Emotion 22LV vs. Leaf aptus 22

[Aitor]

Hi,
I have an offer of those backs more or less at the same price. ( Sinar+adapter vs. Leaf refurbhised with contax interface. )
both have its pros and cons. What's your personal opinion about ?.
regards

 

[Graham Mitchell]

I don't think there is a such as back as the 22LV. There is the eMotion22 and the eMotion54LV. Which do you mean? I have had both.

With the Sinar back you get the adapter system, meaning that you can run it on nearly all medium format cameras, and change between platforms in a few minutes just by changing adapter plates. Leaf does not offer this. The e54LV has liveview included. I believe that with Leaf, you need to pay extra for a liveview dongle (perhaps someone can verify if the Aptus 22 has liveview at all). The battery is internal with the Sinar but I believe that the Leaf has an external battery. The Sinar Exposure software now uses DNG as the native raw file format, meaning you can open the files in the raw processor of your choice, without any conversion required, or of course process the file in the Sinar software if you so choose. You are more restricted with the Leaf. The Sinar back also includes some solid state memory (3GB, iirc) so you don't have to use CF cards at all. Within the next week, Sinar will be releasing the next version of Exposure for the Mac and PC. I think the Leaf is still Mac only. That might not be relevant to you. The Leaf has a larger screen and probably nicer interface which may be useful to you if you shoot mainly untethered.

As for image quality, I'm sure they are both excellent and hard to tell the files apart.

 

[Aitor]

Sorry, I mean the emotion54LV ( 22 megapixels ).
Thanks for your answer. I have Sinar now ( 23HR ). I know that the advantage that Sinar have with the adapter plates. But in practice ( it's my opinion ) the price of the adapters make this system not as good because it cost 1000 euros or more, the same price you pay to change whatever back to adapt to whatever camera. So in practice is more or less the same.
I will shot mainly untethered because I have a good offer for a 54H to shoot with the P3 in studio. I will have two backs. The 54 H for estudio work and the other I chose for location.
I like Sinar, but expect that the new software to be more quick than the actual captureshop that I think is very slow.

 

[carstenw]

Graham, maybe this is a good place to ask you for a detailed review of your experience with the e54LV? I am strongly considering the same back.

 

[fotografz]

The Leaf backs are excellent when tethered, as well as when shooting mobile.

ACR directly recognizes Leaf CMOS files. When I shot Leaf in studio, I used Bridge as my browser but Leaf Capture for the full screen, most recent capture ... very fast set up.

IMO, one thing to check is what the lowest and highest ISO is for each back, what the speed of capture is for each, and determine how important the large LCD is to you ... on older backs the Leaf LCD was miles ahead of everyone. The smaller LCDs are dismal, and only good to confirm that you actually got the shot. None but the most recent LCDs, including Leaf's, work very well in bright ambient light, but there are inexpensive accessories to remedy that. I had a Lee bellows shade that was made specifically for Leaf Aptus LCDs that really worked well.

 

[Graham Mitchell]

But in practice ( it's my opinion ) the price of the adapters make this system not as good because it cost 1000 euros or more, the same price you pay to change whatever back to adapt to whatever camera. So in practice is more or less the same.

A friend of mine in Sweden had to pay $5K to change his Phase P30 back to another mount. Ouch.

The big advantage of the adapter system is that you can run multiple platforms concurrently, i.e. use a Mamiya 645 one day, then switch to a Hy6 the next day, or Contax 645, or Hasselblad H, etc

 

[Graham Mitchell]

Graham, maybe this is a good place to ask you for a detailed review of your experience with the e54LV? I am strongly considering the same back.

Hi Carsten, a lot has been said already. Perhaps you could ask specific questions if there's something specific you'd like to know?

 

[Graham Mitchell]

Oh, I nearly forgot. Sinar has a standard 3 year warranty. I assume Leaf is 1 year. Something else to consider.

 

[carstenw]

I will do a little searching then. I am just looking for a more detailed list of pros/cons than the usual shorthand posted, and maybe a little about the typical shoot and post-shoot workflow with this back.

 

[Graham Mitchell]

I will do a little searching then. I am just looking for a more detailed list of pros/cons than the usual shorthand posted, and maybe a little about the typical shoot and post-shoot workflow with this back.

Will you shoot tethered or untethered?

 

[Aitor]

Oh, I nearly forgot. Sinar has a standard 3 year warranty. I assume Leaf is 1 year. Something else to consider.

this is something to considere. Thanks for the info.
the Leaf they offer me is the Aptus 54.

 

[ddk]

this is something to considere. Thanks for the info.
the Leaf they offer me is the Aptus 54.

The 54S has the fastest write speed and largest buffer on the market, it was important to me when I bought mine. As far as image quality goes, they're both great. Leaf has the better interface of the two, better screen and far better software imo. Like you I have found Sinar's adaptor solution not that practical in practice. Screwing and unscrewing the plates isn't that fast and fiddly, not something that anyone wants to do on a regular basis. The cost is high too as mentioned.

 

[Aitor]

The 54S has the fastest write speed and largest buffer on the market, it was important to me when I bought mine. As far as image quality goes, they're both great. Leaf has the better interface of the two, better screen and far better software imo. Like you I have found Sinar's adaptor solution not that practical in practice. Screwing and unscrewing the plates isn't that fast and fiddly, not something that anyone wants to do on a regular basis. The cost is high too as mentioned.

I don´t know if is the Aptus 54S or only the Aptus 54 if it exits. I can find information about it .

 

[carstenw]

Probably 80-90% untethered. FWIW, I am considering primarily the P25+ as competition, although given the (currently) higher price, I lean towards the Sinar.

I found an old "Why did you choose your back" thread, and am working my way through that. There seems to be some good info.

 

[ddk]

I don´t know if is the Aptus 54S or only the Aptus 54 if it exits. I can find information about it .

There's only 54S, the standard 22mp back is called a 22, not 54.

 

[kipling]

Test, test, test the gear before you buy it.
Also consider it a simple test of the dealer you'll be working with. How fast and competent the dealer is at getting you a back and answering your questions will give you an idea of the support you'll be getting.

also, the software is so important for these backs, it's worth tryng them out, and trying out the native files in different software.

I've been using Leaf for 2 1/2 years now and everything except the LCD in daylight and high ISO (200 and above) is excellent. The software is stable and fast and the files are amazing.

 

[Graham Mitchell]

Probably 80-90% untethered.

Ok then the workflow could be one of the following:

- use Brumbaer tools to import images from CF card, then convert the sinar raw files to DNG using Brumbaer's own conversion which includes highlight recovery. Then use program of choice to develop the raws and export as web gallery, TIFFs, etc

- use Sinar Exposure to import the images from CF card. These files will immediately be saved in DNG format. You can then continue to process in Exposure or use a raw processor of choice.

So to summarize, there are two ways to import the files, both giving you DNGs which can then be worked with in any raw processor. You can use whichever you prefer.

Exposure for PC will be out in a few days, giving you yet more flexibility.

Does that help?

 

[Aitor]

There's only 54S, the standard 22mp back is called a 22, not 54.

Yes, I have to much information in my head these days.
The back they offer me is the Aptus 22. I thinks it is vey expensive for a refurbished back that is descatalogued some time ago.
I think I will buy the Emotion 54LV is there is not new news.

 

[carstenw]

Thanks Graham, that gives me a starting point for further reading. I am pretty sure I saw some PDFs on Sinar's site for the packages, so I can look at that. Interestingly, it seems that Capture One would actually be an option, even for Sinar backs.

Do you use Exposure?

 

[Aitor]

Anyway, It seems that the only difference between the leaf 22 and the 54S is the speed. Or is there anything I am missing?