Professional Switching from 22MP MFDB to 5DII/equivalent

[EinstStein]

I've read several professional reviews and posts about the 5DII vs. MFDB. The common tone is 22MP MFDB still has a very thin but ignorable edge over 5DII, but the overwhelmed advantage of 5DII simply run over the medium format.

FF 35mm DSLR has far more choices in the lenses and features. The improvement rate is so fast. It's also easier to sell the used one to upgrade. Also, most older MF lenses can't catch 39MP MFDB's resolution. The trouble of focusing errors and never-right shims is frustrating. I start to realize that the trend of close systems of Phase and Hasselblad is not just a pure marketing issue, but there is a real technical reason. A MFDB must be shimmed to exact match the camera. It's not really switchible to another camera, even the same model same brand, or else thr focusing won;t be satisfatory.  

Is this common? or it's just a sales talk. It's both quality and productivity decision? or just productivity.

       

[ErikKaffehr]

Dear Single Stone,

The issues with MFDBs are well know and documented in this excellent article: http://www.josephholmes.com/news-medformatprecision.html . For some reason there is little talk about those issues.

I happen to have some relevant links here, you may check: http://echophoto.dnsalias.net/ekr/index.ph...vs-mfdb-vs-film

There are obviously similar issues on DSLRs, I don't have a lot of links to DSLR issues but if you check out Lloyd Chambers site ( http://www.diglloyd.com ) you'll find a lot of examples.

My guess is that photographers are simple to ignorant to notice these issues, they only show up in exacting work under certain conditions.

There may be other benefits of MFDBs than pure image quality. Once you stop down to f/11 or so most lenses turn quite decent. MFDBs are mostly used with single focals whereas DSLRs are more often used with zooms. MF cameras often have leaf shutters which work better with flash than the FP shutters in DSLR.

A factor that we need ti keep in mind. Photographers are not engineers, they want to be artist. Though, some photographers are engineers and also artists.

Best regards
Erik

I've read several professional reviews and posts about the 5DII vs. MFDB. The common tone is 22MP MFDB still has a very thin but ignorable edge over 5DII, but the overwhelmed advantage of 5DII simply run over the medium format.

FF 35mm DSLR has far more choices in the lenses and features. The improvement rate is so fast. It's also easier to sell the used one to upgrade. Also, most older MF lenses can't catch 39MP MFDB's resolution. The trouble of focusing errors and never-right shims is frustrating. I start to realize that the trend of close systems of Phase and Hasselblad is not just a pure marketing issue, but there is a real technical reason. A MFDB must be shimmed to exact match the camera. It's not really switchible to another camera, even the same model same brand, or else thr focusing won;t be satisfatory.  

Is this common? or it's just a sales talk. It's both quality and productivity decision? or just productivity.

[EinstStein]

Often a 35mm DSLR user blames the lens for the focusing, rarely blames the camera body, while a MF camera user often blames the back.
         

Dear Single Stone,

The issues with MFDBs are well know and documented in this excellent article: http://www.josephholmes.com/news-medformatprecision.html . For some reason there is little talk about those issues.

I happen to have some relevant links here, you may check: http://echophoto.dnsalias.net/ekr/index.ph...vs-mfdb-vs-film

There are obviously similar issues on DSLRs, I don't have a lot of links to DSLR issues but if you check out Lloyd Chambers site ( http://www.diglloyd.com ) you'll find a lot of examples.

My guess is that photographers are simple to ignorant to notice these issues, they only show up in exacting work under certain conditions.

There may be other benefits of MFDBs than pure image quality. Once you stop down to f/11 or so most lenses turn quite decent. MFDBs are mostly used with single focals whereas DSLRs are more often used with zooms. MF cameras often have leaf shutters which work better with flash than the FP shutters in DSLR.

A factor that we need ti keep in mind. Photographers are not engineers, they want to be artist. Though, some photographers are engineers and also artists.

Best regards
Erik

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

It's not just about focusing. The sensor needs to be perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens.

BR
Erik

Often a 35mm DSLR user blames the lens for the focusing, rarely blames the camera body, while a MF camera user often blames the back.