I know what I'm going to do, but am interested in what others plans are. In the wake of Phase's announcement of no new H backs. I currently own an H1, H5X, 50, 80 and 120 and Credo60. If you're an H user do you:
Everyone likes new shiny stuff, same here but if what I have is working, or better put not stopping me from doing what I need to do, why worry about it?
Not an H user but have and do use one orphaned system, a Contax 645. Have 4 of them and two phase backs and have only had one camera go down because an assistant stuck a thumb through the shutter curtain. I’ve never worried about those cameras going breaking and Phase/Leaf backs rarely go down, but you probably know that.
I briefly looked at your website and your work is fine especially the colour and composition . . . well done, so why go through a new learning curve and expense with a brand new system, unless you really need it? Even if Phase stopped supporting your backs in C-1 (which I doubt) or stopped repairs on your present system, you can always find other solutions when needed, though I can tell you our millenial assistants believe a big professional camera is a 5d something or Nikon 850. In fact the camera that get’s their attention is the Contax, because they’ve rarely seen one and it looks analog with an electronic interface and analog is big with that age group.
Though I think what you have is on the right track and if you see a large, high profile still shoot for editorial like the cover of Vanity Fare, you usually see the photographer with a H system mated to a phase/leaf back, usually from rental.
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Looking at this thread, mirrorless is mentioned (it is on nearly every thread).
To be clear I’m not over or underwhelmed with evf mirrorless cameras and I own 9 from 4 makers (if you include the REDs) and use all of them 99% for motion footage. For still imagery I use ovf cameras, because that’s what I learned on as ovfs are natural to me. Now with that thought I have a theory that camera makers obviously want to sell more equipment today but are keeping a strong eye on the next generation of image makers.
A month ago we had a family get together with my young nieces and nephew. I had cameras with us for an upcoming shoot so I put a 17-55 2.8 on an old 70d for the kids to play with.
They’re polite and careful kids, so I showed them how to set up and use the camera. I put my eye on the ovf and they tried that usually with little luck. So I set it to view and shoot through the lcd and since they learned photography from smart phones it was natural to them and they ran around shooting like crazy. Actually shot some interesting imagery, though in 20 minutes they didn’t want to shoot only a still photograph, they wanted to shoot a movie, so I set that up for them and have cards and cards full of footage.
So my point is the next generation of image makers are trained on smart phones and lcds, not optical viewfinder cameras and I believe that is where the makers will go. I think mirrorless is getting better but for stills I think it’s still in it’s infancy. Soon, I’m sure all makers will have evfs that shoot really good quality footage, excellent focus and better battery life and frame rates. They will probably grow in size but most cameras get bigger in their later version, especially if they have a motion component to reduce heat and to allow for a much larger lcd, think medium I phone size.
But I’m not the average buyer and use to be an early adopter but have changed because if something works I keep it until the paint wears off. I still buy new, am actually testing newer Motion cameras next to my REDs.
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Sorry for the long post, but this is always to each his own. I was in the LA Leica store and they we’re pushing the SL and the cmos M. I said I dunno, I have an S2 I like and even though it’s kinda goofy I love my M8. The sales rep said Roger Deakins just came in with his M8 and Mr. Deakins being a very, very busy Academy Award winning DP can afford anything he wants. So some cameras just click for you (no pun intended) some don’t.
It’s all personal.
IMO
BC