why can hasselblad sell the still in production cfv-50 for $17k? that to me is a price that is reasonable for mfdb. no way is a digital back worth the same amount of money as my f-250 4x4 diesel truck.
David, it is not worth it to
you. To succeed, Phase One only needs their products to be worth it to
their target market in the quantity they require. That is - somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 - 4,000 or so units annually, (of course more is always welcome). And their target market being those who desire their products and can afford such prices.
That is it in a nutshell. Phase One has identified their market and has been successful in creating products for that market. Sort of business 101. If the target market does not buy in sufficient quantity, they will fail. But that has not happened. Why should they change?
Traditionally, medium format (and larger formats) has always had a premium price. Medium format digital on the other hand, has always had a premium price several times that. This is not new. This is what medium format has been from the very beginning, starting with the 4 megapixel 24mm x 24mm chipped Leaf DCB in 1991 that sold for $32,000, not counting accessories.
With very few exceptions, medium format digital has
always been priced in the $20,000 - $40,000 price range. It is the established price range that these companies target and have proven to be successful at.
I believe we may certainly see some continued dips into the below $20K price points in the future, but the majority of products will continue in this traditional range. It's unfortunate that more photographers cannot afford the high end of medium format digital, though there is a large amount of affordable second hand product available. I don't believe it is Phase One's pursuit to create products that a majority of photographers can afford. Phase One is in the business of providing excellent, top tier photographic solutions sold in a suitable quantity for the market that can afford them. That is their mission (successfully accomplished so far).
It doesn't matter how much anyone thinks a medium format CCD or CMOS sensor should cost and whether that justifies the ultimate price tag. It's irrelevant. And please no more random calculations of how many more they would sell at lower price points and their ensuing profits coming from all the additional accessory sales.
Steve Hendrix
Capture Integration