The P30/P30+ back is a great MFDB. Easy to use and great color and images right out of the box.
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Agreed. C-1 and their profiles got much better as time went by. Early on with the p30+ with some skin profiles, but Phase fixed that and it's still to this day a tremendous piece of equipment.
We are hard on equipment, but also careful, though the P series backs are just bulletproof. I guess you can break them, but you'd have to try. Also Phase supports their back forever.
The downside is the small lcd on the back. By modern standards it's less than good, but honestly if you stare at the lcd you're not getting the shot. We usually tethered our p backs so the lcd was somewhat irrelevant, but I never worried about pulling the cord and shooting.
I've never really tested one camera to the other, as I never saw the point. You shoot with what you have and well, you adapt and everything is fine.
Given that when I bought my Leica S2 we did a quick test with the Leica compared to the p30+ and honestly the p30+ was a superior file. Not so much the Lecia vs. the contax, but the file from the p30+ to me is just amazing. I routinely took the p30 file to 800 and the Leica kind of tops out at 640. At 800 asa you have to kill some shadow noise which isn't difficult in stills, but the file has so much sharpness and color depth for photographing people it would be difficult for me to find a better file.
I've shown this image before, at 800 asa using a fairly low powered HMI and tungesten fresenels and you can just dig and dig into this file. It's very moveable and low powered constant lighting changes the file more than flash. With flash everything is fine, especially the older ccd backs.
FPS is okay, not that fast, but with the p backs they just never hit the buffer.
Maybe it's just me and I know with 100 mpx cameras out now, it probably seems like these older backs are not professional, though the detail on the p30+ heck even the p21+ at 18mpx is much more than you would think.
I have a friend in Paris that shoots portraits for a renowned studio. He has a p21+ on his old Hasselblad V and the other photographers use modern dslrs. His bosses and clients constantly ask how he get's that "look". He'll probably use that back another 10 years which most people would fine absurd, but hey if it looks good, it looks good.
A couple of years ago we shot a book cover and the AD went through our work with a fine tooth comb. She had a keen eye and everything she liked came from a p back. She thought they we're film, not because they actually looked like film but because they do look different, very sharp very deep. At least that's what she thought so . . .
Sorry to go on, but I think we kind of get too caught up in the tech vs. the look or better put the photograph. For a long time, most digital has been very good. I know some people need or enjoy huge files, but I think of these cameras/backs as film. Some of the best films just weren't that detailed, but nobody cared if it was a pretty photograph.
You know a lot of kids that work for me are going to film. They want that analog feel and that's good, it's actually a great learning experience, but film is kind of a pain if you shoot people. Processing, scanning, making galleries can be done, but transporting is the real issue. I tell them all to find an old contax, or blad or mamiya and put one of these old backs on it. You get the analog experience and learn to craft light, work an image within the cameras capabilities and it will always make you better, while giving you a different look.
IMO
BC