Help Me Choose a MF Camera for Digital!

[micmatthews]

Hi Everyone. I've made my living photographing people for the past 15 plus years. (Here's  my blog.) I used to shoot medium format on a Mamiya 6x7 for years until I switched to small format digital about six years ago. Now, I'm thinking of moving back to medium format so... now I need a new set up.

I've been looking at the various backs and cameras and I'm liking the Phase One H21+ for it's speed and price. (I don't need/want more megapixels. I'll take speed and ease of use over more megapixels.) For cameras, I've ruled out the Mamiya 645 since the shutter sync is too slow. I shoot outdoors in full sun with strobes quite a bit so I need the faster sync speed. (That's part of my motivation for moving back to MF.)

I tried the H2 and wasn't overly impressed. It's a heck of a lot of money for a lot of plastic. Instead, I'm wondering what alternatives are out there. I see a lot of high-end shooters using an RZ system (Annie Leibovitz for one) and they're pretty cheap these days. On the other hand, I saw on the Phase One web site that the backs will work with the older Hassie V system. But I'm not seeing or hearing much about anyone actually shooting with the the setup. Does anyone have experience with either system?

I know that the new H3 system looks pretty cool, but I'm not willing to drop $33k on it. Any advice or suggestions that folks can offer are appreciated! Thanks in advance.

John
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Hello John,

If you like the Mamiya RZ that you use to use you might want to look into the new            Mamiya RZ Pro IID with the P21 that you were interested in. The Mamiya RZ Pro IID works the same as your RZ Pro II but it allows you to rotate the back without removing the back. Nor does it need cables. The P21 gives you the speed you were looking for. The P21 mamiya mount back is what works with the RZ Pro IID which will allow you to work with the Phase One body or any of the Mamiya AFD bodies. So if you decided down the road that you wanted a auto focus body you could use the same back.

I am not sure if you are in NYC but if you are we are having a seminar on the 8th were you can play with the different bodies and different backs.

Michelle Matthews
Digital Transitions
212-529-6825 x227

[TechTalk]

F&H is prospering (according to a recent press release on their website)
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Could you provide a link to this please? I can't seem to find it on their German or English website.

Thanks.

[lance_schad]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Rotation is going to be an issue if the camera doesn't have a grip and prism finder. (Does V Hassie have such a grip?)

So I'm a little confused. Someone said that there's a crop with the Hassie V, but that's incorrect? Then there's no rotating with the Rollei - I looked into it a little but couldn't find that much info. It looks awesome, but it's pricey. How do you shoot verticals?

It's all so confusing so now I'm looking at maybe an H2 or even H1. Anything to look for/watch out for in those bodies?

Finally, I do like the idea of the Mamiya RZ - except for the bulk. I initially was liking the idea of a 645 body that was easy to use. It seems like it's hard to get everything without spending $33k for the latest and greatest.

John
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John
If you are keen on the Mamiya RZProII, then i would suggest that you spend few more dollars and go for the ProIID model. The PhaseOne adapter for this model will allow you to use a MamiyaAFD mount P21 back with all the features of the ProIID, then if you wanted to you could mount the same back on a 645AFD/AFDII or AFDIII and use all of the Mamiya Autofocus, 645 Manual Focus, Hasselblad V-series(via and adapter), Hartblie(via and adapter), Penatcon(via and adapter) lenses,plus some other lenses that are fully announced yet on the 645AFD. This would give you the ultimate flexibility.

PhaseOne also just lowered the price on new P21+'s buy $4k,having it list for $10,990.

Hope this helps in your decision making process.
If you have any questions post ,email call us at CI.

Lance Schad
Capture Integration - Miami/Atlanta
305-394-3196 cell | 305-534-5702 office email: lance@captureintegration.com
[a href=\"http://www.captureintegration.com]Capture Integration [/url]

[Graham Mitchell]

The P21 gives you the speed you were looking for.
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The P21 is faster than most but not the fastest back out there. It's 1.0 seconds per frame.
The Leaf Aptus 54S captures at 0.87 seconds per frame, and is higher resolution.

Just in case you thought you were looking at the snappiest back out there

[RobertJ]

If I were starting fresh, I'd go with the Sinar Hy6 or Leaf AFi with a corresponding Sinar or Leaf back, simply because of the Schneider AFD lenses.

My next choice would be the trusty Mamiya RZ67 ProIID, with Mamiya digital back adapter (about $630 at BHPhotoVideo), and a Mamiya (AFD) mount back that will rotate and work with electronic communcation, plus no cables, and the ability to put the back onto a Mamiya 645AFD/II/III.

Just to clear misinformation, the Hassy 503CW will not crop away any pixels from any digital back.  lol

[Plekto]

1 Hasselblad H3 series
2.Sinar Hy6
3 Leaf AFi
4 Phase One/Mamiya
5 Mamiya ZD

1: Too pricey, IMO.  Too much for the camera itself.
2: No experience with it.
3: Leaf is also quite expensive. I dunno about you, but the price difference between some of these setups will buy a nice used car.  I'm a pro at pinching pennies and Leaf and 'blad isn't frugal.  Nice, but not frugal.
4: I like this a lot.  Integrated and very nice.  Good price for what you get.
5: Basically the same thing as #4.  I like this a lot, too.

Since you don't want to shoot square, a dedicated DB that shoots 645 format is probably ideal.  The Phase One/ZD system is quite nice.

EDIT:
http://www.mamiya.com/products/default.asp?ID=49
22MP only, though.  The Phase One gives you a bit more options, but going up from 22MP to a better 30-40MP back... you might as well wait 2-3 years, IMO, and then get the 30-40MP used when 50-60MP ones are out.(one nice thing about the MP "race")