Photokina 2010: Day 2 – A look at other medium format offerings

With all day yesterday spent at the Leica booth and with Hasselblad's announcements today, I figured I'd try to check out the S2's main competition.

Phase One

First on the tour was Phase One. Their booth was much smaller and more basic for this show than they had in the past. Not too much product, not a lot of visitor space, mostly meeting tables. There was a live photo area with a model sporting biker wear and attitude, as well as a still life setup. The new Schneider 120mm T/S was being shown, but not the newly announced autofocus 120mm Macro or 35mm D. The main attraction seemed to be the V-Grip Air vertical grip for the Phase One 645DF (Mamiya 645DF). Sporting a serial number of C00001, I'm assuming this is the first one of its kind, but not the only one.

The grip feels to be made out of the same plastic and rubber material as the DF body and does match nicely with the camera. It is wide and tall, with a sharp recess for your fingers in the front. They've done a nice job of cutting out resting finger positions on the front as well as the rear for your thumb. I did find it a bit odd and non-ergonomic that the rear thumb dial and AF/AE button were placed so far to the right of your resting thumb position. Given the weight of the camera and torque exerted when holding the camera in vertical, you would lose your balance by moving your thumb out of the rear groove to the outside of the grip in order to access these controls.

The front shutter button placement is good, with a little function button accessible on the underside of the front of the grip which you can activate with your middle finger.

On the rear of the V-Grip are controls for switching the camera power source from the lithium battery inside the grip or the AA batteries inside the riser portion. This marks the first time that 645DF users can use the same battery type to power the camera as they do for the back, without having to carry AA cells. But of course, for those still yearning for nostalgia and extra weight and bulk, the AA option remains. I didn't notice if the camera top status LCD had a battery status, but I do think it would be a smart idea if the V-Grip/DF body could auto switch between battery types. When I picked up the camera with the grip on, the back was powered on, but the camera wouldn't turn on. There were no AA installed, but the selector switch was in the AA position. The camera powered on after the switch was flipped over to Li+, but this seems an unnecessary step to take, especially if there is no indication without physically removing the V-Grip from the camera to check for batteries.

To the right of the power selector switch is the thumb dial for attaching the unit to the base of the camera. Standard issue and no surprises here. To the right of that is a switch allowing for either standard or fast Profoto Air Sync.

On the left-hand side is a flip-out access door, under which the lithium battery goes in. Also there is a dial control for the Air channel from 1 to 8 as well as off. A mini-USB port provides the user, for the first time, the ability to upload firmware to the camera without having to send the body in to service.

The particular unit I had powered the camera, but the shutter release would not activate. I was instructed to use the camera's main release button instead and that this was just trade show quirkiness.

Holding the camera by the grip felt okay, but the camera is quite top-heavy in horizontal which is fine, but when rotated, exerts a fair amount of left-pulling torque on your right wrist. It is a similar feel to holding a Hasselblad H body with a heavy lens mounted. Fine for a short duration, but could start to be a strain if shooting for extended periods of time. For the price ($1290), the grip feels a bit plastic, but it does offer 645DF owners a good way to rid themselves of AA batteries, offers the unique Profoto Air triggering, and the ability to perform body firmware updates themselves. If previous Phase One marketing strategy holds true, I'm sure it will end up being bundled with a standard camera, back and 80mm lens for much less than if purchased separately.

I didn't shoot with the 120mm T/S lens or see the quality it produced, but I did hold it in my hands to get an idea of the size and weight. As mentioned previously, the lens is extremely large but very, very light. For those needing such a lens for field work, the weight will not be a problem, but some might find the bulk to be a factor. I'll be interested to see what kind of results this lens is capable of.

Hasselblad

Leaving Phase, I ventured onward and headed over to the Hasselblad booth. These guys always have a great stand at Photokina and this year is no exception. It also was a bit smaller than the one in 2008, but the size was compensated by the presence of a sweet Ferrari convertible and regularly scheduled runway models mugging for cameras. Compared to Phase, there were a lot more people packed into the booth looking at a lot more product. Hasselblad had no shortage of display product or helpful people to answer any questions.

I handled the H4D-40, 50 and 60, which are all basically the same, except for the sensor inside. I've used most of the HC lenses before and I am very familiar with the H3 body, so no surprises here. The main difference between the H3 and the H4 is True Focus, which is Hasselblad's clever way to compensate for focus shift during focus-and-recompose using accelerometers to record camera rotation during reframing and compensating focus on the fly before taking the picture. I think that Hasselblad should be applauded for bringing some ingenuity to the medium format party.

I was very curious on the H4D60 to see how the "double-res" LCD looked, both relative to the "single-res" screen on every other H back or the same-sized S2 LCD. The new LCD offers some improvement in terms of resolution, but I still feel that the color saturation and contrast of the screen is lacking. It still looks a bit hazy, not as much as the Leaf Aptus II LCD, but not nearly as clear and nice as the Leica S2's screen. I read and hear a lot of complaints about medium format LCD quality, yet strangely, the manufacturers are still unresponsive to this request. Phase One seems to be the worst of the bunch, still offering an LCD that looks like it came from a Nikon D70 c. 2004.

I was also interested to see playback speed and zoom on the rear LCD of the H4D versus the S2. Preview images display in 1-2 seconds, so this is pretty quick. Hassy has certainly made some significant speed improvements on this latest generation of backs, but there is still about a 5-6 second delay when zooming in to 100% to check focus. The S2 by comparison zooms in to the image in real time, without delay.

Hasselblad announced some new products for Photokina today. The first is a "new" camera, the H4D31. This is a new entry-level kit that combines the exact same back as the H3DII-31 with the latest H4 camera with True Focus. They are looking to sell this kit for 10,000 EUR, which should translate to about $13,000 USD, but US pricing hasn't been set yet.

The HC 50mm f/3.5 and the HC 120mm f/4 Macro have been redesigned. Both lenses look identical to the previous (current) models, except for the "II" designation in the name. All of the changes are internal. The 50mm brings an increase in resolution and corner performance, while the 120mm Macro improves color performance, eliminating axial chromatic aberration. As digital sensor increase in resolution and physical size, more and more demand is being placed on the lenses. It is nice to see Hasselblad focus on optical improvement rather than a software correction approach.

They also announced a 200MP virtual resolution camera, the H4D50MS. The MS stands for multi-shot, meaning that while remaining perfectly still, the sensor shifts in microscopic increments to introduce more information. The process of shooting six exposures takes about two minutes. Applications for this would be things like artwork reproduction where the subject, camera, and illumination source all remain consistent. Not so well suited for any subject which moves or where lighting can't be controlled precisely.

And, for lovers of the V system, Hassy has a got a new back, the CFV50 featuring the same Kodak sensor found in the H4D50. This should be nice as the sensor is physically larger than the CFVII-39, giving some more utility to wide-angle lenses like the 40mm CFE-IF.

Last, but not least, Hassy is introducing a special edition Ferrari camera. Painted in Ferrari Red and limited to 499 pieces, price is "available upon request." I didn't request it. See, Leica isn't the only company offering special edition cameras.

I also had never tried the 35-90 lens and I have been hearing good things about it. It's really, really huge. Not as bulky as the 50-110, but big. I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be carrying this around all day.

Leaf

From Hall 2.1 where Leica, Hasselblad and Phase One are located, I ventured to Hall 9 where I will be going tomorrow to look at lighting, supports, and other photo accessories. Amidst the sea of photo accessories and off-brand monlolights was the Leaf booth. I honestly couldn't believe this booth wasn't packed. The Leaf Aptus-II 12 has set a new level of resolution with 80 MP in a full-sized 645 chip, but the booth was quiet.

I spoke to product manager Yair Shahar, who couldn't have been nicer. He recognized me from my photo online and the two of us have crossed paths on online photography forums many times. It was nice to finally put a face to a name.

He told me about the new Dalsa sensor in the Aptus-II 12. The sensor has a 5.2 µm pixel pitch and features next-generation imaging performance. They worked closely with Dalsa to develop this sensor and I get a sense that Leaf, and by association, Phase One, will have some period of time of exclusivity on the technology. Already, Hasselblad lagged for almost two years behind Phase One's P65+ with their H4D60, which has just recently come to market (even though it was announced at the last show). I expect to see a similar situation here. I asked about smaller sensors being offered with the 5.2 µm pixels. Yair seemed to feel that the goal has always been getting to full frame and that they should stay there.

We looked at some images on a computer screen from the new 80MP back. They do look like multi-shot images I have seen and that is Leaf's claim. The sample was a picture of a bunch of fabrics and there was no moiré. Every time I moved the image to scroll around, it Leaf Capture software would have to re-render that new section and the system was clearly dragging. Yair said that the support for the back is still in beta and he feels this is just an early software glitch. I was wondering if these kind of files were just too unwieldy for the iMac to handle.

I do wish that Leaf would put more effort into updating the camera interface, speed of operation, battery life and the quality of the LCD. They were one of the first companies making medium format digital backs and have made some significant technological advances. Faster processing, better LCD and more robust battery life would all be welcome by Leaf shooters. In the case of the new back, the LCD, interface and battery life remain the same as the rest of the lineup. This is not anything new for medium format backs and is not exclusive to Leaf. You could change the sticker on any Phase P back and impress your friends and clients – they'd never know your five-year old P25 isn't really a P65+.

Leica – Something new

I stopped in at the Leica booth as I had some follow-up meetings. I saw a small still life diorama in a box with an S2 pointed at it, which was tethered to an adjacent PC, looking very much like a science fair display. The young lady who was running the demo is a student at Cologne University of Applied Science. Leica works closely with this school to develop both algorithms and talent. Many of the top engineers and product managers came from the school.

So, what was the science project about? High Dynamic Range, more commonly referred to as HDR. This got my interest, so I requested the full demo.

Working with a modified version of Leica Image Shuttle, a new HDR tab has been added. With a single click, the camera will first shoot one or two shots to analyze the scene and determine how many shots and with what exposure parameters are required to deliver the entire luminance range of the scene, then actually fire off the sequence automatically. Once the button was clicked, the camera went into autopilot and shot six frames with three stop spacing. Sure, anyone can do exposure bracketing then blend the resulting captures in Photoshop or Photomatix, but here is the best part of all: the resulting file is a 24-bit per pixel DNG file. Yes, 24-bit raw file with the same handling of any DNG from the S2. After the sequence was completed, a progress bar showing "merging" completed. We opened the file in Photoshop's ACR window and the image didn't look artificial as so often happens with tone mapping. We were able to white balance, adjust exposure sliders, etc. The scene had a clear light bulb in it with an exposed filament. The resulting photo had detail on the filament as well as detail in the dark patches of the color card. No user intervention was required. This tech rocks!

I spoke to the two people in the R&D department about my excitement with this technology. They said that it might be possible to add this technology into the firmware, so that all sequencing and processing is handled in camera. They wanted to know if I thought this would be a worthwhile addition. Let's just say that I voted emphatically YES.

More to come tomorrow…..

The Leica S2 meets Hasselblad V lenses

More to come....

Photokina 2008 - Day 3 - Zeiss, Mamiya, Hasselblad, Nikon and Canon

I wish I could say that I slept more last night. What I can say is that I got a nice early start and a couple cups of Earl Grey to get me going.

My first stop today was at Zeiss. As you may know, we became Zeiss dealers this past year. We had been approached by them after the last Photokina, but frankly there was no depth of product, so we took a rain check. When they had a full line of really nice ZF lenses for Nikon and simultaneously Nikon kept introducing great digital bodies, starting with the D3 and D300… well, we jumped at the opportunity the second time around. I’m glad we chose to carry the product.


I met with Richard, the National Sales Manager for the US. Super nice guy. He showed me the new ZE lenses, the 50 f/1.4 and the 85 f1.4. I got to try them out on a 5D and I’m really liking them so far. Being electronically coupled with the EF mount is very convenient. Essentially, they act like Canon lenses, but with manual focus. Aperture is set with the rear dial, all shooting modes work without restriction. DOF preview works perfectly. When you manually focus on the 5D, the camera will beep at you and light up the focus point that is in focus. Nice. The styling is quite attractive on the ZE lenses. More tapered and rounded than the ZFs. Also learned they are slightly different optical formulas. The low pass filters used in Canons are quite different than those in Nkons, so the lens design had to be modified to properly focus on the Canon sensor. These two lenses will be available starting in November, then Zeiss will continue to roll out the rest of the lens line by early Spring 2009, matching the full offerings of the ZFs. I can only say that this is great news for Canon shooters and I can see a lot of 5DmkII shooters with these lenses.



On the ZF side, I tried out the new 21 Distagon. Relatively compact and lightweight versus the pictures online, the 21 can easily fit into any photographer’s bag. It has the same front filter diameter as the 18 ZF, 82mm. This is, of course, one of main reasons for choosing the 18 and/or 21 over the Nikon 14-24 – You can use filters on the front. The other one being portability of the prime lenses versus the massive zoom. This is also a slightly modified version of the famous Contax mount 21 Distagon, as the old one used lead and arsenic in the glass. The new ZF uses eco-glass and had to be tweaked slightly.



I also handled the new 85 f/4 ZM lens. Smallish and very light. Reminded me of a lightweight 90 Elmarit, sharing the same basic dimensions. About $800 and compact make it a nice option for traveling, taking mostly outdoor shots.



Other interesting things in the booth. There was a display of how the 100 Makro ZF is manufactured, from raw glass to finished product. Starting with the block of raw optical glass, blanks are cut out then ground and polished. They are then coated, cleaned, and the edges are blacked out using enamel paint, applied by hand. This cuts down on internal reflections. Then all the glass elements and mechanical components are assembled into a finished, working lens. Interesting little tour.








Across from this display were some noteable Zeiss products including the 50 f/0.7 that Stanley Kubrick used to film his candle-lit scenes in Barry Lyndon, a 500EL Hasselblad with 60mm Biogon from the Apollo Lunar missions, and an integrated lens/camera systems used to produce the Google Earth project. And while there wasn’t a 1700mm lens hanging from the rafters like last time, there was a semiconductor imaging lens that cost 3 million Euros in a glass case.





Another product, currently not available in the US is the Zeiss CineMizer. These glasses have ear phones and dual LCD screens for a take anywhere, virtual viewing experience. They work with any video-enabled iPod currently, with plans to have connections for computers in the near future.


Over at the Mamiya booth a little later, I checked out the new(ish) ZDb back which is being touted as a double buffer memory ZD. The back looks pretty much identical to its predecessor, but the ZDb is now more integrated with the AFDIII, allowing you to set custom camera functions from the rear LCD menu system. It is, of course faster to operate with files previewing and zooming quicker. And, you can shoot 20 shots before the back starts to get mad at you.




The vertical grip for the AFDIII was only a mock-up and was locked in a case so I didn’t get to feel it in my hand. They did have a few original ZD cameras at the booth. I handled one just to see how it compared to the new Leica S2. Bigger, thicker, and bulkier. But, the ergos of the ZD camera are not bad. If Mamiya updated that camera with a 3” LCD, speedier processing, and faster AF they might just be the first competitor to market in response to the S2. The tilt-shift bellows was also hidden under glass, as was the new 80mm LS leaf shutter lens and the redesigned 45mm f/2.8D. But, the view camera adapter was real. One visitor to the booth mentioned that there was no way to mount the ZD back in a vertical position. Oops. Maybe this was an oversight and will be fixed before shipping. We will see. Other that that it felt well-made, with smooth sliding action and high-quality anodized aluminum finish.







Leaving the Mamiya booth I walked by Novoflex something strange, a four legged tripod, which is aptly named the quadpod. Did they make a better mousetrap, so to speak, or what? Well, let’s just say I won’t be trading in my Gitzo anytime soon. If anyone has ever been to a restaurant where the table wobbles, you may know where I’m headed. Three legs always make positive contact with no wobble as all three points touch equally. Four points require much more fine-tuning until there is no wobble. Their theory is that more legs means more stability, but despite their large size and weight, a small Gtizo 1 series would be more stable. The legs had a lot of flex and the fourth leg had issues. Also, by adding another leg, you increase the size and weight by 30%, making this something you really don’t want to carry. I’m all for technical innovation, but I’m sticking with three legs.



Next on the tour was Hasselblad. They had a really cool shooting setup with a huge light bank overhead with fake trees and snow and Victor magazine-looking models where people could test out the H3D (or use their iPhone cameras). Hassy’s tilt shift adapter, the HTS 1.5, was working. By pressing a button on the H3D handgrip, the LCD will show you how much tilt, shift, and angle you have in real time. The same info is passed in the RAW file to Phocus as well. I must say that this is very cool.





I took a look at the new HCD 35-90mm f/4-5.6 zoom lens. Reading about the tech in this lens is interesting. It is only for use with “full frame 48mm” and the designers knowingly created the lens with increased distortion and vignetting. The new Hassy philosophy seems to be that we’ll just fix it in post, a la digital lens correction. Seems a bit fishy, especially at this price ($6,999 USD). Speaking of fishy… in the pro demo studio area a photographer and food stylist were photographing smelly raw fish. With large LCD suspended from the ceiling for the audience to watch the action top-down it felt more like a cooking show that a photo demonstration. The concept was interesting, but the smell was a bit much.


I headed upstairs to Nikon. There really wasn’t much new for me to see, but I did want to take a look at the D90 and the advanced compact camera, the P6000. The compacts were not a problem. I walked up to the counter, picked it up and played. The D90 is another story. But first the the P6000. It shares very similar menus and settings as the D300/700/3, which is pretty smart actually. Nikon realizes that the market for that camera is as an advanced P&S for existing Nikon DSLR shooters. Having menu and button consistency is good. Full set of manual controls and solid metal body. RAW support and built-in GPS round out the 13.5MP flagship Coolpix.



Everyone wanted time with the D90 and there were only three in the booth. So, I tried to get in a faster moving line. It was slower. I saw an opening and went for the more remote third camera location, only to have the D90 taken away by one of the Nikon folks to fix the security tether that had snapped. Back to the line. I did eventually get hands-on. It feels like a big step up from the D80, almost a D300, but a little more compact. The viewfinder and LCD are quite similar. Video mode was decent at 720p but limited to 5 minute clips. The AF doesn’t work during movie mode so you have to manually focus while shooting. Cool feature, though, and I’m sure it will only improve. And. I doubt that the Canon 5DmkII will be the last to emulate the D90.


Where to next? Canon, to check out the 5DmkII. If I thought the crowd was big at the Nikon booth to see the D90, I hadn’t tried to see Canon’s highly anticipated 5D successor. No worries. I waited my turn and got to handle the camera of myth and legend. It felt like a 5D. No great surprise there. The LCD looks like any of the recent Nikons. Again not a shocker. I did get to see a sample of Canon’s movie mode implementation, though. They raised the bar with full 1080p HD recording and it looks good. Maybe a little too many compression artifacts for my taste, but very detailed and sharp. Look, dedicated, high-end HD cams will do a better job because that is what they were designed to do. I’m sure the 5DmkII will take excellent pictures because that is what it was designed to do. Time will tell to see how this market convergence works itself out.





Stay tuned. Tomorrow I look at all the new studio lighting gear.