode, so I found myself shooting an extra set of bracketed images all the time. If working patiently the AFr, it can work well too.

But size is the biggest drawback. Its size also blocks visibility to the QR base when setting it up on a tripod, so if working with a heavy lens and in the less than ideal conditions, that process can be awkward. That said, it's no more of hassle to get it on a tripod than a tech-cam. My Rm3di could be a handful too. The Mamiya / Phase One / Schneider lenses range from good to very good. My niggle with most was the bokeh and sun stars (lack of).

Overall, I enjoy the XF more than a tech-cam. The XF has a bunch of neat capture features - like shutter vibration detection - which really help to up the keep rate in terms of sharpness. My angst with it was size. Not so much the camera itself, but overall kit size - camera, back and lenses. In 100º F Texas Summers, it's a beast of a kit to carry around. Plus a corresponding tripod.

 

[buildbot]

And they’ve updated it a lot - the latest firmware is so fast/low latency with the FPS and leaf shutter now.

Now, the only thing they should do is cash in on the film craze. An XF style film back would be stellar. Or even compatibility with the older Mamiya ones. It’s just SPI, so they could if they wanted to.

The XF actually won an design award in 2016, and the designer has some pretty cool renders and cad on their behance profile:

 

[kinglang]

I heard from somewhere that someone is developing film back for xf,but no more details. I think it will makes XF even more valuable.

 

[Steve Hendrix]

I love the XF! I usually use it with the waist level finder. That reduces a good half a kilogram!

My other cameras are a Cambo Actus and a mamiya RZ! So the XF is the only autofocus camera I own now.

My normal walk-around kit is the XF with IQ4 150, along with the 55, 80 ans 110mm BR lenses. I can fit all this + 4 spare batteries, comforrtably in a small shoulder bag (Tenba Cooper 13 DSLR). Removing the prism makes the entire setup compact and a lot lighter!

Yes, so what I did before Ike arrived was I set the XF Camera with the IQ4 150 in the center of a rolling cart. Then to the left I set the 55mm/2.8-80mm/2.8-110mm/2.8-150mm/3.5. Then to the right of the XF I set the 35mm/3.5-120mm/4-150mm/2.8-240mm/4.5. It was designed to show a tale of 2 cameras. A {somewhat} reasonable size camera on the left and then a bit of a different beast on the right (but amazing lenses).

One of the other eye openers was replacing the prism finder with the waist level finder, a significant difference in size/weight. Certainly if using for tripod based work such as landscape, one could leave the prism finder home and use live view and just use the waist level finder, which can fold down as a protective cap (or just buy a metal protective cap, but then, you might as well just buy the waist level finder).


Steve Hendrix/CI

 

[buildbot]

Certainly if using for tripod based work such as landscape, one could leave the prism finder home and use live view and just use the waist level finder, which can fold down as a protective cap (or just buy a metal protective cap, but then, you might as well just buy the waist level finder).

That’s what I do, since I basically only shoot IR these days. The prism just lives in my drybox basically.

 

[GrahamWelland]

I have the full XF system and love it when I use it. Unfortunately the IQ4150, even though I have the DSLR system, is always used on my tech camera systems.

Unfortunately, nobody wants to buy non-blue ring lenses.

 

[ThdeDude]

... they should do is cash in on the film craze. An XF style film back would be stellar.

And a good fall-back should the IQ4 stop working, with perhaps no new and newer DB being available!

 

[JeffK]

using the WLF makes it easy to pack the camera in a small billingham bag. And shoot landscapes and environmental portraits

 

[Paul Spinnler]

I only would like to mention one thing: SK 80 MK II – a fantastic optic and probably the last one to ever have been developed for the system. At a time when P1 managers were still considering investing in the system and before the sales dip during and after the pandemic.

Short of adapting optics it is the fastest shallow DoF optic which is bitingly sharp edge to edge ... a key reason to try out the XF ...

 

[Maxx9photo]

I only would like to mention one thing: SK 80 MK II – a fantastic optic and probably the last one to ever have been developed for the system.

That’s what I heard too from Steve. But that price tag of $6k won’t gained lots of interest unless you’re a highly paid professional with high demand work.

Maybe, one can find in used/pre-owned market with significant lower price.

 

[JeffK]

The silver rings have lots of value. They're still amazing lenses for the money. Going up to a MK2 blue ring from the LS 80mm isn't going to make your image 12X better ($500>$6K)

 

[Bill Caulfeild-Browne]

The silver rings have lots of value. They're still amazing lenses for the money. Going up to a MK2 blue ring from the LS 80mm isn't going to make your image 12X better ($500>$6K)

At f8 I can't see a difference.....

 

[tcdeveau]

That’s what I heard too from Steve. But that price tag of $6k won’t gained lots of interest unless you’re a highly paid professional with high demand work.

Maybe, one can find in used/pre-owned market with significant lower price.

Yeah this is how I feel about it as well. I’m sure it’s a stellar optic but at $6k it’s a no from me. As Jeff notes, it’s not going to offer an order of magnitude of performance difference compared to the silver or mki blue ring, esp for landscape stopped down.

 

[Steve Hendrix]

Yeah this is how I feel about it as well. I’m sure it’s a stellar optic but at $6k it’s a no from me. As Jeff notes, it’s not going to offer an order of magnitude of performance difference compared to the silver or mki blue ring, esp for landscape stopped down.

The fact that the original 80mm Schneider lens is such a good lens and often found at very attractive prices certainly dampened some of the sales numbers for the 80mm MK II, because relative to other Blue Ring lenses, it is priced very reasonably. And people often discount "normal" lenses in a sort of kit lens way, they often are hesitant to invest as much on a "normal" AOV lens as other lenses. But the fact is the 80mm MK II may be the best lens in the lineup. It's certainly right there with the 35mm and 120mm, and maybe even a hair sharper than the 150mm.

About Silver Ring lenses. Silver Ring lenses are at bargain prices. But in most cases, there's no optical difference between a Silver Ring and Blue Ring lens. The only Blue Ring lenses that were completely new and improved optics are:

35mm/3.5
45mm/3.5
80mm/2.8 II
120mm/4 (maybe - I have found the performance very similar to 120mm/4 AF-D)
150mm/2.8

Blue Ring lenses do have improved shutters, and some of them can take advantage of the XF AFr functionality. But all but the above are unchanged optically from previous Silver Ring lenses.

That's what makes Silver Ring lenses bargains.


Steve Hendrix/CI

 

[Paul Spinnler]

At f8 I can't see a difference.....

Agree, but it is nonetheless remarkable that it came out …. sales numbers must be low given price and general market; this said, it came out many years later than all other lenses and was commissioned with the aim to be a state of the art medium format optic covering a “full frame” digital medium format sensor; it is a taste of what could have come for the 55 MK II had the market not tanked.

It is a joy of a lens and before Phase One decommissions the system definitely to get if one has the XF and likes it. Not sure how realistic it is to wait for these in the secondary market. As a late cycle optic of the XF system it has the potential to be the XF’s 120 SK apo Asph; ie in 10 years it will command a huge premium over the other lenses on eBay as no one has one …

Another rare one is the 45 … sharp edge to edge and also a last gen lens. Rarely see it used. C. 28mm equivalent FoV - great for environmental portraiture.

Both are stellar … the 80 MK II will be the system’s unicorn lens once P1 kills it. Get it before it is gone.