Phase One IQ3 100mp. Shipping now. Full frame CMOS. HDMI.

[algrove]

Corollary: Nobody really cares how far you had to walk or not to get the shot.

We are the only ones that care and ask. Most other people either like the print or not.

 

[bab]

Just want to add one thing - at the time the 35mm format had 12 mpix and MFD had 40 that was a really sexy difference for most people. Now, having canon with 50 mpix and sony with 42 (and I hope Nikon is getting something around that) it's not that delicious. Really, how many people use their 42-50 mpix fully? Having 42 in a camera do they really feel the need for more? I doubt it.

I'm personally trying to get Zeiss Otus lens. That lenses are really hot. So are photographs taken with them... But that's work in progress

You don't see the difference because you don't shoot a MFDB and process those files if you did it once your sure to see its not just sexy?

 

[torger]

Well, there is a point that when the small formats get too good the larger ones get semi-obsolete. That happened to large format film when medium format digital got too good. However large format film is not gone, and medium format can survive on being a niche even if most professional production transitions to smaller formats.

You have industrial, medical, cartography, military institutions etc, and you have prestige luxury, and you have those high end art photographers that make really huge prints.

And really, $44k is not that much money if you have a full-time business, and indeed it's about the same price as all the other king-of-the-hill backs Phase One has released over the years. They know what gear costs the pro customers are able to motivate.

 

[AlexLF]

You don't see the difference because you don't shoot a MFDB and process those files if you did it once your sure to see its not just sexy?

Right, I don't. But this is what I'm talking about - most people don't see it for this reason or any other. At the end, most people don't shoot MFD. And like I said, there's no way they jump in anytime soon. Especially, because there's less difference now between 42 mpix and 100 then it was between 12 and 40.

 

[jagsiva]

If the performance of WA tech lenses on this new sensor is on par with the IQ180/280/380, I think my line of credit it going to take a hit....but sitting here trying not to wet myself while test and samples come in, I cannot help but speculate that WA performance is likely NOT going to be stellar....

1. The A7RII with BSI sensor still has issues with color casts. To be fair, color is slightly improved, but smearing and saturation falloff are still there. Even the modified versions with the thinner sensor glass don't get rid of the problem.

2. SK gets out of tech lenses! Perhaps an admission of defeat to the laws of physics? Doesn't make sense that manual focus lenses with max apertures of f4 and f5.6 cannot be profitable at 5K a pop, even if you're only selling a handful of units.

3. Phase brings out the 35LS - great lens rivalling the quality of the 32HR...but also in size and price, albeit without movements. Perhaps needed an alternative to tech lenses.

4. Alpa puts out a sample image using the 90HRSW, but nothing wider.

5. If results were stellar, would we not have already seen them from Phase? Surely, tech cam users are a big part of their customer base. It is also not unlike phase to leave some details out if it is a buzz kill, have certainly seen it before.

6. We have seen the not so great results of the sony 44x33 sensor. That sensor is smaller AND has a pixel pitch that is 1 micron bigger.

7. Rodie has not released or announced any new lenses since the 90HRSW, and that was eons ago.

We'll wait and see...perhaps it's just me hedging my bets.

 

[Egor]

So...you "back to film guys"...where have you been?? I couldn't wait any longer and just sold my best production drum scanner. (which was $75K new in 2001 from Kiel, Germany)...My scanning jobs went from 100/day to 100/week to 100/month by 2008

You ARE comparing "drum scans" of that "Texas Leica" film to modern digital...right?

I would buy one of these IQ3 100's to replace my drum scanner, and my Credo80, if the business were there. But I kept waiting for the "hipster rebirth of film" that never came....sad. Oh well, if you all show up again some day, that would be great! I'll leave a drum on fer' ya
But at my current price of over $150/scan....you might want to consider the IQ3 100

 

[Hulyss Bowman]

The shots are Epson V700 or fuji frontier scans. I have an enterprise close to home who is specialized to print political or commercial billboards and they possess a drum-scanner (wet) and they charge me 10€ per photos IF I need a drum scan... They keep it because they have a slow demand and because it is paid since decades. On the other hand, for forum display, a fuji frontier HIGh jpeg scan is largely sufficient.

Who on hearth said that every film should be drum scanned to be good ? Plustech have a wonderful 120 scanner and Nikon coolscan are legion. I do not go into detail if one start to use digital and macro lens ... http://www.getdpi.com/forum/large-format-cameras/57262-ipad-a7r-scanner.html#post675524

150$ for a scan ? blimey !!! It is more than what cost me to print digigraphie certified 120cm x 80cm on the best hannemule paper. Fine but no... thanks.

So yes this IQ3 back is legitimate for some demands but for the rest stitching with an A7rii might be just fine

 

[jlm]

maybe Phase should offer a subscription plan for say, $6,000 per year ($500month) where you can always upgrade to the newest at no additional fee
he,he

 

[MrSmith]

Well, there is a point that when the small formats get too good the larger ones get semi-obsolete. That happened to large format film when medium format digital got too good. However large format film is not gone, and medium format can survive on being a niche even if most professional production transitions to smaller formats.

This is why i abandoned large format (10x8) and MF (6x6) and MFD (39mp) and just use an Actus/Sony/Schneider/Rodenstock combo for my work. i have zero interest in ‘the look’ of MFD as i’m often chasing depth of field and out of focus rendering is of no consequence to me. (i have a sigma merrill for self indulgent arty b&w) all i see with MFD is a load of disadvantages and very few plus points.
i’m not the only working pro to think like this, i know a lot who have gone through the same gear change and i’m not seeing the assistants buy MFD apart from shooting a few rolls of 120 on an old blad/RZ
sure the new sony based sensors make them slightly more attractive but as i have no gear lust or vague notions of MFD making me a better photographer the money is staying in my comfort fund, using the digitars/rodagons even at diffraction inducing f11 gives me better results than any 35mm prime i have used (not tried an otus) this is from a position of using/shooting with all formats not a dewey eyed fanboy with gear aspirations.

i dont buy the more considered/slower way of working thing either, i approach images the same way as i did when shooting 10x8 it’s just the polaroids are a lot cheaper!

if i shot people on location a lot i would maybe think again but i do so little of that and a canon with it’s superior focus over the single point phase offerings would be the weapon of choice.

for the huge print landscape market it’s probably a perfect system. but ‘print’ to me means a DPS or a billboard and 22mp easily does that.

i’m not touching the phase koolAid™

 

[kdphotography]

....

That said, I'd love to see a 100 or larger megapixel CCD back. That comes out and I'd be selling my blood to get one.

....

At 6'9"----that's a lot of blood. :ROTFL:

Exciting time this is with the new IQ3 100MP. I see this as similarly groundbreaking when Phase released the first full-frame CCD, the P65+ MFDB. Now we've got a full-frame CMOS MFDB, and with the IQ interface, and with a great XF camera platform...

It's a great time to be a Pig. See you at Capture Integration in Carmel 2016!

ken

 

[Speedgraphic]

So...you "back to film guys"...where have you been?? I couldn't wait any longer and just sold my best production drum scanner. (which was $75K new in 2001 from Kiel, Germany)...My scanning jobs went from 100/day to 100/week to 100/month by 2008

You ARE comparing "drum scans" of that "Texas Leica" film to modern digital...right?

I would buy one of these IQ3 100's to replace my drum scanner, and my Credo80, if the business were there. But I kept waiting for the "hipster rebirth of film" that never came....sad. Oh well, if you all show up again some day, that would be great! I'll leave a drum on fer' ya
But at my current price of over $150/scan....you might want to consider the IQ3 100

"Hipster" pshh. Are people still using that word? I guess if the top wedding shooters in the USA are all "hipsters"... Truth is the rebirth of film is exactly like the rebirth of vinyl only at a smaller scale. It's kept alive by a few industry pro's at the top of their field and a whole lot of artists and enthusiasts who just get a lot of enjoyment out of using a Rolleiflex (or something similar). With some exceptions film use today isn't about maxing out resolution, it's about the intangibles of the process. I would rather buy a drum scanner than pay drum scan rates, and suddenly that's do-able. You'd have been better off buying a Fuji Frontier SP-3000 if you want to make money. Jose Villa and Jon Canlas don't need pixel level perfection in their scans, just speed, fantastic color and the ability to print an album spread. That's why The FIND lab, Richard's and Indie Film Lab are pretty much dominating the scanning industry in terms of volume.

If anyone is trying to compare resolution of 120 film to this or almost any modern digital back they're clearly diluted. Maybe Velvia CAN out resolve 100mp but once you get the scan you're losing so much of that. Hell even the optical printing process would have knocked that down a bunch. Plus grain will always get in the way even with Velvia. If you really understand using film today it's more about those intangibles I mentioned than maxing out image quality. Film can be very rewarding and is beautiful, truly archival, and the cameras are way more fun. But I would NEVER compare using a Phase back in any way to shooting film. Different horses and different courses for sure. Of course as a counter to that, if you're a landscape fine art shooter I will say that (fair or not, that's not up to me), you will elevate your work by shooting 4x5 or 8x10 faster than shooting digital. The art world still respects process and craft even when it's not necessarily fair. That's why Peter Lik gets an NY Times piece that completely eviscerates his work and his business and Alec Soth gets into Magnum (Yes, I am aware there are more differences than just that ).

Anyway, I think this back is badass and a step in the right direction. We haven't seen true sensor tech improvements in a long time. I am a wedding guy so I have no use for it. But maybe someday this sensor will be in a Pentax I can afford. Someday!

 

[MrSmith]

Exciting time this is with the new IQ3 100MP. I see this as similarly groundbreaking when Phase released the first full-frame CCD, the P65+ MFDB.

it’s not such a huge step as the first 22mp and 39mp backs. thats when i saw a lot of photographers ditch film when the equipment was good enough and at the right price. early adopters paid silly money for very mediocre kit but those backs changed the digital camera world. the 5d and 5dII did something similar as did the sony/nikon 36mp cameras. 100mp is headline grabbing but as we all know the wxh pixel dimensions are not a huge step from 60/80. i dont see this back changing photographers purchasing habits or revolutionising their workflow. it’s just a slightly bigger sensor a bit like the old sensor.
:watch:

 

[dougpeterson]

Anyway, I think this back is badass and a step in the right direction. We haven't seen true sensor tech improvements in a long time. I am a wedding guy so I have no use for it. But maybe someday this sensor will be in a Pentax I can afford. Someday!

I shoot weddings and I cannot wait to shoot my next one with this back. I've been using medium format digital for some part of each wedding I shoot since the Phase One P45+ and the amount of the day for which medium format is the best tool keeps expanding; I expect another leap forward with this back.

Have you ever had the chance to shoot a medium format system at a wedding? It's a great place for high-speed sync (to add just a pop of fill or shaping light even in bright sunlight, without having to stop down the aperture), the dynamic range (black tux in shadow; white dress in direct sun), the lens look, and the great out-of-camera skintones. It's a secondary factor, but I also enjoy that people notice I'm not shooting with the same camera as Uncle Bob.

 

[Jeffery Salter]

Kudos to Phase One for keeping the ball moving forward. It's a fantastic addition to a still photographers kit. I'm looking forward to when photographers have the back in hand and start producing images. I have a 8 x 10 K. B. Canham on the left side of my desk, on the right sits my Super D Graflex 4 x 5 slr., on my metal rack equipment shelf sits a domke bag full of digital Canons and finally a Gura bag with my Phase One IQ back and XF camera system. When an assignment comes in I reach for the appropriate tool.

Most of us have heard versions of the saying, "If your only tool is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail". It's good to have quality options for taking the visions in your head, either for the commercial world of photography or fine-art, into a print or whatever media it’s meant for.

Camera companies make cameras that's what they are supposed to do. We as image crafters have to always remember that content is king. What you are trying to "say" or "express" in your imagery is always to me the most important aspect of image making.

 

[Speedgraphic]

I shoot weddings and I cannot wait to shoot my next one with this back. I've been using medium format digital for some part of each wedding I shoot since the Phase One P45+ and the amount of the day for which medium format is the best tool keeps expanding; I expect another leap forward with this back.

Have you ever had the chance to shoot a medium format system at a wedding? It's a great place for high-speed sync (to add just a pop of fill or shaping light even in bright sunlight, without having to stop down the aperture), the dynamic range (black tux in shadow; white dress in direct sun), the lens look, and the great out-of-camera skintones. It's a secondary factor, but I also enjoy that people notice I'm not shooting with the same camera as Uncle Bob.

My style is pretty much all natural light. I used to do a lot with film and a Contax 645 but lately I've been using the 58/1.4G on a D750 and a Rolleiflex 2.8F. I would love to do some MFD work but honestly to fit my style and workflow I think the only system that makes sense right now is the 645Z. I think the XF and Phase backs are amazing but I'm just not sure my work would take advantage of their strengths. If I was doing editorial or commercial work this is undoubtedly the top of the digital hill.

 

[torger]

We as image crafters have to always remember that content is king. What you are trying to "say" or "express" in your imagery is always to me the most important aspect of image making.

There's also the great saying "if you can't make it good, make it big!"

In the digital era the "tools" have become more and more similar to eachother, and similarity is increasing. Now with MFD going CMOS and 135 going highres they look very much alike. Fortunately they're not all becoming a hammer, but more like a swiss army knife.

Tech cams are still very different, but I think they'll become more similar too in time, ALPA FPS is a first step in a direction towards a Sony mirrorless

 

[Jeffery Salter]

There's also the great saying "if you can't make it good, make it big!"

In the digital era the "tools" have become more and more similar to eachother, and similarity is increasing. Now with MFD going CMOS and 135 going highres they look very much alike. Fortunately they're not all becoming a hammer, but more like a swiss army knife.

Tech cams are still very different, but I think they'll become more similar too in time, ALPA FPS is a first step in a direction towards a Sony mirrorless

Thanks Torger. I always enjoy your thoughtful camera analysis. Looking forward to your views on the IQ3 100 with tech cam use.

There is plenty of room on my shelf for a Alpa STC.

 

[DougDolde]

Personally I am still being wowed by my IQ180. I don't really need high ISO or long exposure though and the resolution increase is nice but I really have all I need. Maybe if I run into an extra $26,000 I will trade up but definitely no hurry

 

[torger]

Personally I am still being wowed by my IQ180. I don't really need high ISO or long exposure though and the resolution increase is nice but I really have all I need. Maybe if I run into an extra $26,000 I will trade up but definitely no hurry

Wouldn't CMOS live view be a nice addition?

 

[Dan Santoso]

Does anyone know how much to trade in with IQ180 and DF+ for IQ3 100 and XF kit?

Thanks