The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Leaf 12 backs starting to ship

jps

New member
Hello

I got a email from leaf last night saying they have just started to ship the 12 back - would love to hear from people as they arrive!

Cheers JOHN
 

goesbang

Member
Hello

I got a email from leaf last night saying they have just started to ship the 12 back - would love to hear from people as they arrive!

Cheers JOHN
I'm one of the people sweating on that delivery and , yes, I got that message. Problem is, I'm at the airport, about to fly overseas for a few weeks, so I won't be around to collect it.
Damn!
 

gsking

New member
Deal. AFD? ;)
Yep. And RZ67 w/ adapter. Even built myself a custom adapter to let me wake the back up (half-press) and take the shot (full press) with a wireless remote control. Guess that'll be a bit overkill with a Leaf back...they're awake all the time. ;)
 

mediumcool

Active member
Yep. And RZ67 w/ adapter. Even built myself a custom adapter to let me wake the back up (half-press) and take the shot (full press) with a wireless remote control. Guess that'll be a bit overkill with a Leaf back...they're awake all the time. ;)
Clever dick! Used to have an RB in the neolithic period; loved the 140mm Macro.
 

timwier

Member
I am somewhat new to GetDPI and saw that you recently bought a Leaf Aptus 22. I am moving from DSLR's and film to digital MF and am considering an Aptus 22 for Hasselblad and Cambo stuff.

What are your impressions of the back? And would it be worth another $5K to move to a P45 or so?
 

mediumcool

Active member
I am somewhat new to GetDPI and saw that you recently bought a Leaf Aptus 22. I am moving from DSLR's and film to digital MF and am considering an Aptus 22 for Hasselblad and Cambo stuff. What are your impressions of the back?
Hi Tim

I was the same—haunted this place (and LL) trying to get a feel of which way to jump, and signed up here about three months ago. My first visit was early this year when a Google search landed me in a thread started by Guy Mancuso on stitching with the Mamiya 50mm shift lens.

Still getting used to the medium-format digital shuffle (dealing with seven batteries is only part of it!). Firstly, I got this particular back for a number of reasons:

  • affordable at <$5K used
    [*]Like the large LCD with touch control

    [*]good reviews

    [*]useable with AFD & tech camera (bought a Toyo VX23D — not arrived yet)

    [*]decent performance at 200iso, excellent at 100

    [*]compatibility with Capture One

Some impressions coming from *35* SLRs:

  • Large and very heavy (used to use M645 in olden days but I must be getting *old*)
    [*]Surprisingly able to get a reasonable percentage of hand-held sharp shots as slow as 1/60 due to the mass of the camera

    [*]Old MF lenses performing well

    [*]There is a definite *look* which is part DOF and part the lack of anti-aliasing

    [*]Following above point, differential focus is easier to achieve with a larger camera

    [*]Manual focus is very easy, much more precise than with my Pentax D-SLR

    [*]Low-light performance as expected is much better with smaller cameras (that’s why I want a K5)

Some needed clarification here: I suppose I am both an amateur and professional photographer. I started in photography in the early ’60s encouraged by my father, and eventually started my own business called “]Blue Money” in 1976 (get the reference?). Moved to typesetting and print design in early ’90s and have come full-circle since digital has become [more] affordable. So I’m restarting photography in two categories, for others and for me.

I will use these cameras for client jobs, but for only three reasons:

  • when the result cannot be got more easily and with acceptable quality from a smaller camera
    [*]where large display prints are to be made

    [*]when the client is one of those impressed by hardware (in my experience, that’s most of them)

For personal work, I have bought into MF with the intention of making large prints. I haven’t tried it yet, but I believe up-sampling will be more successful with images with no anti-aliasing (one reason I am so happy with the sharpness of my teensy GF1 with 20mm f1.7 is that Panasonic has less smoothing via anti-alias filter than others, including Olympus). Will be doing a shoot-off soon with a friend who has a Canon 5D Mk II, almost the same pixels.

This back and the systems that go with it — Mamiya AFD with seven lenses from 35 to 150, and a Toyo with a 45 Rodenstock, have cost me under $10K in total — a bit of a bargain I think.

And would it be worth another $5K to move to a P45 or so?
I missed out on a Mamiya kit with a P45+ (eBay) late last year which would have cost me $16K; the P45+ is for me the perfect balance of pixels and features, but not price! If you can get one for a price that is right for you, go for it! It has minimal crop and is eminently useable with movements.

But remember, your processing gear has to be up to scratch too. The Aptus 22 creates compressed .mos files of around 20MB which are a doddle to copy from the camera via FireWire (about a second per shot on FireWire 400) but dead slow on USB or wireless. I am using a Core 2 Duo 3Ghz iMac with 8GB of RAM with C1 and do get a bit impatient sometimes in importing, previewing and rendering; with a 45+ and its bigger files, there would be even more waiting. So I believe I have a reasonably-balanced and affordable system.

You gotta start somewhere! Hope this answers some of your concerns.
 

mediumcool

Active member
Thanks for the thoughtful comments. If I could just find a good P45+ for under $5K, I would be set.
Hah, that’s a good one!

You could try contacting Capture Integration for their demo/used stuff (they don’t always seem to update the page promptly). At the moment they have a P45 V for $9K, which seems about right.

Optech has a demo/used page but annoyingly keep items that have been sold listed—let it go!

One thing to keep in mind is that MF backs keep their value well if maintained in excellent condition, and can be used as trade-ins during occasional promotions.

Now I'm thinking of getting a Mamiya ZD back for IR ...
 

BANKER1

Member
Sorry to stray off the topic.

Medium Cool,

In an earlier comment you mentioned large format printing. I was able to get an Epson 7880 for under $2,000 after $1,000 rebate from Epson shortly after they came out with the 7900. Got it for my personal use and fun. It is absolutely amazing, and it certainly has been fun. I think Epson is offering $500 rebate on the 7900 so with the discount from dealers and the rebate you are looking at around $3,000. I would recommend you give large format printing a try.

Greg
 

goesbang

Member
10 sleeps to go!
I have the Alpa adapter ready to go. DF camera charged and ready......

BTW, I have just returned to Dubai from Switzerland where I shot a lot of snowscapes with an Alpa STC and my Phase One P65+. I am blown away by the detail one can hold in snow with this combo. The camera was easy to manage, even with gloves on in sub-zero conditions. I can only imagine what the Aptus II 12 will be like!

BTW, I have begun to post Jpegs from this trip on the Phase One & Leaf ME Photo Community page on Facebook if you are curious. The 80Mp tests will go up here too.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=o.140450725986092
 

narikin

New member
BTW, I have just returned to Dubai from Switzerland where I shot a lot of snowscapes with an Alpa STC and my Phase One P65+. I am blown away by the detail one can hold in snow with this combo. The camera was easy to manage, even with gloves on in sub-zero conditions. I can only imagine what the Aptus II 12 will be like!

BTW, I have begun to post Jpegs from this trip on the Phase One & Leaf ME Photo Community page on Facebook if you are curious. The 80Mp tests will go up here too.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=o.140450725986092
Huh - I have this exact combo STC + Phase P65 back + DF ! (+... + ...). Which lenses are you on?

Am about to take the STC off on a decent trip to Southern Hemisphere, will report back after that, but it seems a good compromise between the TC and Max. You can walk around straight shoot or 2 way stitch with just the one camera, no need to bring 2 bodies along.

back to OT: I was thinking up upgrading to Aptus 12, but thought I'd wait for Phase's own offering with the same sensor, which must be coming soon enough. If its hasn't been announced by Spring, I'll reconsider.
 
Top