I presently use a Phase P20 back and some film on a Hasselbled 'V' system mostly for use for 'Getty' stock travel work and am very happy with it. I have been shooting with the Hassy outfit some 20 years and for some time i used a Contax 645 with film and loved that as well, however due to some film flatness and battery issues i gave up on the Contax, of course these issues don't affect digital shooting as much as a lot of battery power went into winding my 220 film holders, but i have sold the outfit and 6 lenses, shame really.
What i miss presently with the P20 is my wideangle option as my 40CFEIF is obviously limited, also i do on occasions get a small amount of fringing with this lens and the back does suffer with small amounts of moiree from time to time. Long exposures can suffer with noise to some degree with times of up to 30 seconds as i do a lot of mixed ambient dusk shooting, and sometimes in quite hot climates which obviously exasperates the issue.
I have considered the Horseman and Cambo digital shift cameras with the P20 as an option using the 24XL digitar to gain my wideangle facility, however the cost involved is at least half of an upgrade to either a P30 or P25, albeit losing the shift facility and not actually being quite as wide, but a centre filter would also lengthen my long exposures still further and so add more noise. If i go for the P30 back i could later still get the shift camera to gain a real wide option but there are issues i believe with shifts and the P30 even though i think the long exposures suffer less with noise.
Has anyone tried both the P30/P25 options for mainly outside use, typically travel oriented imagery, dusk cityscapes, food, landscapes people etc. The file size of both is more than adequate for my use and i am leaning more toward the P25+ (when available) as i would value the larger chip area whilst viewing, also enabling slightly easier control over limited depth of field. Much of course has been made of the lack of moiree with the P30 and lack of noise but at the same time i am not sure if the fringing issues are the same with wides between 6-9 micron backs, also i dont know if the P25+ back has improved moiree and or noise. Lastly i keep reading how great the P30 files are straight out of the camera, with little post production, is this an asset only of the P30? Any insights would be greatly appreciated. PS if anyone wants to get an idea of the kind of stuff i shoot then please visit 'www.gettyimages.com' and click 'creative' then type 'yeowell' in the search box.
Kind regards, Gary.
