Cost Per megapixel

[theguywitha645d]

Some I'm inherently twice as good as you because of my sensor?

(I'm kidding)

Not so fast. Which manufacturer?

[Brian Hirschfeld]

Not so fast. Which manufacturer?

Proud IQ180 owner

[jduncan]

I was bored, while in my sickly state, so I figured out the average cost per megapixel, and the average cost of a lens for the major medium format digital manufacturers and their main camera systems. Nothing unexpected, but sort of interesting to see it in numbers.

645DF Family
PhaseOne IQ180  Cost Per Pixel $550
PhaseOne P65+ Cost per Pixel $533

Leaf Aptus II 80mp Cost Per Pixel $413
Leaf Aptus II 56mp Cost Per Pixel $464



Average Cost Per Lens $2786 (14 Available From B&H)

Hasselblad
Hasselblad H4D-60 Cost Per Pixel $700
Hasselblad H4D-200MS (50MP) Cost Per Pixel $880

Average Cost Per Lens $4270 (12 Available From B&H)

I know this is unusual game .   I will correct your calculation for the H4D-200MS.  If someone buys the 200MS to shout it at 50MP only the person is more than incompetent. 

The H4D-50 is for that.

So the price/ pixel will be(calumet):

1. H4D-200MS:220
2.  pentax 645 (list) :249
3. H4D-50     :580
4. Phase One IQ180 (back only ) :600
5. H4d-60 :667
6.  Phase One IQ160 (back only ) :683


One can only wonder how your numbers got so wrong.
As always math  reveals what is the name of the game.


Best regards,

James

[Brian Hirschfeld]

How did you figure out your cost for the H4D-200ms, as much of a joke as it is, you couldn't count it as 200mp.......besides thats not a single image, so I don't even consider it to be anything worth comparing to the other single shot systems...

I used the numbers for the back only for the leaf/phase and the back+body for hasselblad since you can only buy the CFV's as back only otherwise you need the body...

[theguywitha645d]

Proud IQ180 owner

Hah! I got a Leica X1!!! It is all in the glass...



(i certainly hope folks are not taking this seriously...)

[Brian Hirschfeld]

Unfortunately, I feel like some of them are at this point.

I was making a small point originally, very small, and more  a commentary on the boredom that comes with being cooped up inside all day with a computer....and finding it interesting to figure out how much a megapixel of medium format costs........

pour souls.....

[jduncan]

How did you figure out your cost for the H4D-200ms, as much of a joke as it is, you couldn't count it as 200mp.......besides thats not a single image, so I don't even consider it to be anything worth comparing to the other single shot systems...

I used the numbers for the back only for the leaf/phase and the back+body for hasselblad since you can only buy the CFV's as back only otherwise you need the body...

Your numbers are based on using different sources for the prices.  That is not valid from a scientific or technical point of view. In fact is not taken into account the results are meaningless.  Of course you are on the more creative side of the word and that is ok.

"anything worth comparing to the other single shot systems..."  

But you did.

Second I read this satire : http://brianhirschfeldphotography.com/2011/12/07/hasselblad-h4d-200ms-farce/

This quote don't have a price:   "Well actually it scales down the megapixel count to 33.3mp and takes 6 images."  (LOL)
-----


theguywitha645d: I am not, just correcting the bad math (guess who was a math teach for a long time ?)
I understand is about habbing some fun, like the quote above , it just a way to have some fun around MF.

Best regards,

James

*** Adobe <> Above LOL
 

[Brian Hirschfeld]

Right but I only used the second source since the first one lacked somewhat accurate phase pricing...personally I trust B&H more then Calumet, only because I've never been in a Calumet store....and in the end is the difference really going to effect the numbers by anymore then +/- >50? which is really inconsequential for the point of the test...

[Brian Hirschfeld]

Your numbers are based on using different sources for the prices.  That is not valid from a scientific or technical point of view. In fact is not taken into account the results are meaningless.  Of course you are on the more creative side of the word and that is ok.

"anything worth comparing to the other single shot systems..."  

But you did.

Second I read this satire : http://brianhirschfeldphotography.com/2011/12/07/hasselblad-h4d-200ms-farce/

This quote don't have a price:   "Well actually it scales down the megapixel count to 33.3mp and takes 6 images."  (LOL)
-----


theguywitha645d: I am not, just correcting the bad math (guess who was a math teach for a long time ?)
I understand is about habbing some fun, like the quote adobe, it just a way to have some fun around MF.

Best regards,

James
 

someone read my website!

[jduncan]

someone read my website!

Yes I did. I went because I was intrigued by the mis-math.  But then I learn that I was there before.  There is a lot of good stuff, and I mean it.
The first time I read the H4D-200MS article I was like: This guy don't understand the basic technology and is talking  as if he was an expert.
Then after a second read I concluded that it was Satire, probably ignited by the price.

In general my favorites are the ones on the Leica S2. In fact I find your site doing a Google search for articles on the S2. A friend of mind is considering a medium format camera but the backs are not an option due to weight and volumes considerations.

Keep the good work.

Best regards,

James

[Zenny]

Photography is about the quality of capture, not the cost involved or it becomes a business rather than art. So I feel the discussion about the cost (per megapixel, per sheet of film, per development or printing) is redundant. My own personal view ;-)

zenny

***Support http://thehumanape.org ***

[Brian Hirschfeld]

For some people.....Not me.......it is their business....and to business people, these kinds of calculation can help them make financial decisions about their pricing etc etc...

[theguywitha645d]

Photography is about the quality of capture, not the cost involved or it becomes a business rather than art. So I feel the discussion about the cost (per megapixel, per sheet of film, per development or printing) is redundant. My own personal view ;-)

zenny

***Support http://thehumanape.org ***

And what if you cannot afford the equipment, materials, or process for your art to achieve the quality you want? Do you sell your children? Economics is not just a matter of profit and loss for businesses.

[Brian Hirschfeld]

And what if you cannot afford the equipment, materials, or process for your art to achieve the quality you want? Do you sell your children? Economics is not just a matter of profit and loss for businesses.

very true, although a lot of people here do have very expensive equipment and it may seem like thats what everyone has.....there really aren't that many people who have mfdb's to begin with...In the wild, I have only met one other person who had one...it was in Oregon which kind of makes sense....but still. Equipment matters, in that how its built, functions, and how much it costs.

[theguywitha645d]

very true, although a lot of people here do have very expensive equipment and it may seem like thats what everyone has.....there really aren't that many people who have mfdb's to begin with...

And this is a really interesting bias in photo forums. I find the folks with some really expensive equipment seem rather indifferent to the cost, which is a very fortunate place to be. I have always felt blessed with the equipment I have had. I remember when I graduated, suddenly I did not have all the wonderful equipment that my college was blessed with and it took a bit of time and effort to afford good equipment. What I really like in MFD gear conversations with folks trying to get into the area where member X it thinking about a Phase/Mamiya 30MP system and then someone comes on and suggests an Alpa and an IQ180 as if it is really a simple choice and money is no object--like it was like choosing between a micro four thirds GH2 and E-P3.

The only photographers I meet with MFD equipment is at forums like this. I have yet to see anyone outside.

[John R Smith]

In the forty-odd years that I have have been shooting with MF gear (film at first, obviously, now digital) I have very rarely met another photographer using MF. At work I used to use MF for site recording and we also used it for aerial photography. But outside of that, 35mm ruled. And when I started, MF was not particularly expensive. You could pick up a Yashica 124G for about £65, or a Bronica kit for not much more and get great results.

So this scarcity of MF photographers is nothing new. If we go back thirty years, the only time you would ever see a Hasselblad would be at a wedding. That's why this forum is a great place to come and discuss a whole range of MF issues with very experienced users, because there certainly won't be many of them down at your local photo club.

John

[theguywitha645d]

But I have fewer friends with MFD than I did with MF film...

[Audii-Dudii]

The only photographers I meet with MFD equipment is at forums like this. I have yet to see anyone outside.

Personally, I have encountered at least a half-dozen photographers using MFD gear "in the wild" over the past two years and the majority of those were photographing on the streets of NYC using various tech cameras.  While I understand that nobody wants to be interupted while they're working, I found it interesting that with one exception, none of them were very friendly or outgoing, which surprised me somewhat, as I'd have thought they might be at least a little bit curious as to how an otherwise innocuous passer-by recognized that they were using an Alpa (the most common camera I have seen in NYC) or a Cambo or an Arca...

I also have a real-world (i.e., non-internet) friend who has an MFD outfit and we photograph together a few times each year, which has attracted some attention from other photographers when we're photographing at popular landscape locations such as Horseshoe Bend, etc.  Unlike the NYC photographers I have encountered, I am usually happy to answer their questions and on a few occasions, I have even let them pop a CF card into my P30+ and capture a few frames so they can review them at home.

[theguywitha645d]

I have found few people on the streets of NYC very friendly...

[John R Smith]

Rarely have I encountered other photographers. If I do I know I'm in the wrong place.

  Love it. Come to think of it, Keith, you are probably right.

John