PhaseOne

[Justan]

I was in a camera store yesterday having my trusty D80 cleaned. The store had a lot of older cameras including some medium format. I talked with the store owner to see if it was possible to get an older camera, such as a Contax, Mamiya or ‘blad and getting a digital back for it. He told me about the company named PhaseOne.

I looked at the PhaseOne web site and they have a number of offerings.

So…a long story short, is there any downside to buying one of these older cameras, in working condition of course, and getting a new or good shape used digi back in the 20+ mega pixel range? Is it a false economy in any way?

TIA

[Dale Allyn]

You can read through a collection of threads HERE and get a feel for things. (I'd suggest going back to the earlier threads in that forum first.) Of course this forum has lots of info too, but much of it is geared towards commercial work IMO.

You will probably want to first resolve the "why do you want to move to (or add) medium format equipment" question. I did and love it for the task that I wanted to address (larger prints of a look I wanted).

Good luck with your process. Lots to read here and at the linked GetDPI forum. You should probably be careful about just how "old" of a digital back you consider, as DSLRs have made advances that meet or beat some of the older backs in many respects. Still MF is a different and enjoyable process, offering many "advantages" depending on your preferences.

[clawery]

I was in a camera store yesterday having my trusty D80 cleaned. The store had a lot of older cameras including some medium format. I talked with the store owner to see if it was possible to get an older camera, such as a Contax, Mamiya or ‘blad and getting a digital back for it. He told me about the company named PhaseOne.

I looked at the PhaseOne web site and they have a number of offerings.

So…a long story short, is there any downside to buying one of these older cameras, in working condition of course, and getting a new or good shape used digi back in the 20+ mega pixel range? Is it a false economy in any way?

TIA

TIA,

We have several photographers that are dusting off their old systems and putting brand new, or used, Phase One backs on them. I would be glad to help you with any of your questions concerning which camera and DB may best suit your needs.

Chris Lawery (Email Me)
Sales Manager at Capture Integration
Phase One, Canon, Apple, Profoto, Eizo & More
National: 877.217.9870  |  Cell: 404.234.5195
Newsletter: Read Latest or Sign Up

[Derek J]

Hi Justin,
I see in your sig that you're in Greenwater.  I work at Optechs in Seattle and would be happy to show you some solutions next time your up here.  Or better yet I could go down there and give you demo (and then I'll go to Crystal after we're done   )  Email me if you're interested: derek@optechsdigital.com

Regards,
Derek

[Justan]

You can read through a collection of threads HERE and get a feel for things. (I'd suggest going back to the earlier threads in that forum first.) Of course this forum has lots of info too, but much of it is geared towards commercial work IMO.

You will probably want to first resolve the "why do you want to move to (or add) medium format equipment" question. I did and love it for the task that I wanted to address (larger prints of a look I wanted).

Good luck with your process. Lots to read here and at the linked GetDPI forum. You should probably be careful about just how "old" of a digital back you consider, as DSLRs have made advances that meet or beat some of the older backs in many respects. Still MF is a different and enjoyable process, offering many "advantages" depending on your preferences.

Thanks for the references!

As to the "Why do you want..." the compelling issues are two:  First is that as I'm using my shiny new z3100 I'm finding that a number of prints quickly get to the limit when enlarged.

Second is that I do a lot of time lapse shots, in the span of about 30 seconds to a minute. I find that the noise that comes with this process is heavily degrading to the end product. I read that some of the larger MP digi backs have technologies to greatly reduce or eliminate this.

[Justan]

TIA,

We have several photographers that are dusting off their old systems and putting brand new, or used, Phase One backs on them. I would be glad to help you with any of your questions concerning which camera and DB may best suit your needs.

Chris Lawery (Email Me)
Sales Manager at Capture Integration
Phase One, Canon, Apple, Profoto, Eizo & More
National: 877.217.9870  |  Cell: 404.234.5195
Newsletter: Read Latest or Sign Up

Thanks i may get back to you.

Oh, BTW "TIA" is webspeak for "Thanks in advance"

[Justan]

Hi Justin,
I see in your sig that you're in Greenwater.  I work at Optechs in Seattle and would be happy to show you some solutions next time your up here.  Or better yet I could go down there and give you demo (and then I'll go to Crystal after we're done   )  Email me if you're interested: derek@optechsdigital.com

Regards,
Derek

Optechs was one of the places that the store owner at Cameratechs said I should check out. I’ll make a point to stop by in a future trip to town.

[Doug Peterson]

Thanks i may get back to you.

Oh, BTW "TIA" is webspeak for "Thanks in advance"

Or even more compressed [O, BTW "TIA" = l33t 4 "Thanks in advance"].

I wonder if anyone will ever look back over this period and admire our linguistic shortcuts in the same way that many scholars hold up Twain's colloquial expressions as beautiful and eclectic.

[vandevanterSH]

I was in a camera store yesterday having my trusty D80 cleaned. The store had a lot of older cameras including some medium format. I talked with the store owner to see if it was possible to get an older camera, such as a Contax, Mamiya or ‘blad and getting a digital back for it. He told me about the company named PhaseOne.

I looked at the PhaseOne web site and they have a number of offerings.

So…a long story short, is there any downside to buying one of these older cameras, in working condition of course, and getting a new or good shape used digi back in the 20+ mega pixel range? Is it a false economy in any way?

TIA

I dusted off my Hasselblad and six CZ lenses that were sitting in a closet and bought a digital back.  I enjoy using the digital MF system but there is no "economy" to it...it is an expensive upgrade especially if you don't already own the "legacy" MF equipment.  If you have a "burning" desire to try MF photography,  I would get a used camera, shoot film and scan.  IMO, the  better use for the money would be to upgrade your DSLR system.  A good place to start looking at costs for used MF systems is KEH.com.

Steve

[Justan]

I dusted off my Hasselblad and six CZ lenses that were sitting in a closet and bought a digital back.  I enjoy using the digital MF system but there is no "economy" to it...it is an expensive upgrade especially if you don't already own the "legacy" MF equipment.  If you have a "burning" desire to try MF photography,  I would get a used camera, shoot film and scan.  IMO, the  better use for the money would be to upgrade your DSLR system.  A good place to start looking at costs for used MF systems is KEH.com.

Steve

The sense of economy is in the scope of wisely spent dollars rather than less dollars. Obviously to anyone other than Bill Gates there is little considered “inexpensive” about MF cameras and their component parts.

The core question to me revolves around suitability to a task. If one of the newest of the DSLRs will produce comparable or even superior results compared to an older MF camera and a good, say 30 MP back, then buying the MF camera and related amounts to false economy, at least IMO.

A friend recently said that many public satellites have sensors in the 2 GP range and the private ones are higher. Given that is the likely state of the technology, it appears a matter of short time before cameras will have virtually limitless resolution; eventually in a compact body.


That said, do you get superior results with the MF equipment and digi back compared to a DSLR?

[Justan]

Or even more compressed [O, BTW "TIA" = l33t 4 "Thanks in advance"].

I wonder if anyone will ever look back over this period and admire our linguistic shortcuts in the same way that many scholars hold up Twain's colloquial expressions as beautiful and eclectic.

While Twain was a clever fellah who knew how to make a phrase pirouette, modern abbreviations and acronyms are akin to examples of minimalism tortured and truncated to the extreme limits of incomprehension and misunderstanding, as was expressively illustrated up the page.

[Chris Livsey]

You asked about downside. I run a H'blad 500cm and P20 back BTW. Tolerances are tighter for digital as focus is far more critically seen. I was fine I am an amateur the 'blad was owned from new and was serviced. You may be looking at thrashed ex pro bodies and will need to buy wisely. With film every Zeiss lens was perfect. Now some are much better than others such is the analytical quality of digital and pixel peeping. You will need top class glass with the same caveats as above. This is not exclusive to 'blad the same applies to all the MF makers.
Is it worth it ? For whatever intangible reason/s, and regrettably it appears we often cannot prove it by measurement and thus go around in those frustrating forum argument circles from time to time, MF has a different look/feel than a DSLR or digital range-finder. The quality argument is much as it was when Leica owners with the best film and careful processing and a tripod built for a 10x8 could claim to approach MF. Large numbers of pixels in 35mm body with computing power approaching a Mac built in are in that position and as ever the discussion continues. My advice, hire a MF digital outfit for a day, there is no substitute for hands on. A day with a Canon 1DSMk111 showed me conclusively that for my work AF was a complete waste of time. I know without it others could not produce what they want so I don't go around forums saying what rubbish it is. However many opinions you collect, mine included, it's yours that counts. Suck it and see.