P30 vs. P25

[michaelnotar]

phase one P30 or P25. trying to decide between the two...help would be appreciated.

i shoot about everything, portraits, products, landscapes. i just did an interesting test between the two backs, i upress-ed each to a 30x40 @300 and applied the same sharpening after. both looked preatty close, p30= less fileincrease but softer image origionally captured, p25= sharper origional capture, but more file increase.

one my main questions is how much softer is the P30 than p25? is it really an issue? can the p30 files just be sharpened more to counter act the softness..its cheaper than the p25 which draws me to it, but the p25 is most likely the better of the two.

what are your experiences with either.?

thanks
mn

[Joe Behar]

Interesting results.

I can honestly say that after shooting with and selling many P25's and P30's I have never seen the sharpness difference you mention. As far as which back is "better" it all depends on your needs. The P30 offers more resolution and is priced very attracively but has two possible disatvantages.

1. The sensor is physically smaller so you'll give up some angle of view on your lenses. If you need very wide angle it might not be right for you.

2. Because of the micro lenses the P30 is not suitable for work involving tilts, swings and shifts on view cameras.

If you don't use a view camera or need extreme wide angle the P30, in my opinion would be an excellent choice. Its sharp, fast and offers plenty of resolution. I have not had a single cae of a client not being happy with a P30...or a P25 for that matter

Joe

[michaelnotar]

thanks for the help.

other than that, anything else?

also am interested in your personal reccomendation for either back...

thanks
mn

[michaelnotar]

i should also mention that either back would be my first.

i also would like to know is it worth the extra money for the P25 and have lower res?
is it a better image?

[CliffSamys]

What you pay the extra money for is the physical chip size. This reduces the cropping of the lenses. I think both make great files. Phase will tell you that due to the increase of pixels/inch of the P30, you will get smoother gradations. I have yet to see this demonstrated conclusively, however.
Personally, I like full-frame. I also like wide lenses, so I would go P25. Just my $.02.

[paul_jones]

What you pay the extra money for is the physical chip size. This reduces the cropping of the lenses. I think both make great files. Phase will tell you that due to the increase of pixels/inch of the P30, you will get smoother gradations. I have yet to see this demonstrated conclusively, however.
Personally, I like full-frame. I also like wide lenses, so I would go P25. Just my $.02.
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i just went through the same situation, i couldnt make my mind up over a p30 and p25. even though the p30 is liked by a lot of people, i found the larger sensor was more important. it cost me 2k more to get a p25, but when you are spending that much money you need to be sure of what you are getting.

so far im very happy with it. also been happy with the h1, but its not been very reliable.

one big plus for the p30 that wasnt mentioned, is the higher iso. i really dont use over 200asa on the p25- and evn then its a bit dodgey in the dark areas, but 400 on the p30 is very good.

p30 shoots a littkle faster as well.

the p25 apparently has a better trade in value.

paul

[James Russell]

What you pay the extra money for is the physical chip size. This reduces the cropping of the lenses. I think both make great files. Phase will tell you that due to the increase of pixels/inch of the P30, you will get smoother gradations. I have yet to see this demonstrated conclusively, however.
Personally, I like full-frame. I also like wide lenses, so I would go P25. Just my $.02.
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What your actually paying for is just marketing prowness.  They figure you will pay more for a larger area, because a P-25 at this point has the R+D paid for in comparision to the newer P-30.

What I've seen is the P-30 is smoother, almost like a very light aa filter,it sharpens well, but it's not a global smoothness like the Canons.  It's more subject specific in my tests.


JR

[johnkraus]

Moire is better controlled on the P30 than on the P25. Profiles for skin tone are better out of the gate on the P30. Larger files, larger prints, more room to crop.
P30 needs a touch of sharpening to reveal its detail,which is there. It's still much sharper than a 1Ds II with its anti-aliasing filter. I'd assume the P25 will look sharper at 100%- not sure if it would affect the print, and feeling of texture or detail.
The smaller crop- it's just a little smaller than the P25/P45. Really depends what camera you're viewing through. On the H1 with the big bright finder it's not an issue- the only issue is can you get back enough with the lenses you have for the widest shots you need.
On the Contax it could be an issue for some, as the viewfinder is smaller. However I bet you'd get used to it.

[pss]

there is a great graphic by james in one of the other threads here, shows the difference in size....only noticeable in direct comparison...and even then it is hard to tell....
if you want extreme WA and T/S...the P25 is the way to go...if you shoot people...the better moire, higher resolution, (slightly) better skin profiles (out of the can), faster shooting and more controlable sharpening and higher iso make the P30 ( and soon the P30+) the better choice.....either way you can't go wrong, it is a nice problem to have, the choice between 2 amazing backs....