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!

Price drops for Phase one backs....

SergeiR

New member
But only 5 of those vendors sell DSLRs, and two of them, Sony and Olympus are on their way out of that market (although Sony SLT can be considered being a kind of semi-DSLR).
So by same logic if only 4 people do make cake, no matter what - they all major producers. I see light now.
 

SergeiR

New member
You are doing a very good impression of it.
8)) nahhhh.. If i were to actually bash their dSLR business i could've go for a while, telling some behind the curtain stories, but i wont. I am just not a big fun of them, lets leave it at this.

But like i said - i do like that there is another dMF. May thousand flowers blossom, may thousand schools prosper ;)
 

FredBGG

Not Available
Just to clarify what I say here - Fred - if you read my post, you'll see that I wrote "Medium format has done a good job of pushing entry level pricing to more reasonable levels"...

That includes Pentax, and at times Phase One (before the P20+/21+/25+ were discontinued) as well as Leaf (Aptus-II 22, 28, etc...), and Hasselblad (H3D-II 31). The point was the pricing, not the subjective merits of the products.


Steve Hendrix
This from another guys post on another thread says it all quite clearly:

Right, its 1998 and I've just bought the first Phase One DB available - a 6MP Lightphase for $22900 - that's 0.38 cents per pixel.

Ok, fast forward to 2012, and lets have a look at the IQ180 - 80MP for $48000 - that's 0.06 cents per pixel.

So, for MFDBs the price per pixel now is 6x less than it was 14 years ago.

Right, jump in the DeLorean again and lets go back to 1999 and buy the first 'affordable' 35mm DSLR a Nikon D1 with 2.7MP for $5580 - which equates to 0.21 cents per pixel

Again, fast forward to 2012, and lets have a look at the Nikon D800/E - 36MP for $3000 - that's 0.008 cents per pixel

So, for DSLRs the price per pixel now is 26x less than it was 14 years ago.

6x vs 26x - yeah, kinda makes you wish there was a bit more competition in DB manufacturing doesn't it? If the Price per pixel for a MFDB had come down 26x, the IQ180 should be available for $12k - a much more economically realistic and viable proposition IMO, and exactly the price point where it should be pitched, remembering of course that it's just a capture device - you still gotta add bodies, lenses etc. to it.
 

FredBGG

Not Available
OK..... lets elaborate on the autofocus of the 3 MFD systems.

Phase One:
Three focus sensors located very close to the center of the screen.
No indication of which sensor locks or attempts to lock focus.
Focus lock indicator is at the bottom of the screen.
No end user calibration can be performed.
No auto compensation of focus when focusing and recomposing.
EDIT:
The focusing on the DF camera has two settings. Speed and more accurate.
The fast setting searches for focus and locks in one go.
The more accurate setting (the default) searches for focus, does a preliminary lock and then does a little hunt to fine tune the focus lock.
The speed setting is not accurate at all and the manual recommends using at least f8 for this setting.

From the manual:
C-19 AF Priority [AF_2]
Accuracy of auto-focusing priority (default setting) or speed priority can be
decided.
0: Speed
(Aperture to f/ 8 is recommended when using this function.)
I found the speed setting to be pretty much useless.


Hasselblad H4:
Only center focusing point, but the system includes true focus that auto adjusts focus when recomposing significantly improving focus and making the use of auto focus on features away from the center of frame in the final composition way more accurate. The photographer however has to take care not to move forwards or backwards when recomposing.

Pentax 645D:
User adjustable focus calibration.
11 point focus sensor with precise focusing screen indicators. Also indicates what point is locking focus. Has focus sensors most spread out for a MFD system permiting more accurate focus and less focus and recompose.
.... see edit....
 

RodK

Active member
I simply wanted to make two points.

First is give a heads up that Phase One is discounting. I found out through an email from a dealer. I thought I would pass it on because it is not on the Phase One website yet.

My other point in response to Steve Hendrix is that I do not think that MF in general has done a good job at lowering prices. If anything the huge progress from 35mm DSLR manufacturers is forcing them to do so. I think it is very significant that Pentax, a high volume 35mm DSLR manufacturer, makes the best deal and best body when comparing 44x33mm sensor cameras.
Actually Pentax has fallen to less than 7% of the market...
This was just a few days ago in an industry reporter article.
 

FredBGG

Not Available
Actually Pentax has fallen to less than 7% of the market...
This was just a few days ago in an industry reporter article.
7% of the DSLR market is still a very large volume of cameras.

Their sub 24x36 sensor DSLR cameras do a very good job and some models have better dynamic range than most of the competition including some MFDBs.

Here is an example of a leading fashion photographer that shoots for Vogue and Bazar that uses Pentax DSLRs

Portfolios | Benjamin Kanarek
 

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
To be more transparent, he's the only fashion photographer using Pentax and was going so back to the 6 megapixel days. A lone maverick is hardly an example.

Not that I wouldn't prefer a pentax to our mamiya DF. We got a rental while our body and back has gone back for repair, this one won't work properly with the AC power supply. I told my assistant to get some batteries out of the box. He comes back and says he can't find any Mamiya batteries but as soon as he does he'll put them on to charge. I have to explain that it's AA batteries, 6 of them and that I've been advised not to use rechargeable ones either. He just stared at me in disbelief!
 

FredBGG

Not Available
To be more transparent, he's the only fashion photographer using Pentax and was going so back to the 6 megapixel days. A lone maverick is hardly an example.
Actually he is not on his own. I've seen a few others. However my point was to show that Pentax has plenty of potential.

I'm actually quite surprised that Pentax does not use Benjamin as an ambassador. Apart from being a great photographer he is a charming guy.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
I'm actually quite surprised that Pentax does not use Benjamin as an ambassador. Apart from being a great photographer he is a charming guy.
I think they did, actually, but for some reason, he decided to have his independence a few years ago. This according to my memory, which isn't great :rolleyes: and I don't know the guy.

Apart from that, I think he is a good example. The quality of the cameras and lenses, particularly not the lenses, is not the reason why not more professional photographers use Pentax. In my case, it's simply because Pentax have no functional service facility in this country. I prefer their cameras and lenses to Canikon in almost every way. For small format portrait photography, I could probably live with their 77mm FA Limited as my only lens. There's hardly anything better available from any manufacturer for that purpose.
 
Top