Hi,
Regarding if Phase One is capable of designing a camera or not it is something that we will see, when (or if) the new camera will be released.
Personally, I would imagine that Phase One is designing a mirrorless camera. Our friend BC indicates that is there the future is. But Phase One would not release such a camera until we have a new generation of EVFs available and full size CMOS sensors are around. That is of course just speculation.
I very much doubt that Phase One would make it earnings from intellectual property. They actually base their technology on sensors developed by Kodak, DALSA and Sony. Now all the modern backs with the exception of the IQ-250 use technology from DALSA (which once used to be Philips), the main reason that Phase switched from Kodak to DALSA may have been that DALSA allowed Phase One to codevelop sensors, resulting in Sensor+ and also the new IQ-260 sensor with it's long exposure capability.
I would say that A-series makes some sense, if nothing else it got Doug into marketing Alpa, AFAIK DT used to be an Arca dealer. Basically, matching and adjusting camera and back makes some sense. Pentax mentions it as one of the reasons for having an integrated camera and Hasselblad mainly sells it's cameras as body/back combination.
That said, I would guess that tolerances may be overrated. The CoC introduced by say 42 micron misalignment would be 7.5 microns at f/5.6 enough to reduce sharpness a bit on a 5.2 micron sensor with the best lenses, but just stopping down to f/8 would reduce that CoC to 5.2 microns.
The 42 microns are assuming 30 micron tolerances on camera (Hasselblad V-series specifications) and 12 microns on sensor (Phase One specfications AFAIK), in all probability the tolerances would not add up.
Thermal expansion coefficients for both magnesium and aluminium are in the range of 22-25 microns/celsius meter. So if we assume a body 5 cm long it will change length about 1 micron per degree. So operating between say 0 and 40 degrees would cause a shift of around 44-50 microns. (Well adjusting at 20C it would give +/- 23 microns, predictably).
Best regards
Erik
I'm gonna disagree and say that I believe they are capable. 
The pricing of the Alpa components in the A Series Package is no different than the pricing that these components normally cost, so I have to disagree also with your statement they are "overpriced".
Phase One has a significant amount of technological prowess, and I am sure some of it gets licensed to various vertical markets. Whether this forms the majority of their revenues I am skeptical of, but in any case, I doubt highly that their digital backs do not produce a profit, and aren't designed as an important, perhaps even the most important element in the profitability of the company.
It's true, the new body has been anticipated for at least several years now, but I do believe the time is coming. If it is a substantial improvement, it will be worth the wait for many.
Steve Hendrix
Capture Integration
