Phase One Overtakes Hasselblad Resolution
Image Resolution Expectations Rise Considerably for Photokina
Phase One have announced that their P65+ back will give 60 Megapixel resolution to medium and large format camera users. Only preliminary specifications are available and the final details will not be published until Photokina in September. The timing appears intended to take the spotlight away from Hasselblad barely a week after they had announced (Suite101 article by Philip Northeast)a 50 Megapixel back for the H3DII-50. Availability of the Phase One back is scheduled for quarter four of 2008 and Hasselblad are suggesting similar dates so it may be a race to see who can deliver first asdates can often change before launch.
The P65+ back will have a CCD sensor developed in conjunction with Dalsa of 53.9 x 40.4 mm this is about 26% larger than the Hassleblad sensor and 20% bigger than their own 45+. More importantly it is very much closer to the standard 645 frame size of around 56 x 42mm (they vary slightly depending on the camera maker). This means that 645 lenses will have pretty much the same field of view as with film. Lenses will be usable as intended.
The new back will produce images of 8984 x 6732 pixels (6micron pixels) which will produce a 360Mbyte 16bit TIF file. It has a 1.3Gbyte buffer to support the 1 exposure per second frame rate. At this stage the 65+ will support exposure times of 1/4000 to 1 sec and there is no mention of of the Xpose+ technology that the other Phase One back’s use to allow exposure times of up to an hour. It will be worth waiting to see if it has been included when the full details are available at Photokina.
On first impression perhaps the main disappointment will be that the P65+ will continue to use the 2.2 inch LCD as the other Phase One backs when even low-cost compact cameras are routinely using 3 inch displays. Only time will tell whether this will remain the case into production.
Phase One say the back will have scalable pixel and file size. What this means will have to wait until more details are available, but it may involve treat groups of physical pixels as a single image pixel to give more dynamic range but at lower resolution. After all 60megapixel will not be needed for all jobs.
The back has an ISO 50-800 sensitivity range with wide dynamic range claimed. The best medium format backs give about 12 stops range so It will be interesting to see if Phase One can maintain this with the smaller pixel. For comparison the best digital SLRs give around 9-10stops. The extra dynamic range combined with the higher resolution is one of the key benefits of using an expensive medium format back as opposed to a relatively inexpensive DSLR.
Pricing is $40,000 for the back and $42,000 in a package with the Phase One 645 camera - a product of the collaboration with Mamiya. It is essentially the same camera as the latest generation Mamiya 645 AFD III and is compatible with the full range of Mamiya 645 lenses. At such a price many photographers may choose to rent when they need the highest possible quality; many already do with the existing top end backs. Unlike the Hasselblad back the P65+ fits many cameras including esoteric equipment like Alpa; exactly as for the current P+ range .
It looks as though September’s Photokina in Cologne will be an interesting show with these announcements and others as yet to be revealed. The resolution wars are not yet over.
