You are not getting the message. When you spend such an amount of money you obviously should know what you are doing. I for one would not like to be limited because the flow is already pushing me into a certain direction.
The Hasselblad file is kind of a blank file that can be pushed into any direction from a neutral starting position. The other files already have some direction on them (with the expection apparently of the Sinar). It is simply another approach which has nothing to do with the quality of the product or the end result.
What do you dislike about starting with a file that has no sharpening, linear curve (flat without contrast), etc..?
Aside that, I am kind of trying to ignore the marketing BS that apparently has to accompany everything nowadays. I have not found any brand that has a perfect solution sofar or a perfect way of handling its (potential) customers. Which is naturally no excuse not to remain critical.
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I really don't think it's the user that's missing the message, I believe it's some of the manufacturers that fail to understand how as small business people we have to weigh each expenditure seriously.
Nothing is worse than spending a lot of money on a new camera, pulling it out on a pressured job and something doesn't work, or the file is challanged or the first image on the screen is not WOW pretty, just hmm, I guess we'll fix it in post pretty.
Honestly I don't understand a lot of this announce then wait sceanrio of medium format. I've heard the word "phocus" (I think that's a pretty funny name for software, especially if you drop the o) for about a year, but I can't imagine being a blad owner, knowing your one full stop of iso behind the competition and also knowing your waiting a year for "phocus" to get there.
At that point you do drop the o.
What's the deal with digital photography? There is always a rumor or a wait and see annoucement hagning out there and if photographers have any fault it's that we actually believe it's going to come out as annouced.
If I had a nickle for every annoucement and promise followed by every firmware, software, hardware update and a dollar for every maker missed deadline, I could hang out with Brad and Angelina and spend my off time adopting kids, or cats or whatever those silly people do.
Right now on this and probably 10,000,000 other forums and blogs there are rumors of larger Leicas, square sensors, new lenses, bigger viewfinders, updated software, new software, newer backwards compatiable software, etc. etc. etc.
I've been down that road where I'm holding a $30,000 product that didn't perform anywhere close to the maker's pdf's and website described, but by the time the maker got around to even semi-addressing the first product, they had annouced 4 new products.
It didn't really piss me off that they didn't give me what I had hoped for, it pissed me off that rather than spend ALL of their resources making it right, they just kept pumping out new stuff to keep the buzz going.
Some of the medium format makers are more guilty than others but they all do it.
So really can you blame Digital Lloyd? BTW: What a name, I think he should step up to at least the nineties and change it to D-Boy-Lloyd or something with a better ring to it).
After all D-Boy did what most people do. He walked into a big camera store and tried the most expensive camera on the shelf and after looking at the lcd went "huh, what's this all about?"
Of course the big camera store won't have the very latest, most expensive camera with the bigger lcd, because in the medium format world walking into a traditional camera store and just picking up the latest is as likely as finding the phone number of the person that get's you into that hidden A list restauant that's buried in West Hollywood between a parking lot a plumbing company and a telecine suite.
If you go onto every medium format maker's website you'd think that buyng thier product would change your life and make you 4 inches taller, but just try to buy their product, today, right now, at the real price, not the I was the stupid guy price.
All these websites have retouched "black' cameras, all have a video showing some guy hoisting his kids in the car while he leaves the camera on the trunk of an Opel, on his way to a "big" shoot, or a celebrty photographer talking about how he could never have got the shot of Jessica Simpson if his trusty RS_12_95S, hadn't been able to record every pore that will be retouched off.
All of them say version whatever is NOW ready for "beta" download, but none of them show what my real world is like which is 10 nervous paying customers staring at screen hoping that photo get's them a raise, or at least doesn't get them fired.
I'm not amazed by D-boy's review, I am amazed that he actually walked into a traditional camera store and found any medium format digial camera that had a charged battery, regardless of make or vintage.
JR