Something from the rumour machine..

[drevil]

but contax at that time was done by kyocera, hardly a european manufacturer.
the brand belongs to zeiss again now, but zeiss isnt a MF manufacturer

IF the rumors are true, my money is on the MF devision of Hasselblad

 

[Swissblad]

but contax at that time was done by kyocera, hardly a european manufacturer.
the brand belongs to zeiss again now, but zeiss isnt a MF manufacturer

IF the rumors are true, my money is on the MF devision of Hasselblad

If that is true - I would be very happy.

BTW - Zeiss reserved the right to use the Contax® brand name.

 

[MGrayson]

Marc,

The 85/1.2 may be slow at AF, but the same cannot be said for the 135/2 or the much larger and faster focussing 400/2.8 and 500/4. I think Canon could bring a lot to this party.

Best,

Matt

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Marc, why would you not be welcoming the 'one size fits all' bottom line that we are driving towards? At that point it is all, every single bit, the artist. Not the tool or the mastery of the tools. As you said, back to the days of art without cameras. A that point it becomes the vision alone. IMO, bring it on. That's when the artists will prevail however mediocre the medium may become. The medium will become irrelevant. Finally.

 

[RVB]

Blogger "Fake Chuck Westfall" made this comment in an article about phase one...

" Cuz lemme tell ya Hakonsson, you guys are ****ing going down in 2014! You’ll hear more about this in a few months. That’s all I’m gonna say right now."

This is the article.. Phase One is going down | Fake Chuck Westfall

I presume this was a hint that Canon are entering M.F...

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

BUT - the rumour - and it's a rumour at the moment states:

According to a source at [NL] Canon is already investing heavily in a European medium format manufacturer.

So - it would seem - they are not going it alone.

I wonder if we are going to see the Contax resurrected?

In my view a very fine MF camera at the time.

Contax is out of the question. Although Zeiss has got the rights to the name back, I believe the design of the camera body and probably also the lens mount still belongs to Kyocera.

Phase One? I can see that Phase could gain from having Canon design and make a body, but would they keep the Mamiya mount? Too many chefs. Looks chaotic to me.

Hasselblad would give them access to a large customer base, a lens mount and some good software, but what would they call them? Canonblad? I would believe the current owner of Hasselblad needs the brand name to underpin the high-tech exclusivity of their luxury gadgets. Apart from the latter, Hasselblad would be my bet, if the rumours are true.

Rollei? They could probably need some money and a Canon sensor would really make them stand out, hopefully in a positive way. The selection of AF lenses for Rollei is also somewhat limited, and an ultra WA lacks altogether. This would be my favourite marriage, but too good to be true?

 

[fotografz]

Marc, why would you not be welcoming the 'one size fits all' bottom line that we are driving towards? At that point it is all, every single bit, the artist. Not the tool or the mastery of the tools. As you said, back to the days of art without cameras. A that point it becomes the vision alone. IMO, bring it on. That's when the artists will prevail however mediocre the medium may become. The medium will become irrelevant. Finally.

Because I have always subscribed to the axiom : "A Jack of all trades, and a master of none." as the path of action or selection to avoid like the plague.

There is little to no technology involved in most drawing and painting ... never was. Photography was born of technology, and the various tools are part and parcel of how you impart a new vision. Barnack thinks to put motion picture film in a little still camera, and a new genre of photographic creativity is born ... and so on.

Personally, I do not want all my tools to be white bread, do alls ... part of the Borg Collective to be assimilated into. Cell phones are already doing that.

My 2¢.

- Marc

 

[Tibor]

Rollei? They could probably need some money and a Canon sensor would really make them stand out, hopefully in a positive way. The selection of AF lenses for Rollei is also somewhat limited, and an ultra WA lacks altogether.

I think you are on the right track and that DHW Fototechnik GmbH really is Canon's target

 

[BlinkingEye]

After reading all the responses here, it now makes more sense why the MFD companies are struggling.

People do not seem to want idiosyncratic things anymore. They rationally want homogenization. An odd trait for a creative endeavor...........

- Marc

I am reminded of something my grandfather said to me many times, "It's a bad carpenter who blames his tools."

 

[Shashin]

Maybe Pentax will be the customer for the sensor?

 

[hogweed]

Isn't PhaseOne employee owned? So, i suppose, they can easily decide to not take a senior partner in the boat.

 

[dougpeterson]

Isn't PhaseOne employee owned? So, i suppose, they can easily decide to not take a senior partner in the boat.

Yes. Employee owned for a long time now.

 

[fotografz]

Marc,

The 85/1.2 may be slow at AF, but the same cannot be said for the 135/2 or the much larger and faster focussing 400/2.8 and 500/4. I think Canon could bring a lot to this party.

Best,

Matt

Hi Mat. The 85/1.2 is definitely slow, not "may be slow" I shot with both version of that lens for many years. It is slower AF than almost any lens of comparable size for my H4D or S2P system. The bigger Canon long lenses are much better (shot with a 300/2.8 and 400/2.8 also), but I suspect there is more room for big assed motors or something.

I think what may not be appreciated is the physical differences in size and internal distances involved with MFD as well as less light reaching a smaller AF sensor when translated to the huge viewfinder, so it is AF with the priority going to accuracy.

As part of the quest for accuracy for example, Hasselblad performs a separate AF function as part of the True Focus system other than APL (Absolute Position Lock) ... it also adjusts focus based on f stop to correct for any focus shift from full aperture AF to the f/stop selected.

Leica tried to enlarge the AF area, but was criticized on accuracy ... which I believe was addressed with a firmware update. Mine is pretty quick, and very accurate.

Frankly, I don't know the technical reasons all MFD cameras are slower to lock on relative to 35mm DSLRs, but I wouldn't exaggerate the comparison either. Yet, the fact is they all are, so it'd be interesting to really know why. It would be in the best interest of the MFD companies if the reason was clearer. I'm sure if it were an easy fix or the technology existed, one of them would have done it by now just to shut up the critics.

All that said, who wouldn't want lightening quick AF in any AF camera they have regardless of format.

Just as long as the AF isn't like the Pro model with the bad AF that Canon denied until overwhelmingly pressured to fix it, or the highly questionable AF of the 5D-II ... lest we place them on a pedestal.

- Marc

 

[MGrayson]

Marc,

Oh, NO disagreement on the 85/1.2. I have a version 1 copy, and I love the look, but it is one slow focussing lens. I also never "upgraded" my 1DsII, as the AF problems on the pro bodies started right after that, so I'm not eager for Canon to take over the MF world.

--Matt