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P40+ or P45+ for studio work

DanTidswell

New member
A month ago I got my first extended taste of medium format when a cruel photographer friend left his P45+ / 645DF / 80mm LS lens at my studio for two weeks.

After the initial baptism of fire I found myself addicted to the image quality and 'feel' of MF, and now, after selling much of my Canon kit find myself looking hard at the second hand market.

Initially I figured that I would buy the exact same setup but my research at this site is making me wonder if the P40+ would be the more suitable back for studio over the P45+. I wondered if someone could offer me some advice regards the pros and cons of these two sensors, the price difference is negligible so it's really down to spec. Right off the bat I figured the P45+ must be better because it's physically bigger, but I can see that's a poor assumption now.

Thanks, Dan
 

DanTidswell

New member
Dan,

What kind of subject matter do you photograph? What are your needs/ what are you looking for in a digital back?
Hi Louis

I primarily shoot beauty, model portfolios, fashion and business portraits. I mostly use studio lights or natural light with reflectors but would love to take advantage of the fast second LS sync speed to shoot with small strobes outdoors. I want large, sharp images with great skin tones and lots of dynamic range - it's a crowded market and it's another way to differentiate myself.

Since I posted the original message above I've had time to contact the main dealers in the UK and one of them has sold me a P40+ / 654DF / 80mm LS lens. He didn't actually have a P40+ ready to ship so he sent me a P45+ to use in the interim.

At this point I still haven't shot with a P40+ but from reading this forum I gather that the sensor renders better skin tones and allows for 1600th/sec sync speed, which are both good for me, I'd also like a slightly longer lens so the 1.3 crop factor should work in my favour too.

Does that sound about right? I'd really appreciate any advice at all.

Many thanks,

Dan
 

Qamaro

Member
Dan,

I've used the P45+ / DF / Non LS lenses (80, 120, 105-210 and 55) both in studio and outside of the studio. With natural light, strobes and continuous. I went the P45+ due to less of a crop factor with the lenses and the option for long exposure time (which I have used for personal projects when out in nature).

The LS lenses of course will give you higher sync speeds with either back I think 1/400 (someone can correct me if I'm wrong). But, as Louis mentions it all depends on what you are shooting. If you need examples of what you can do with the P45+ for automotive or fashion you can take a look at my site everything there is with the combo described above. I just figured I'd give you my experience with the P45+.
 
I think (and I've not used either back) that the differences are this:
P40 Pros - has sensor plus, better high iso performance, probably more DR and nearly 2 frames a second
P40 Cons - quite a crop factor compared to the P45

P45 Pros - Long exposure, close to full frame, good 2nd hand value
P45 Cons - max 800 ISO, slow, no sensor +

I'd suggest that unless you are shooting long exposures, the P40 is a more suitable back for studio work and environmental portraits as you can switch to sensor+ and more options to balance flash and available light up to 3200 ISO (which helps with slower MF lenses)
 
Also, if you're considering a technical camera (Alpa, Linhof, Silvestri) rather than a DSLR such as Hassie, DF or AFD, I'd strongly recommend you head over to Leigh on Sea and meet up with Paula of Linhof Studio. When getting into MF a good knowledgeable person will ultimately save you $$$
 

torger

Active member
P40+ has a later generation sensor with the 6um pixel tech, same as in P65+ and IQ160, better dynamic range than the P45+, but for studio work with controlled lightning that should not be a significant advantage as the DR of the P45+ is still good.

P40+ has a Dalsa sensor and P45+ a Kodak, color rendition is quite different, the general consensus seem to be that Dalsa can have more accurate colors and nicer skin tones, and Kodak has a more saturated look, which some actually prefer. You can tweak with your own profiling too of course to some extent.

44x33 vs 49x37 mm sensor is not a huge difference, but I think myself that it matters, I prefer the larger size because it's, well, larger :).

The P45+ is very popular among amateur users for tech cameras (reliable, long exposure, quite big sensor, cooperates well with older lenses), and has good second hand value. I would guess that the P45+ will hold up better in the second hand market than the P40+.

I'd say that the P40+ is probably slightly "better" for your needs, but I would probably go for a P45+ anyway, for the larger sensor and (possibly) more stable second hand value.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
P40 would be my choice for sure. Oh wait I had 4 of those Dalsa sensor backs. That kind of speaks for itself right there. I had the P40+, IQ 140, IQ 160 and a P65 for a short time.
Without a long winded reasons why you made a good choice. Enjoy it
 

DanTidswell

New member
Thank you for all the feedback guys.

I have been replying but my posted are still being moderated so they have delay of a few days right now, but I am reading and take it all in.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Need to get to 10 posts and that will clear. Its there mostly for the B&S area but its all connected.
 

Zerimar

Member
Either would work well for you, I personally prefer the colors I get out of the Kodak chip of my P45+, and I love long exposure landscapes.

The larger sensor is a nice thing to have as well.
 

DanTidswell

New member
Well I've been shooting with the P45+ for a week or so and I'm a MF convert. If I had a complaint it would be that the P45+ is a little wide with the 80mm lens. I'm only borrowing the P45+ whilst my dealer sorts out a P40+ for me, he has one but it had some kind of old firmware that didn't sync at 1600th/sec so he has sent it to PhaseOne for a complete rebuild to add the fast syncing technology (or something like that).

I've also found an AF-150mm AF-210mm on ebay for cheaps, they both arrive tomorrow and I'm excited to try them out in my studio, I think the longer lens will suit my style better.

I'm absolutely blown away by resolution of the Phase back, I want to go back and shoot my entire portfolio again :)
 
If the 80 is a little wide, you might really enjoy the 110/2.8 LS. It's a stunning lens, not a clinical sharp lens, sharp yes, but that organic german look to it (I guess it's an SK design lens, can't remember now).
 

adaml

Member
I recently switched from an H3DII-31 to a P45+ and couldn't be happier. Big beautiful files, spectacular skin tones and detail. I haven't shot Dalsa Phase backs to compare, but as Torger said in an earlier post, even though the P40+ may be slightly "better" for your needs, the larger sensor and better second hand value sold me. Most rental houses have P45+ and P65+ backs. P45+ backs were still being manufactured thru 2012 which says a lot about about that back.

I would love to see real-world difference from Dalsa to Kodak sensors with identical portraits to compare skin tones with identical conditions to ascertain the nuances between the Kodak and Dalsa. Sure, if money were no object, I'd have considered an IQ back, but for now, I'm quite happy and when I do decide to upgrade, my P45+ will hold a lot of value in tradeing up.

--

Adam Lerner Photography | 718-219-3006 | Commercial Fashion and Portrait Photographer
 

Ken_R

New member
If you do not mind the crop and don't require very long exposures the P40+ should be a great choice. Given, I have the IQ160 but the sensor in the P40+ is basically the same but smaller. The IQ160 has spectacular overall image quality. I got the larger sensor because I use it almost exclusively on a tech camera with wide angles so I wanted a wide angle of view so as not to be limited to using the widest lenses available. Color depth and accuracy is stunning but also the way one can manipulate the files. Highlight recovery IMHO is better than the Kodak sensors from what I have seen. If you can find one an IQ140 is also a great choice. The screen is superb and the user interface is great plus it has some really cool additional features.
 
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