What baffels me is why the big players never had a similar collaboration with fashion, interior, tabletop product shooters. I mean a real collaboration, not a product endorsement.
There is nothing to add to this that hasn't been said before.
In many instances, (not all) medium format digital produces a better image than 35mm, at least to the photographer. ie. more sharpness and detail.
To the client, that can be debatable, because a lot of clients I work with look at this uber sharpness and micro detail as more digital looking than film like looking.
Yes, I shot a marketing piece for Phase and had some conversations about software with the marketing people. My response to software was just to make lightroom that tethered and had better out of the box color profiles, though phase went more of a complicated direction with their user interface, so I guess they have their reasons???
As far as cameras a Phase engineer did contact me and we had few fairly lengthy discussions about cameras. I did very much enjoy the discussion with the engineer because he was the "boots on the ground" guy though how much he, (or anyone for that matter) can do to improve an existing Mamiya is questionable. (My words not his, because nobody I have ever spoken to at Phase was negative about anything).
Still, I looked at the AFD 1, 2, 3, not as a lump of coal to be turned into a diamond, but more of a piece of glass somebody had made from a rock. You can polish it all you want but it still came from a rock and will never bee a diamond. (one again my word's not Phase's). I also mentioned a right angle grip and more responsiveness, faster shooting speeds, etc.
I actually could have summed up the whole camera discussion with make a H series with no mirror slap (and in black), or make a HY6 with all the bits and lenses ready to buy (and in black) or make a Contax with a brighter viewfinder (and keep it black), but most imortantly in the world of almost medium format make a fast 100 to 110 mm lens and keep all the prices as low as possible.
I actually "should" have summed it up with just make a canon with a removable prism and a larger sensor.
As far as the P65 nobody from phase mentioned this, though I had some idea a Dalsa sensor was coming as I kept hearing rumblings that maybe Dalsa is more film like than Kodak, so I assumed that was the next step.
Oh and I did bring up the phase lcd (insert perplexed smiley face here).
Regardless of what happens to medium format I have an overwhelming belief that traditional still photography is becoming more marginalized by the day.
http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0704...hotography.htmlAnd the camera systems that go forward in the next few years (prior to the recession I would have said a decade), will have to have either fast still capabilities of high definition video good enough for print. (good enough is a very broad term).
Our studios began motion production 6 to 7 years ago and at the time, most clients asked, "what will we do with it?". Today most clients ask to have some kind of motion with each still session and now it's progressed to where neither medium is the goal.
It's gone from shoot a little video during the still production, or shoot a few stills during the video. Now it's moved to we want great stills and great motion.
Recently I tried a little experiment. I was scouting a location for a still and motion shoot we will produce next week. Rather than shoot the obligatory single frame of each area, I decided to set the Nikon D700 (a still camera not a video camera) on jpeg and a fast frame rate and shoot it like a motion camera.
It's rough, hand held and obviously choppy, though the response I got from this location video from the ad agency was over the top.
http://www.russellrutherford.com/web_fast_cut.movand keep in mind these moving images are print grade retouchable quality.
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That's got to tell you something. At least it did to me.
JR
