A tale of a P45+

[eronald]

I now have a beautifully working P45+. Better late than never.

Some years ago I bought a P45+/AFDII combo. The back had stripes, and a centerfold, I complained very vocally, Phase swapped it, but I was never comfortable using it in available light, images were muddy, noise striped at ISO 800 and maybe even 400, and nothing was ever sharp. I couldn't get things into focus with that body, and when they were focused they were rarely *sharp*.  In the mean time the D3x came along. When the Mamiya body developed synchronisation problems, I just stopped using MF. By the way, along the way, Phase loaned me a repair unit, a simple P45, and that was razor sharp and had snappy color and auto white balance, even the image on the back looked good. Go figure.

Now, a few months ago, I wanted to make some watch shots. I needed good highlights, and  when I saw a really cheap Mamiya AFDII in a shop. I bought it on a whim, to replace my own body with the synchro issue. Sadly, when I mounted  the back, I realized it had developed a bunch of busted columns. So the back went back to Denmark, and I requested a focus check as well.  Phase honored the VA warranty immediately with no comments. A loaner unit was handed out, which was unremarkable; and then my own back came back, recalibrated with focus calibration and a digital board swap.

The back is now decently sharp. Images look decently white balanced on the back monitor. There is no more striping at ISO 800, the sensor is much more uniform,  The back monitor shows very little striping and very slight centerfolding at ISO 800 whereas before it looked atrocious. Moreover,  the thing seems to be at least half a stop more sensitive than the old back, and very tolerant of Tungsten. Oh, and by the way did I say the noise pattern looks good?

Maybe all of this is due to a firmware upgrade? Maybe this back is a better fit on my replacement body? I just wish I'd got this great quality before ... but I'm now planning to have a lot of fun with this unit.  Kudos to Phase for honoring their VA warranty.

Edmund

[tho_mas]

the thing seems to be at least half a stop more sensitive than the old back, and very tolerant of Tungsten. Oh, and by the way did I say the noise pattern looks good?
Maybe all of this is due to a firmware upgrade?

as to the preview on the LCD... I don't know. Obviously your back's calibration was off so that may also affect the preview on the LCD.
Basically I'd say the better noise handling and "sensitivity" is due to C1 V5.

Kudos to Phase for honoring their VA warranty.

that's what it is for after all ...
I had a few replacements and repairs and all in all Phase was very fair.
I honestly  just don't understand why you've waited so long... it's quite an expensive device so it should work ...

[eronald]

as to the preview on the LCD... I don't know. Obviously your back's calibration was off so that may also affect the preview on the LCD.
Basically I'd say the better noise handling and "sensitivity" is due to C1 V5.

that's what it is for after all ...
I had a few replacements and repairs and all in all Phase was very fair.
I honestly  just don't understand why you've waited so long... it's quite an expensive device so it should work ...

I haven't used C1 V5. This is still V4.8.3

I didn't wait so long. The first one was bad, the second one mediocre, I complained, was told that was the way things are, that backs were not supposed to be used at 400 ISO?  and that I was underexposing and that I should shut up. In the end I did shut up, and use a dSLR, the D3x which in fact provided good images.

For the time being I think I can finally make some decent still lives with this back, as it is sufficiently crisp in color and focus. Before, I made some 44" prints, but I was actually brute-forcing it in Photoshop, and at one point actually used a compact (G10) to make similar big prints.

Edmund

[tho_mas]

I haven't used C1 V5. This is still V4.8.3

that's the same IQ wise.
I thought you are referring to C1 V3.7.9 as you didn't use your P45+ for while...

Before, I made some 44" prints, but I was actually brute-forcing it in Photoshop

ups... I am printing 120cm on the short side with a non plus P45 and the IQ is really good... (all at ISO50 of course.. rarely ISO100)

[eronald]

that's the same IQ wise.
I thought you are referring to C1 V3.7.9 as you didn't use your P45+ for while...

I actually use C1 a lot for dSLR files, it is a superb converter.

However I did have a look at a new P45+ file with Photoshop CS4 ACR, and it looks good. It's really a huge improvement of the back/body combo itself, which has gone from mediocre to decent.

Edmund

[rainer_v]

although it shouldnt be at that price points the mf backs are, i have got the impression that sample variations are very very high.  one never should buy  any without trying the one you get  ( and compare ).