Thank you for the review and the disclaimers. "Revolutionary" from a technological point of view, yes, I do agree, by all means. Unfortunately, the cost will make it feel more like a failed revolution.
You are very welcome, glad you enjoyed the read
About being a failed revolution, I'll have to disagree with you on this one, sorry. I believe that price has very little to do with how revolutionary a technology is; price, on the other hand, has everything to do with how widely accessible a technology (revolutionary or not) can become. Generally speaking, top end, hyper-high tech gear, on any field, is hardly widely accessible to any purse, and hardly cheap compared to lesser technological solutions doing similar things, and the Phase One XT is no exception. Whether it's worth spending the extra money for the extra features that the XT and X Shutter allows, it's up to each of us; but that doesn't make the XT any less revolutionary, in my opinion.
Vieri,
As always, a great review, so thank you! I ended up going the route of the Cambo WRS 1600+XShutter lenses because I wanted some of the additional shift flexibility (even if it wasn't always needed) and the tilt/swing capabilities which would still require the cable on the XT with those panels. Because I still get the lens metadata except for shifts, I'm pretty pleased with the system and I like the XShutter itself as a well-built piece of kit. There are tradeoffs (for me) outside of the shift metadata:
- It's a bit heavier than the XT platform
- There's no cabled way to trigger the shutter without touching the camera because the cable takes up the "BOB port". Obviously I can tether over WiFi to a laptop with the latest fw update on the back but that can get heavy/tedious. I can hardly wait for the iOS app they're working on (allegedly
I'd love to see the ability to enter shift data into the back directly or via this new app. Because the back has "C1 inside", I'm assuming that's not outside of the realm of possibilities.
Cheers,
Ray
Hello Ray,
thank you very much for your message, glad you enjoyed the review. I am very happy with the XT, but if I had to consider an alternative, rather than the Cambo, I think I'd be interested in the Arca-Swiss Rm3di, with X Shutter lenses when possible, to reduce overall kit weight, thanks to the focus and tilt mechanisms built-in the camera body; not to mention that this would make tilt/swing available on every lens (even though, having the tilting fulcrum where the Cambo has it would work better).
As far as the cable release, I use a delayed release for all situation except when I am photographing receding waves, where I need to actuate the shutter precisely and even one or two seconds delay would make me miss the shot. Hopefully, the app will manifest itself sooner than later
As far as the ability to record metadata, I believe it should be possible; I'll pass that on, even though I am sure many already did

Best regards,
Vieri