System for $8000 or under?

[FlyPenFly]

I was wondering if there is a used or refurbished complete system with body, back, and a normal-ish to telephoto lens available for that price or less.

Now disregarding DoF, a system such as that which will exceed the image quality of say a Sony A850 full frame camera with good Zeiss glass.

What sort of system should I look at for this price range?

Thanks

[paul_jones]

IMO, the best camera back at that price range is an hasselblad h1 and a phase one p30.
These older modal chip backs are bullet proof, and have a higher usable iso than any other back I know. It also shoots reasonably fast and they are cheap used. The h system is good and very common, there are more h cameras being rented than any other camera, so easy to hire extra lenses.

Paul

[Doug Peterson]

You can check out the going rate for several models of digital backs at our website:
Demo Digital Back List

I think you need to do more research or speak with a dealer though before buying.

"exceed the image quality of say a Sony A850 full frame camera with good Zeiss glass" may seem like a straight forward statement to you, but in reality you need to answer a lot of questions about what you want to use the camera for, what situations it will be in, what areas of image quality are most important for you etc.

For instance if you're doing night-time photography then there are many digital backs that can't expose beyond 15-20 seconds without significant noise. If for instance you want to shoot landscape you should at least give some research to a tech camera before buying the back since some backs cannot be used, or are less convenient to use, on such a camera. If you are shooting fashion then you need to decide how important flash sync speed is to your lighting/shooting style. etc etc.

Maybe for instance you're looking to shoot sports and wild-life in which case no MF system is going to improve your IQ (it would more likely reduce your IQ since MF does not excel in those applications).

A good dealer spends his entire day helping customers get through such questions (and asking the questions the customer doesn't even know they need to ask) very quickly.

A shameless plug to be sure, but one that is grounded in watching many people start their search with a price rather than by understanding their needs and the variety of options that address (or don't address) those needs.

Doug Peterson (e-mail Me)
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[fotometria gr]

I was wondering if there is a used or refurbished complete system with body, back, and a normal-ish to telephoto lens available for that price or less.

Now disregarding DoF, a system such as that which will exceed the image quality of say a Sony A850 full frame camera with good Zeiss glass.

What sort of system should I look at for this price range?

Thanks

Any of the 22mpx 2005 backs and above will exeed the IQ of any DSLR. IMO how you start with MF will judge the way you advance with it, both cost-wise as well as effective-wise! If you mess with a "closed" system like Hassy is now or Pentax, you will be buying a better (by far) DSLR. There are many people that did this and they regretted it when they felt to expand/upgrate the system (cost wise). If I was you I would repeat what I already did five years ago. I went for new old stock Contax 645 kit (could have been S/H -alternatively I considered Hass V or Mamiya 645AFD- its up to you and you taste) and I also bought three (carefully selected) CZJs (Carl zeiss jena) 50mm ,120mm, 180mm with 3 adapters for contax. Then, a couple of years later a bought a S/H Sinarback Emotion 22. Now I own 3-bodies, 5-film backs, all screens, both viefinders, all lenses (35, 45, 55, 80, 120m, 140, 210 and the 45-90 zoom) but the 350, 4 more (carefully selected) lenses with adapter (CZJ 65, 180 & 300 +Arsat 30 f/e), a Hartblei 2x teleconverter, 2 ext.rings and an Imacon 528c back. All this has cost me roughly 14000 $/Euros (in Europe we buy more expensive)!! With this system I can do anything that a super-duper multi-zillion cost system would do at least 90% of its IQ and sometimes (when it comes to multishot/microstep beat it!) You can also use film for the rare case that you will need more than 22mpx and scan it to 60mpx! Mind you that if you was to choose HassV, you can always get your self a Mamiya or Contax body to add and keep your lenses via an adapter! I hope I've been helpful, Regards,Theodoros. www.fotometria.gr

[Graham Mitchell]

If it helps at all, I'm selling a Sinar eMotion54 LV back. It takes a variety of adapters so you just fit the right one for your camera.
See http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=56241.0

[fotometria gr]

If it helps at all, I'm selling a Sinar eMotion54 LV back. It takes a variety of adapters so you just fit the right one for your camera.
See http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=56241.0

It's one of the best choices, slightly better than a P25! It has shallower "wells" on its pixels and its with no microlenses! Very well built as well, with a near perfect cooling system AND FAST! It also has a 3gb built in hard disk memory and fits the Contax like a ....dream. The disadvantages are the screen (I don't mind that but he may) and (mainly) the Unstable Sinar software that may frustrate the user, it will work at the end but....Come on you Guys in Sinar! If it doesn't interest Flypen, it may interest me Graham, please contact me www.fotometria.gr

[dizzyg44]

Really good advice up there.

Definitely work with a good dealer and try different kits to see which suits your needs best.  There's systems from both Hasselblad and P1/Mamiya that meet your needs.

Last year I made the plunge without being able to try first hand, not the best way to do it but Capture Integration took great care in supporting me and answering all my questions before making the plunge.

Without going into specifics, I was about to pick up a factory refurb P1 645AF w/warranty, new 80mm 2.8, Aptus 22 demo back w/less than 3k actuations,  full accessories and P1 hard case, than added a film back and 150mm 3.5.  At your budget, I would've had a large chunk of change left over.