And where does this leave Phase One backs? The recently announced collaboration with Mamiya suggests to me that there will soon be a similar bundling of Phase One backs with a Mamiya body, an update of the 645 AFD more fully and specifically integrated with the Phase One backs, and probably with the "645" removed from its name.[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=81864\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
1. unless you're a wedding guy, honestly, who would really desire a mamiya 645 camera? i mean really. be serious. reminds me of the schoolyard, when you'd pick teams, and there'd be one runt guy left to choose, that no one else wanted -- zits on his face, bony knees, and ran with a limp. that kid's name was mamiya 645. phase is really blowing it if they solely get in bed with mamiya. but sadly, it might be their only choice.
2. you guys are all excited about this rollei camera, but how many people are going to pay $3000-$5000 for every single lens in their bag? plus, can you imagine how many bugs there will be in the first version? and what will the software be? i'm betting on that rollei/leaf camera being ready for a real job in the year 2008, if then. it's one thing to hire some cad designer to do an illustration of a camera; it's quite another to make it actually work, and provide software and service for it, and then get cheap-ass photographers to write the check for it. don't hold your breath on this camera system.
3. personally, i'm thumbs up on hasselblad/imacon/fuji pulling this very ballsy business decision. at least you've got a company willing to walk the walk. there are a zillion H1's out there in rental, and that alone will keep fujicon standing for a good long while. and who knows -- maybe this software and hardware pairing might be a good thing, especially if you were an architectural shooter. i'm saying that hasselblad will be standing tall, when phase is still trying to get a workable lcd, and leaf is trying to come up with some usable software. and as canon has clearly proven -- there are far less error messages when you make the front end AND the back end of the cow.
4. phase gets up every morning now, with sweat on its forehead, wondering if hasselcon has announced the discontinuation of the H2. that, to me, is a pretty pitiful business model. all hasselcon has to do is pull the plug on the h2 and there's going to be some scurrying in denmark.