Excellent post Frank -- and much more than this thread deserved...
specifically:
So when I hear folks claim they can estimate MFDB performance by comparing their 40D with one lens to their 5D with another, and then extrapolate their findings to a scientific certainty, it makes me want to vomit...
At the end of the day I am in the "this site is getting out of hand" camp...
Cheers,
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I think a lot of this back and forth comes from people that really don't do this for a living where they are required to shoot in different formats, or must explore the different formats to keep moving their work forward.
Yesterday I shot with the P30, p21 and Canon all for the same project all for different reasons.
I will not examine the pixels to death, or try to prove the Canon is superior to he Phase or vice versa. I will just edit and look for the right mage, process and build web galleries.
From my point of view, if you haven't worked under pressure with any equipment, then everything is just leisurely opinions and though they might have some validity, when the S___t hits the fan is when you know if some piece of equipment really is worth the investment.
Bottom line is I think the reason the medium format forums are somewhat dormant is because there is no ground breaking cameras of late. The new announcements are just derivatives of older product and the discussion is just the same discussions we had two years ago.
The HY6 is really a repackaged 6008, the Mamiya 3 a mamiya 2, the Hasselblad 3 just a hasselblad 2, the Canon 1ds3 a little different 1ds2. (lot of threes in that statement).
I personally think digital capture has settled down. Now it's more the standard than the oddity and most of the cameras and backs are good and stable, at least what I use (which is all I really know about), is good and stable.
It would be a different conversation if Canon had come out with a 24mpx, 645 proportion dslr and firewire tethering, or Phase, Leaf, whoever had a back that went to super clean 1000 iso and a great lcd and a great preview file, but they haven't moved in huge leaps, just small steps so the conversations we have reflect this.
Actually the tone I see on this forum is not that bad, but I do notice a lot of questions on how to get into medium format at lower prices. I think Phase and other makers know this, because when you see the p21+ crop $4,000 in price, I guess somebody thinks there is a market for this and I completely agree.
Yesterday out of 1,600 frames I shot about 1,200 of them with the P21+ on a Contax. I think the total buy in cost of that camera and back would be about $13,000 and though this is still twice the price of a top of the line dslr, it's 1/3 of the price of my first medium format back and camera, so maybe there is some improvement in this area.
Once again I personally think digital capture is in kind of a holding pattern and until something really ground breaking comes out like swappable iso sensors, or hand held preview devices, easy wi-fi, or a much steeper cut in pricing, I think most of us with just use what is available and keep working.
Still, don't think for a moment that brand wars, name calling and cat photos do not keep professinals away from this or any other forum, because they do.
Like it or not, we all are judged by the company we keep.
JR
