Within the past three months, I changed from a Betterlight 6k II scanning back to a used Phase One H25 back. An advertizing photographer had recently made the same switch and convinced me, a catalog photograher, to do it also. It was a combination of a lot of factors, mostly going from a cement floor ot a wooden floor, so it seemed like a good idea and a neccessary one. The advertizing photographer facilitated the switch, he had much better contacts than I, so it was a very good deal. I am quite pleased with the switch, the software is good and easy to use, the files look good.
We both have one small, nagging issue. We feel that the results from the back should be ‘sharper’, when we inspect the files at 100%. Maybe the proverbial ‘tack sharp’ or a crisp file, is what we would like and often the files seem good, but just less sharp than we would like. We are using the the default on Capture One DB- (25/3). If we go up on the Capture One DB sharpening (60,80 or 125/3) or Unsharp Masking (200%, .3, 3) in photoshop, the files get ‘sharper’ but crunchier and uglier.
I will even go a step further. I shot some tissue boxes on monday and everything looks great. Next day, I am doing christmas ornaments, and they do not look as good, not bad really, but they don’t seem to have the same quality as the previous days shoot. I refocus, and refocus, and refocus again, figureing that I missed the focus. Sometimes this does helps a little but mostly I can’t match the other day’s quality and sharpness, no matter what I do. So I do wonder if I am just going a little crazy, how can a back work well one day and not so well the following day.
Are there better sharpening solutions for this back, either in Capture One DB or outside it?
Does anyone else have issues like this, with the H25 back?
We are using the H25 back on a Hasselblad and a Sinar P2 with the Phase One sliding adaptor with Apo-Sironar 150mm and 180mm lenses.
I recently had a problem with the focus and fine detail rendering of a Ferragamo tie, which I will bring up in another post.
Brian