The Road to the Phase One IQ4

[amolitor]

I appreciate seeing something other than a cut&paste job based on the press release, thanks. The insight into P1's philosophy was nice to see as well.

That said, I was surprised to see a new platform. Wasn't the XF supposed to be the future-proof "forever platform" less than 3 years ago?

[Mark D Segal]

As far as I understand, there isn't a new platform here. XF is the camera series and IQ is the digital back series. The XF cameras remain the current model line. The IQ4 is a relatively new digital back - a lot more megapixels but still in the same IQ digital back series. Recall, Phase One is a modular system.....

[Jeff]

I am intrigued to know, and hopefully there will be some article / video in due course, on how Capture One Inside works.

Not that I am ever likely going to be able to use it.

[Doug Peterson]

That said, I was surprised to see a new platform. Wasn't the XF supposed to be the future-proof "forever platform" less than 3 years ago?

The word "platform" here is a bit amorphous and potentially confusing.

In short, the XF was developed with lots of spare power, compute ability, and hardware components to allow them to pursue feature additions, compatibility with future backs, viewfinders, and lenses as far out as they could roadmap/imagine**

It was, in fact, the experience of making the XF that made the IQ1/2/3 feel a bit underpowered and under-future-proofed, and warranted the major overhaul of the IQ known as the IQ4.

The XF, of course, is not only compatible with the IQ4, it was, in a very real sense, designed for the IQ4. Some of the capabilities of, and ideas for, the XF can only be pursued now that the IQ4 is out. In turn many of the already-implemented ideas and future-slated ideas for the IQ4 would not have been possible without the XF.

So in summary (and without using the word "platform")...
Before Tuesday: The XF had a lot of headroom for feature updates and future components, but the IQ3 platform was more-or-less maxed out
As of Tuesday: The XF has a lot of headroom for feature updates and future components and the IQ4 platform has lots of headroom for feature updates and future components.

*I personally really hate the term future proof. I hope that was not used in any of the articles I wrote, but if it was it was only out of a lack of imagination and attention. Nothing is future proof. You should always substitute "future proof" in any marketing material with something more like "designed with meaningful consideration to the near and mid term future of the product". The best you can hope for is that a piece of tech lasts (in a competitive and useful way) for a decade or two rather than a year or two. Still, that difference can offer a tremendous value to the user.

**Which is not to say forever. But there are plenty of ideas floating around P1 R+D about what kinds of backs, lenses, viewfinders, and accessories they might want to make in the coming years, and some decent ideas of what the XF would need to have in it in order to facilitate those future components.

[Doug Peterson]

As far as I understand, there isn't a new platform here. XF is the camera series and IQ is the digital back series. The XF cameras remain the current model line. The IQ4 is a relatively new digital back - a lot more megapixels but still in the same IQ digital back series. Recall, Phase One is a modular system.....

Both the words "platform" and "series" are kind of ambiguous terms.

But it's worth noting the IQ4:IQ3 gap is far larger than the IQ3:IQ1 gap. That is, far more new hardware, capabilities, features, and computing power have been added between the IQ3 and IQ4 generation than were added between the IQ1 and IQ3. It's more akin to the difference between the XF and DF+.

Frankly, I really wish they had used a new "name" like IZ or I^2 or ZQ or whatever, and changed the industrial design in some way. It would make it more obvious that the difference between this and the IQ3 is quite large. But what do I know.

[Doug Peterson]

I am intrigued to know, and hopefully there will be some article / video in due course, on how Capture One Inside works.

Not that I am ever likely going to be able to use it.

This is, again, a bit of a marketing term misnomer. Obviously it’s not running C1 itself in any real sense (imagine how small the buttons would be!). It IS using the MATH engine from c1 though, which means the on screen review better matches c1, so sharpness/noise/color are all more accurate during in-back review. In addition the back will be able to use the same adjustment style sets as in Capture One so that the look on the back is the same as the look of the raws downstream*; initially this will only be possible using a small number of factory loaded presets, but the goal is to allow user styles or commercial style packs. The IQ1/2/3 had to run simplified math because those backs didn’t have as much processing power (the IQ4 has roughly ten times more umph when it comes to internal processing capabilities).

There are also some interesting ideas that "Capture One Inside" will allow the R+D team to pursue when it comes to tethered workflows and when it comes to Capture Pilot. But these are on the drawing board and may or may not come to fruition so I shouldn't mention details.

Getting the core of Capture One into the hardware of the back itself was just a natural choice for Phase One. It allows them to leverage the intellectual property and capabilities of that software. It's one of the benefits to being the only camera maker that also makes raw-processing software that is well-funded and widely used.

*of course the raw files remain raw files so any such adjustments, whether applied in-back or in Capture One, can be removed and reset to a "naked" raw file (without any adjustments)

[amolitor]

Thanks, that makes sense.

I admit that I did not dig deeply, but I was surprised NOT to see loud and up-front declarations of compatibility, declarations that this was NOT an XF replacement. The existing customer base is, more or less by definition, into the XF system to the tune of the price of a very nice car, and presumably would like to know this information first

[Doug Peterson]

I was surprised NOT to see loud and up-front declarations of compatibility, declarations that this was NOT an XF replacement.

I can understand that surprise. That could have been more clear.

So for absolute clarity:
- Any XF works with any IQ4
- Upgrade pricing is available to go from IQ1/2/3 to IQ4. If you already have an XF with an IQ1/2/3 you only need to upgrade the back.

[Jeff]

"   wish they had used a new "name" like IZ  "

Surely not a Zee ( Z ) series, some other manufacturer has just done that  !