I finally got a call from a leaf/phase one rep and he gave me the shocking upgrade rate for my aptus 65 (which I paid 17,995 for about 4 years ago).... I expected that since I skipped the 65s (3k plus upgrade price) a 6k upgrade price, but leaf or phase one changed their policy and felt my back was only worth $2505!?!??!?!? COME ON!!! 53k exposures in studio and always stored in a pelican case (dust and moisture free!) I this how they value there own product?
Anyways I sold the back on ebay for more than 3 times what they offered...but now what should I buy....?? ..... I need a medium format digital camera...... since phase one and leaf are basically the same company and will probably pull the same upgrade stunts again in 3 years.... hasselblad is the only other creditable company out there and they have a 3K upgrade....
any advice?? pro's con's?? maybe wait for the Canon 1ds mark IV or switching to Nikon.... will I see the difference ( I do see the difference between my 1ds Mark II)
Hmmm.
I don't know who the dealer was regarding that upgrade offer, and I obviously don't know the details but that seems very low to me. Maybe one of my sales coworkers could comment.
In any case. A 1Ds Mark IV will surely add image quality and features but it will still be a Canon. Which means positives and negatives which will not be affected by a new version of the current iteration. Very unlikely these general attributes compared to medium format will change much with a 1Ds IV:
- 3:2 aspect ratio compared to MF's nearly-always 4:3
- CMOS sensor with AA filter (advantages and disadvantages) which soften the image slightly**
- smaller optical viewfinder which is less easy to focus manually with*
- few lenses that can really take advantage of the resolution of the system
- smaller sensor size (advantages and disadvantages)
- low-light-awesomeness: higher ISO and IS lenses
- flash sync speed 1/250 or so with studio strobes, much slower depending on the type of strobe and the amount of power you set it at if you need absolute frame evenness
- less modularity/body-flexibility (body/sensor tied together: upgrade both or upgrade neither, no waist-level-viewfinders, no view cameras for tabletop/food etc or tech cameras for landscape/architecture, less options for macro, no improvised/experimental camera bodies, no true double-exposures etc etc)
- lower quality very long exposures (will be interesting if canon pays any attention to this with the 1DsIV) especially in warmer weather
- more buttons and features (advantages and disadvantages)
- integrated vertical grip (advantages and disadvantages - no need for separate accessory but you always carry the weight/size)
- less ability to push/pull pleasant color accurate useful data from the highlights/shadows (we'll see here - there was a good improvement from the 1Ds II to the 1Ds III but I think they may be at their limits to further improve as the pixel pitch decreases - only time and hands on testing will show)
- poorer performance in mixed lighting (related to the effective push/pull of the individual channels)
- Sensor-readout and data path, heat sink construction, internal architecture geared towards a priority of speed over absolute quality (advantages and disadvantages)
- tethered operation which works well, but is an auxiliary rather than a core focus of design; e.g. fast bursts of shooting but (relatively) poor sustained shooting speed performance tethered with the last image in sequence delayed often a minute or more before it appears on screen
- only one provided profile which has to suffice for portrait, flash, tungsten etc (you can profile your camera with various calibration products, but its nice when the system is profiled in those conditions for you as is the case with Phase and Leaf backs).
- dSLR only features like video recording
- less desirable end-to-end software/hardware integration paths (few would argue that EOS Utility / DPP is in the same league as Capture One)
In short the answer is the same as always. They are very different platforms and each have their place. A new Canon is likely to be a good step up for Canons but is not likely to change the fundamental differences between the two types of systems.
*canon's live view helps tons with some specific tough focusing situations - we're big fans of that but not all shooters, and not all situations will be conducive to live view as a focusing aid
**don't know what the 1Ds IV AA filter will be like, but any such filter reduces absolute image quality while reducing the occurrence of moire - though the 6ish micron current generation of digital backs are far less likely to show moire than in the old days.
Doug Peterson
__________________
Head of Technical Services, Capture Integration
Phase One, Leaf, Cambo, Canon, Apple, Profoto, Eizo & More
National: 877.217.9870 | Cell: 740.707.2183
Newsletter:
Read Latest or Sign UpRSS Feed:
SubscribeBuy Capture One at 10% offPersonal Work
