What's the future hold for Phase One?
I've no idea how many Pxx's ended up on the back of Hasselblad H cameras, but that door closing must hurt. And what rabbits can they possibly pull from hats to keep the upgrade cycle rolling? The IQ gap between MF digital and 35mm digital seems to be narrowing, but the price gap is as wide as ever. Plus their Capture One software doesn't seem to enjoy quite the gold standard reputation it once did, Hasselblad are beta testing a new raw converter and I believe their latest backs have gone the same heat sink/no fan route that used to be a unique advantage for Phase One.
As the owner of a P45+ I've a vested interest in their continued survival, but it's difficult to see many glad tidings for Phase One at the moment.
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I guess that the MFDB market has never been very stable, but right now appears to be a clear peak in instability.
Regardless of the fact that I am not really shopping for new high end gear right now, I would probably wait at least half a year even if I were. The questions I would like to get answers to are:
1. Will the Hy6 be usable with Phase backs or not?
2. What will the next generation sensors look like? I personnally feel that there will never be a real need for more performance than these backs will deliver, since they will probably be on par with 4x5 at higher ISOs,
3. Will mamiya release a ZD33 back with the Dalsa 33 MP sensor equipping the Leaf 75? Considering the position Dalsa is in with Leaf likely to go Kodak next, and Sinar only shipping small volumes, I'd think they would be willing to work with Mamiya,
4. Will Nikon release a new high end camera to match their newly released super digital wide zooms (14-24 and 24-70). The 1ds3 doesn't impress me image quality wise (mostly for lens related reasons and Canon's strong AA filter philosophy) but Nikon could IMHO significantly close the gap with 30MP class MFDB,
5. Will Pentax proceed with the 31 MP 645D?
All in all, I'll probably have to wait until next year's Kina to get satisfactory answers to these questions... so I'll wait one year.
Regards,
Bernard