Is Full-frame too small for you?

[pierces]

100MP cameras aren't new. Phase One has released a couple for their modular cameras and even an industrial model. The Fuji GFX100 takes that resolution and puts it into a medium format mirrorless interchangeable lens body with a built-in vertical grip, 5fps shooting, on-sensor phase-detect focusing, in-body stabilization and is about the size and weight of a Nikon D5. Sure it's $10k, but that's a fraction of the Phase One. 

 

DPReview has a hands-on article and a video from DPReview TV if you want to see the next big thing. Literally...a big thing.

 

The 100MP BSI sensor? Sony, of course.

 

Dave

Edited May 23, 2019 by pierces

[zackiedawg]

For $10K and that size, I'd like to be able to pick and name my own Sherpa to carry it around for me...I wonder if that price pays for the sherpa's food and rent for the first year at least...as part of the warranty and coverage.  😉

 

[peety3]

For what it's worth, I want the 150MP Phase One. It'll be two years before I can buy it, but I'm going to buy it. Those MF pixels seem to capture skin tones so much smoother than DSLR/MILC. That said, my motivation to buy it is strictly business; travel photography will likely still be DSLR/MILC.

[pierces]

43 minutes ago, peety3 said:

For what it's worth, I want the 150MP Phase One. It'll be two years before I can buy it, but I'm going to buy it. Those MF pixels seem to capture skin tones so much smoother than DSLR/MILC. That said, my motivation to buy it is strictly business; travel photography will likely still be DSLR/MILC.

 

The GFX100 is a medium format camera. It uses a 43.8mm x 32.9mm sensor supported in a 5-axis stabilization module. It offers 16-bit RAW and phase-detect AF. It is also $40k less then the IQ4 150, but if you have to have the biggest MP on the block, what's $40k? 🙂

 

Dave

[pierces]

1 hour ago, zackiedawg said:

For $10K and that size, I'd like to be able to pick and name my own Sherpa to carry it around for me...I wonder if that price pays for the sherpa's food and rent for the first year at least...as part of the warranty and coverage.  😉

 

 

If you think about it, it's pretty svelte for a medium format camera. At 3 lbs for the body only it is actually a tiny bit lighter than a D5. It's the A7 of medium frame! The A7 was full-frame in a body smaller than most APS-C cameras.

 

Still...

 

 

yeah. Sherpa.

 

Dave

[AL3XCruise]

I'm curious what type of photography this is being targeted at?  Other than the ability to enlarge to truly enormous sizes, I'm having trouble thinking of non-technical applications that would benefit versus a really good quality 20 or 30mp sensor and the appropriate lens.  But then again I'm no expert!

 

 

[pierces]

9 hours ago, AL3XCruise said:

I'm curious what type of photography this is being targeted at?  Other than the ability to enlarge to truly enormous sizes, I'm having trouble thinking of non-technical applications that would benefit versus a really good quality 20 or 30mp sensor and the appropriate lens. But then again I'm no expert!

 

 

 

Nobody really needs more than 6MP... Said the real experts back in the day. 🙂

 

Medium format is often used for fashion, studio portraiture and product photography. Well-heeled landscape and wedding photographers with strong backs are also fond of the format. The new mirrorless cameras like this and the ones from Pentax and Hasselblad that are relatively light, shoot faster than .5 fps and are under $10k may expand the popularity of the format outside of the studio.

 

As a fellow non-expert, this isn't something I crave but there must be a perceived market out there. Then again, I had to do some serious word eating when I went to full-frame. 200MP under $2k in five years might shift my perception again. 😉

 

Dave

 

[peety3]

If you're shooting for a "double truck" (two-page spread in a magazine), it can matter, especially if you want room to crop. It's my understanding that the Phase One dynamic range blows all of the DSLRs out of the water, good and of course bad. My experience is that the skin tones render amazingly well, and as a headshot photographer I would love to essentially eliminate my endless frustration with how some people photograph red in various ways and the hours I spend fixing that.

[GUT2407]

Just like back in film days 16 mm, 35 mm, 2 1/4 sq, 5x4 10x8 etc, horses for courses.

 

i mainly shot 2 1/4 in the studio and 35 mm out and about.

Edited May 27, 2019 by GUT2407

[Docker123]

5 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

Just like back in film days 16 mm, 35 mm, 2 1/4 sq, 5x4 10x8 etc, horses for courses.

 

i mainly shot 2 1/4 in the studio and 35 mm out and about.

 

I can just see you with your head under the hood and the gun powder flash 📸

 

 

I do know a couple of landscape photographers using medium format, Phase One, Alpa.

[pierces]

• 

[GUT2407]

11 hours ago, Docker123 said:

 

I can just see you with your head under the hood and the gun powder flash 📸

 

 

I do know a couple of landscape photographers using medium format, Phase One, Alpa.

Many think I look way better with the hood over my head.

[pierces]

A bit more info.

 

Dynamic Range should be on par with the other Sony BSI sensors used by Phase One, Hasselblad and Pentax. The A7rIII, D850, X1-D, 654Z and Z7 all register a little over 14.5 stops at DxOMark which is probably about where the GFX100 will sit. This is actually better than the older Phase One backs (13.5-ish) and about even with the 14.5 stops claimed for the new 150MP sensor in the IQ4 (not surprising since it is also a Sony unit). This is actually an interesting window into the possible future of Sony Full-frame since the pixel density of the 100MP sensor and the larger 150MP unit are very close and both are higher than the 42MP Full-frame Sony. Extrapolating that density to a Full-frame sensor puts it at about 60MP. Hmmm….

 

Native print size is also pretty amazing, especially compared to my first 3MP Kodak DC4800 . Aproximately 39"x29" at 300ppi is much larger than the 26.5"x17.7" of the A7rIII. Though both exceed what is needed for a double-page spread in a magazine (18"x11" plus a little bleed), as Peety said, there's a lot more room for cropping with the GFX100.

 

The market for Medium-format is pretty small and even with a reasonable (relative) price of $10k, I don't see these becoming a daily driver for any but commercial professionals. The shiny side of looking at out-of-my-league tech is that it always seems to trickle down to the tech I can afford. Pretty quickly too.

 

It's a great time to be a photographer!

 

Dave

[chipmaster]

For professionals doing art gallery shots these tools make sense, for the common joe or insecure joe where size makes of for insecurity go for it, LOL

 

How many people have 8K > 60" screens, if most of your viewing is on your phone or web downsized all that is ridiculous 

 

With the newest sensors even smartphones with post processing are very good in low light for memory capture.    

Edited June 3, 2019 by chipmaster

[masterdrago]

On 5/27/2019 at 9:28 AM, pierces said:

• 

Back in the 80s, I helped carry a 4x5 Linhof to Lassen with Ecktachrome plates. It was more work carrying the tripod! I carried a Nikkormat FE2 and 24mm f/2.8 shooting Velvia.