Budget Medium Format
This should have happened a long time ago: a crisis sets in, and most of all he beats those companies that are not yet firmly on their feet, which is why they are beginning to look for the most radical methods of solving their financial problems. The American company Leaf, once one of the best manufacturers of digital backs, recently became the “victim” of absorption by the growing Scandinavian monster PhaseOne, after which the company began to work much more actively - the roads to the “open system” promoted by the office (where in addition to the assets under its control, so far only Schneider-Kreuznach), as well as its sales channels, are included. True, the path chosen by the new shareholder is unenviable - now Leaf is becoming a manufacturer of economy-class digital backdrop.
Naturally, it is necessary to take the above with reservations - an affordable medium format digital system starts with a price tag of $ 10,000, which includes a digital part, a $ 8,000 Leaf backdrop and a PhaseOne 645 AF camera with an 80 mm lens for $ 2,000. The amount is almost close to the top-end SLR cameras of format 135, which, although faster, cannot provide the same detail - any medium format photographer will say. However, this is not required, because the purpose of the devices is different.
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But the differences in quality are significant: today's Leaf digital backdrop is a 22-megapixel CCD matrix with a size of 48 Ă— 36 mm, not full-frame and the ability to record a difference in brightness within 12 steps (standard 135 devices have not gone beyond 10-11 steps, and the norm is generally 9). Moreover, the ADC for such matrices has long been standard for giving a color depth of 16 bits per channel, rather than 12 or 14. For studio work, such differences are very critical, because we are talking about detailing, i.e. giving the photographer much more freedom in editing. The remaining characteristics therefore remain much more modest: continuous shooting of a frame in 0.9 s and sensitivity of ISO 50-400.
However, this is only a special offer - the remaining matrices and the resolution I have is larger, and the size (the largest is 56 × 36 mm with a resolution of 56 Mp), and, as a result, the price. Backdrops have an excellent screen of 6 × 7 cm, corresponding to the area of ​​a medium format frame. Backdrops are compatible with all medium format machines currently produced, including Hasselblad.
In fact, such a solution is the very promise to PhaseOne of entering the “up to $ 10,000 dollars” bar that the company talked about when launching an “open system” of medium format. This is not the final decision - so the company simply wants to plant more photographers on its product line in order to ensure the sale of new equipment in the future, because rarely anyone is limited to one lens, and the backdrop is rarely the last.
Naturally, it is necessary to take the above with reservations - an affordable medium format digital system starts with a price tag of $ 10,000, which includes a digital part, a $ 8,000 Leaf backdrop and a PhaseOne 645 AF camera with an 80 mm lens for $ 2,000. The amount is almost close to the top-end SLR cameras of format 135, which, although faster, cannot provide the same detail - any medium format photographer will say. However, this is not required, because the purpose of the devices is different.
')
But the differences in quality are significant: today's Leaf digital backdrop is a 22-megapixel CCD matrix with a size of 48 Ă— 36 mm, not full-frame and the ability to record a difference in brightness within 12 steps (standard 135 devices have not gone beyond 10-11 steps, and the norm is generally 9). Moreover, the ADC for such matrices has long been standard for giving a color depth of 16 bits per channel, rather than 12 or 14. For studio work, such differences are very critical, because we are talking about detailing, i.e. giving the photographer much more freedom in editing. The remaining characteristics therefore remain much more modest: continuous shooting of a frame in 0.9 s and sensitivity of ISO 50-400.
However, this is only a special offer - the remaining matrices and the resolution I have is larger, and the size (the largest is 56 × 36 mm with a resolution of 56 Mp), and, as a result, the price. Backdrops have an excellent screen of 6 × 7 cm, corresponding to the area of ​​a medium format frame. Backdrops are compatible with all medium format machines currently produced, including Hasselblad.
In fact, such a solution is the very promise to PhaseOne of entering the “up to $ 10,000 dollars” bar that the company talked about when launching an “open system” of medium format. This is not the final decision - so the company simply wants to plant more photographers on its product line in order to ensure the sale of new equipment in the future, because rarely anyone is limited to one lens, and the backdrop is rarely the last.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/72970/
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