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IQ180 loose on Alpa?

J

JLockard

Guest
I noticed my IQ180 fitting much tighter to the DF body than my P65+, in fact the first time I put it on the DF I tried several times as I thought something must not be lining up. Fit easier the second time around but still tighter than I remember the P65 fitting. On the other hand, I get no motion at all when attached to my Alpa. I checked again after reading this discussion to be sure. It has the "00" as described in Paul's reply and was used with my P65 originally.
 

dchew

Well-known member
Ok, more weirdness. I'm the guy who had the loose-fitting P65 on the Alpa, which fits darn well on my DF645.

Tonight I took home the dealer's demo IQ180, and it fits marvelously snug on my Alpa. I have the "00" Phase adapter. This IQ180 fit so snug on a DF that two of us wouldn't even force it on. Eventually one of the guys did get it on the DF. This is all backwards from what others have experienced except for JLockard above.

Huh.

BTW, anyone shooting with the Alpa sync adapter, make sure the firmware is updated. The original firmware could not figure out what the heck the Alpa sync adapter was doing. I couldn't record a single image. Updating the firmware solved it all.

Dave
 

goesbang

Member
DF bodies have a mechanism internally which offers tension along the mounting point. Therefore it's less likely that DF connection will be loose.
This appears to be true. My P45, P65+, IQ180 and Aptus 12 all fit well on the DF body. I borrowed a couple of friends P45+ and P40+ backs and they fit well on the DF also.
 

goesbang

Member
Ok, more weirdness. I'm the guy who had the loose-fitting P65 on the Alpa, which fits darn well on my DF645.

Tonight I took home the dealer's demo IQ180, and it fits marvelously snug on my Alpa. I have the "00" Phase adapter. This IQ180 fit so snug on a DF that two of us wouldn't even force it on. Eventually one of the guys did get it on the DF. This is all backwards from what others have experienced except for JLockard above.

Dave
Very interesting. So far, you are the only person I am reading reporting this, both here, and on LuLa. If I am understanding this correctly, you have anIQ180 that has the same dimension plate as the P65+. All the problems so far seem to be of loose mounting IQ180's on the oo adapter, not snug. All reports so far are that the IQ180 fits perfectly on the ooo (Leaf) adapter.
This, raises the worrisome prospect that there are not one, but two different mount dimensions on the IQ180's. The solution was always going to be easier to find if the mounts were consistent. It's a little more confusing if there is variability from back to back, though it would be fair to say that the IQ180 you are talking about has no problem as it fits the mount that holds the earlier Phase One backs properly.
I have been told by Alpa (I was at their Zurich office this week) that they are trying to find a less-expensive solution for Phase/Alpa users upgrading to IQ's, instead of having to buy a brand-new ooo adapter. It would appear from Dave's post that, happily, not everyone upgrading will have this problem.
I can only hope that IF the problem is a manufacturing problem on the part of the parts supplier who makes the mounts for Phase, that this can be tightened up quickly.
Cheers,
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
DF bodies have a mechanism internally which offers tension along the mounting point. Therefore it's less likely that DF connection will be loose.
Maybe I'm missing something here but how the heck does that work? The locking hoops look pretty fixed to me, ditto the mount along the base. The only items that I can see that would add tension are the back present indicator pin (sprung) and the pins on the back which are also spring loaded. The 4 'pads' don't seem to have any spring loading that I can tell.

Now I could see that the back itself could have some way of tightening the grip on the camera but surely that's just the locking mechanism.

Am I missing something obvious here because I just don't see evidence of this. I'm not saying it isn't so but I'm intrigued to know how this works because I just can't see anything myself.
 

Paul David

Member
IQ 180 Fits perfectly on my Alpa

I just received my IQ180 and nervously mounted it on my Alpa TC. The fit is perfect! Nice and snug but not too tight. Same with the P1DF body.

The Alpa adapter is the 00 for the P65+ back. Apparently this isn't a problem with all the Iq180s.

Paul

My IQ180 is loose on my Alpa and on its own protective plate.
Both rattle, with a fair bit of play.

I read someone else having a similar issue, and wondered what the fix was - on Phase's part, or on Alpa's? I can't find that thread now. My previous Phase back was fine.

Thanks.
 

Terry

New member
I have both an Alpa and an Arca plate here. With the IQ180 the Arca is perfectly fine and Alpa I can move it a teeny bit but I would not call it loose. It is a 00 plate.
 

sendog

New member
I repeat that my IQ180 is loose on its own protective plate.

This has nothing to do with Alpa, Arca, DF bodies or whatever. It is Phase back on Phase plate, and a poor fit.

They obviously changed something in the IQ mount, but are reluctant to admit to it.
 

Paul David

Member
I repeat that my IQ180 is loose on its own protective plate.

This has nothing to do with Alpa, Arca, DF bodies or whatever. It is Phase back on Phase plate, and a poor fit.

They obviously changed something in the IQ mount, but are reluctant to admit to it.
That is one reason it is important to have a dealer who will check out the back before sending it out. Given the problems some (hopefully a small percentage of those receiving the backs) have reported, Dave Gallagher at Capture Integration thoroughly checked out my back and updated the firmware before sending it out. He would have noticed a loose plate and never have sent it out.

And I must say, using the back on the Alpa is WONDERFUL!!! I can't wait to get live view, but even now it's a pure joy to use.

Paul
 

Don Libby

Well-known member
I repeat that my IQ180 is loose on its own protective plate.

This has nothing to do with Alpa, Arca, DF bodies or whatever. It is Phase back on Phase plate, and a poor fit.

They obviously changed something in the IQ mount, but are reluctant to admit to it.
What has your dealer said about the problem?
 

narikin

New member
Enter the IQ180 - mounting it on my Alpa oo M645 adapter which works perfectly with my P65+ (fits without forcing, sits with no wobbles), leaves me with a back-to-adapter fit that is clearly loose. It wobbles.
My IQ180 is loose on my Alpa and on its own protective plate.
Both rattle, with a fair bit of play.
It seems to me that if people with existing P series backs have them fitting perfectly firmly on their Mamiya/Phase One 645AFD I/II/III/DF bodies, Alpas, Arcas, Cambo, etc, and then more than a few IQ backs seem variable on AFD & DF bodies, plus Alpa (and I expect Arca/Cambo too btw) then it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out where the problem probably lies ... :rolleyes:
It must be 100% clear to everyone that Phase have changed something in the mounting mechanism for the IQ series, and it is not working out perfectly.

They need to address this, rather than blaming others for their issues.
IQ backs seem to lock well to a DF, but not to their own cover plates, or to anything else that used to work fine with the P+ series.

The ball is in their court.
 
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dougpeterson

Workshop Member
I repeat that my IQ180 is loose on its own protective plate.This has nothing to do with Alpa, Arca, DF bodies or whatever. It is Phase back on Phase plate, and a poor fit.
I'll repeat my OP, above, and say that my IQ rattles alarmingly even on its own protective cover plate. That is Phase on Phase. So its pretty clear where the issue lays. Surely a cover plate that locks down well for safe travel is a prerequisite? (My P65+ locks snugly to the new IQ cover plate, so the plate is not the issue)
Yes for sure either your IQ plate or your IQ is not 100% right here. As you say the protective plate must be tight for it to fulfill it's purpose and protect your back, which is very important!

Regardless of what needs to be done we'll do whatever we can to make sure you have a kit you're satisfied with. I've just emailed you with one possible solution (which you yourself smartly proposed). If that route doesn't work out we'll figure something else out. All your Phase gear will (within any reasonable expectation) perfectly fit the rest of your Phase gear.

Note: an open apology to you that it's taken a week to fully act on this. With travel to St. Louis, Atlanta, and Detroit this week, and with my coworker getting very sick during our travel it was a fairly hard week to keep up. We strive to have anything like this resolved the same or next day, so this is pretty unusual.

Doug Peterson (e-mail Me)
__________________

Head of Technical Services, Capture Integration
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National: 877.217.9870 *| *Cell: 740.707.2183
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narikin

New member
Update: My loose IQ180 was indeed fixed by changing to a 000 Alpa 'Leaf 645' plate. It now locks down perfectly.

The rattling Phase Cover Plate, still slaps away from side to side on my $40,000 back in supposed locked safe transport mode. Dreadful.

Thank You Alpa for providing a fix.
No Thank You to Phase from messing it up and denying it.
 
O

Optechs Digital

Guest
As a further update:

Most all of our recent IQ 180 shipments have had a very good and snug fit with the proper Alpa 00 plate. All of the loose fit backs so far have been perfectly fixed the 000 (leaf fit plate).

The first IQ 160 received this morning looks like it will require the alternate 000 leaf plate also. So it appears there is still some variation, but also a good though in some cases not a free solution for Alpa users...

Best ,
Paul
 

cunim

Well-known member
My IQ180 fits snugly on the DF and on my Arca plate. The Alpa fit is looser, but not terrible. Will decide what to do about that once I make some more tests.

Interestingly, my previous H3D50 back fit snugly on the H3D and on my Alpa Hasselblad adapter. The Arca fit was too tight on my first adapter and too loose on the replacement.
 
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