It is true.
My "watch" battery is a bit tired and when I do not use the back for more than a week or two, when I turn it on, it asks to set date and time.
Of course I dismiss the message and I can care less.
Phase backs are virtually bullet proof, though anything can stop working.
I don't know the exact repair prices from Phase, but was walking by rental the other day and asked what the price of the "watch" battery repair was. They weren't exact but they said for Phase to look at any problem with your back, out of warranty is around $500, to repair anything mechanical is around $2,000, so I assume that includes the "watch" battery.
Having exact time/date doesn't matter that much unless you use multiple cameras (I do), so that changes the way you sort images and increases the work load).
Right now we're building a carnet for a shoot in Europe and I hesitate even taking the Phase backs with me. After all we're carrying the RED, the Canons, Some LED and HMI lighting and I start thinking do we really want to carry a camera system that needs the date and time set every time you turn it on?
That's the rub on medium format and what makes you go from using it for every shoot, to deciding to only use it in exact controlled conditions. Then when it comes time to buy new, do you really want to go through the same process again, or say to heck with it and go with either Canon or Nikon?
Once again, nobody minds paying for fair repair prices, or even a warranty but the system is so jacked that the warranty becomes a fear buy. Nobody likes being forced into anything, which I find to be such strange marketing.
The medium format segment is constantly looking at new ways to gain market share, from amateur seminars to selling to the technical and government crowd, but there is a whole world of entry level photographers that would use medium format if they could afford it.
A lot of this group could and would buy a medium format camera, until they hear this repair/warranty process. At that point it's back to their 5d's.
IMO
BC
