Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Medium Format / Film / Digital Backs – and Large Sensor Photography => Topic started by: Mike Sellers on November 28, 2010, 12:39:57 pm
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If I wanted to produce the highest quality and largest prints which one of these outfits would be best? Kodak-16mp at 1.5 inches square or the Sony at 35mm dimension and almost 25mp?
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Go with the Sony. Under the "right" situations, the Kodak is capable of yielding superior results. But, that is a small percent of the time. The a850 is great in the studio and in the field. Couple it with the CZ zooms and you'll be astonished by the output.
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I used one of those Kodak backs for a while. Certainly ahead of its time and great back in the day, but I concur ... go with the Sony.
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Sounds like I better forget the Kodak then. Thanks for the replies
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Mike, I had the Kodak back on an H1, and I now have an A900. My other current camera is an H3D-39. I've only had the Sony a short time, but I may have some material from both cameras that is roughly comparable. If so, I can send examples, should I take the time to look (I'm quite busy at the moment)? Peter Linden
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With the prices for the Kodak back below $2,000 I was just thinking about moving up to medium format. I already have a Sony a850 and Angenieux 35-70 zoom converted by Pete Ganzel. If I move up to medium format I should think about the Phase 39mp or Pentax 40mp and forget the low end medium format backs. I only do landscape photography. Maybe Sony or one of the other manufacturers will bring out a 35mp camera?
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I would recommend that you do a test between the Sony a900 and a 39mp back. Unless you're going to be making prints bigger than 12" X 18" (from an uncropped file) I wouldn't spend the money. The Sony coupled with the best Zeiss glass is better than a lot of the images I've seen taken with 39mp cameras and mediocre lenses.
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The Kodak DCS back made sense for me, because I was already heavily into a Mamiya 645 system with great lenses, and I also like the square format (I had 6x6 cameras as well some years ago).
But if you are starting a system from scratch and have no medium format ties already, then I think the Sony or a Canon 5DII would make more sense.
Ray
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I would recommend that you do a test between the Sony a900 and a 39mp back. Unless you're going to be making prints bigger than 12" X 18" (from an uncropped file) I wouldn't spend the money. The Sony coupled with the best Zeiss glass is better than a lot of the images I've seen taken with 39mp cameras and mediocre lenses.
Virtually any MFDB, even a 16 MP should smoke the A900 regardless of zeiss lenses as far as pure image quality- I would think it depends on subject matter and technique though....If it is a fast moving subject, handheld A900 all the way - Tripod with time to work the DCS...A900 is a better choice if you are looking for a less expensive, "one camera does it all" rig IMO
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Virtually any MFDB, even a 16 MP should smoke the A900 regardless of zeiss lenses as far as pure image quality- I would think it depends on subject matter and technique though....If it is a fast moving subject, handheld A900 all the way - Tripod with time to work the DCS...A900 is a better choice if you are looking for a less expensive, "one camera does it all" rig IMO
The a850/900 handles fabrics very well -- no moire. I used to own an Imacon 96c. The 96c uses a 37mm X 37mm format chip. The files are clean (except for moire issues with clothing), but in all honesty, I think the Sony files are quite comparable and the advantages of an ultra hi-resolution back panel lcd, lack of mirror-slap vibration and better high ISO performance put the Sony ahead.