Phase One News: XF Body, IQ3 backs, 35LS, 120LS, C1 8.3, Website

[dougpeterson]

The Announcements
The new, ground-up, phase-one designed, 645 body is here. A few other goodies are arriving at the same time:
- Phase One XF body
- Phase One IQ3 Digital Back
- Schneider 35LS
- Schneider 120LS
- Capture One 8.3
- New Phase One website


See Them in Person
DT has Phase One XF Events coming up in LA, New York, Chicago, DC, Boston, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Denver, Philly, San Francisco, and Birmingham. Sign up now to secure your spot. With the XF especially you really need to put it in your hands to fully appreciate how much of a revolution it is.

Questions?
Ask any question you'd like. I have two XF bodies and two IQ3 backs on my person at the moment and just returned from Denmark where I interviewed the head of the XF project and many others in R+D.

 

[6x6]

Camera does look extremely good. Kudos to Phase One for doing this. Really impressive. It looks like a huge leap for MF bodies. Certainly from my perspective. Two real life questions though:

1. It looks like it will work with IQx backs on. Are P/P+ backs supported?
2. The waist level finder is a great addition. Something I have been asking for. However how can it be used for portraits? Does the DB turn 90deg? If not the waist level finder won't be very useful from a portraiture perspective. Please please please say they have a portrait / waist level workable real life solution.

Thanks for the post Doug. I don't mean to be negative, but they are really my only 2 unknowns at this stage.

 

[dougpeterson]

Some answers to questions I've seen posted already. Most of which are covered in our Phase One XF blog post...

Does the XF work with the IQ1?
Yes. Some of the more advanced features won't be enabled, but the main functions of the camera will all work just as well as with more recent backs.

Does the IQ380 use a new sensor?
Yes. It is a Phase One exclusive 80mp sensor from Dalsa, which has significant R+D time to provide long exposures even better than the IQ260.The spec is the same "one hour" but quality of long exposure at any given length is improved. The IQ350 and IQ360 use the same sensors as the IQ250 and IQ260.

Waist Level Viewfinder in Portrait Orientation
The digital back does not rotate (it is still a 645 chassis) and the WLF only comes straight up, so like with the Hassy H or Contax WLF options, it wouldn't be very useful in a portrait orientation.

 

[cly]

Can you disable the focal plane shutter if your lens has a leaf shutter? (I suppose you can but I better ask

What about FPS vibration? Asking as this is a big problem on the DF.

Chris

 

[dougpeterson]

More questions from the forum...

Does the XF have dedicated shutter-speed, aperture, ISO dials?
The XF has programmable hard buttons and programmable dials. Three dials provides (by default) direct access without removing your eye from the viewfinder, to ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed.

Labeled dials like they had on the Contax would be very limiting in several ways: it couldn't show the full range of shutter speeds (the body can go from 1/4000th to 1 hour with digital control, longer using Bulb or T mode) and couldn't be moved or repurposed in case you usually use Aperture-priority mode and don't need access to shutter speed.

 

[dougpeterson]

Can you disable the focal plane shutter if your lens has a leaf shutter? (I suppose you can but I better ask

What about FPS vibration? Asking as this is a big problem on the DF.

Chris

Can you fire just the LS? What about vibration from the Focal Plane shutter (i.e. Shutter Bounce)?

Several notes:
- The mirror has been better dampened. They redesigned this mechanism entirely. In most hand held shooting the mirror, rather than the FP shutter was the main limiter.
- The LS can be fired without the FP or mirror. In most operation both are used because this increase the maximum frame rate, but in vibration sensitive work you can do any of these things to shoot with just the LS:
--- shoot from live view (only LS fires)
--- put the mirror up (only LS fires)
--- use seismograph mode (only LS fires, and only when vibration has ceased)
--- use bracketing mode (only LS fires)
- MUP mode is directly accessible from Capture One, the digital back screen (when using IQ2/IQ3), and from the body itself. You can also program it to a hard button.

 

[Bill Caulfeild-Browne]

Doug, when will the new kit be available?
TX
Bill

 

[dougpeterson]

Doug, when will the new kit be available?
TX
Bill

When is this Stuff Shipping?

Nearly everything announced (body, lenses, backs, software) is either shipping now or will be shipping within two weeks.

Exceptions are the Waist Level Viewfinder and IQ380 which will ship in July.

 

[Enda Cavanagh]

Hi Doug
It's probably too early too tell but has the IQ 380 back been tested yet on wide angles on a view camera. If so how is it with descent amounts of shift. I presume the wide angle Schneiders would still be an issue?
Is the dark frame required?
Unfortunatly the tech specs tab (plus the 2 beside it) isn't working on the phase one website. The joys of updating a site

 

[cly]

Thanks, Doug!

Another question: what exactly is the difference between the former old mount and the new XF mount? In the file

https://www.digitaltransitions.com/pdf/Iq3-Iq1specs.pdf

it looks like you can't use the IQ250 with the new body as it says "Mount options XF: XF Camera System / P: DF & DF+ / H: Hasselblad V: Hasselblad 500".

So is it a completely new mount?

Chris

 

[dougpeterson]

Hi Doug
It's probably too early too tell but has the IQ 380 back been tested yet on wide angles on a view camera. If so how is it with descent amounts of shift. I presume the wide angle Schneiders would still be an issue?
Is the dark frame required?
Unfortunatly the tech specs tab (plus the 2 beside it) isn't working on the phase one website. The joys of updating a site

Not too early to tell: same angular response as the IQ280. Fine for Rodenstock, not great with wide Schneiders like the 35XL.

Dark frame is mandatory but improved in quality on the IQ380. There is now also a temperature readout that helps more sophisticated long-exposure users balance the temperature of their sensor with their exposure timing.

Sorry about Phase's spec website. Ask me any spec and I'm glad to answer .

 

[dougpeterson]

Thanks, Doug!

Another question: what exactly is the difference between the former old mount and the new XF mount? In the file

https://www.digitaltransitions.com/pdf/Iq3-Iq1specs.pdf

it looks like you can't use the IQ250 with the new body as it says "Mount options XF: XF Camera System / P: DF & DF+ / H: Hasselblad V: Hasselblad 500".

So is it a completely new mount?

Chris

The marketing/spec-sheets are a bit confusing. I'm glad to clear this up.

The mount is physically forward/backward compatible with the DF/DF+. There are new elements for communication in the mount. As covered in our Phase One XF Things to Love article the XF is compatible with the IQ1, IQ2, and IQ3 backs. Unfortunately P+ are not supported, but upgrade programs for P+ owners have never been better.

The IQ3 is also backwards compatible with the DF and DF+ allowing those bodies to be a good backup to the XF.

 

[Transposure]

Doug,
I read that this new camera is NOT compatible with the Credo line of digital backs. Is that correct?
Thanks!
Ken

Here is the reference from CI...
https://captureintegration.com/faq-phase-one-xf-iq3/
Scroll down to "Camera", first comment.

 

[jlm]

camera looks great. poo-poo on all the previous design criticisms.

 

[dougpeterson]

Doug,
I read that this new camera is NOT compatible with the Credo line of digital backs. Is that correct?
Thanks!

The Credo is not yet supported.

 

[dougpeterson]

camera looks great. poo-poo on all the previous design criticisms.

To me it looks like an extension of the IQ backs, mixed with a bit of RZ and Contax - two of my favorite cameras.

Of course everyone is welcome to their own opinion about aesthetics.

Functionality of the interface, while still subjective, is perhaps a bit less abstract. If you like the IQ interface (simple Scandanavian design, customizable, touch screen and button hybrid) then you'll love the interface of the XF. Here it feels like a very natural extension of the IQ.

 

[miska]

So the IQ380 will not be available for H and V mounts ? Or is this only a temporary thing ?

 

[drevil]

wow no more support for the contax?

 

[Enda Cavanagh]

Hi Doug
Do you have to shoot sensor+ for long exposures are can you shoot at full resolution. How do the cmos 50 megapixel at 100 and 3200 iso compare with the IQ380 at iso 200 and 3200 at long exposures.

How does the IQ380 compare to the 350 if you use a lot of shift on say the Rodie 32 and 40.

Is the screen improved from the previous (already good) IQ2 series?

 

[dougpeterson]

So the IQ380 will not be available for H and V mounts ? Or is this only a temporary thing ?

From our Phase One IQ3 article...

IQ260 / IQ250 for Hasselblad H & Hasselblad V
Power Sharing with an XF body is the only feature of an IQ3 that won’t be provided to current IQ2 owners. Power sharing is provided by the modern architecture of the XF; it cannot be done when using an Hasselblad H or Hasselblad V. With this in mind, it didn’t make sense to make a back labeled IQ3 for the Hasselblad H and Hasselblad V. Since the IQ380 also has a new sensor (allowing 80mp long exposure), it is available in H and V mounts.

Phase One continues to support these other bodies and future backs which have features that aren’t specific to the XF will continue to be released on all platforms.

In addition, the IQ260 Achromatic will continue to be available only in an IQ2 flavor. This monochromatic back is one of our favorite products, offering unparalleled sharpness, true B+W capture, and is the best infrared digital back we’ve ever worked with. But, it’s a niche rather than high-volume product and will not updated to an IQ3.

We know it’s a bit confusing at first; if you need any help understanding what models are available in what mounts, or what models allow what features, just give us a call and we’ll be glad to step you through it.