Bill Hilton wrote:
<font color=purple> > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/p25-firstlook.shtml</font" target="_blank">http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/p25-firstlook.shtml</font</a>>
>
> 16 and 22 megapixel backs for Hassy, Mamiya and Contax systems. Great image
> quality, extremely high prices. These are non-tethered, unlike most of the
> earlier models.
Rollei have packaged Phase One back with their 6008 in the past. I would be a
little surprised if they did not do so with this back, though they could switch
to another manufacturer, like JenOptik, or Leaf.
>
>
> If they could cut the price by half they'd be more than competitive with the
> high end dSLR's like the Canon 1Ds but at $17,000 and $30,000 (yikes!) only a
> very busy portrait or fashion or advertising studio will find them attractive.
> In other words, you need to shoot a LOT of film to pay for these babies.
The $500 per month estimated lease price did not seem that bad though, if one was
busy enough. A high volume study should have little problem with the pricing.
>
>
> Bill
Technical Issues (skip this unless you are interested in colour issues).
The article does give an opportunity to test some of the colour capability. I
downloaded the JPEG example images, and there are some interesting observations.
There are not colour problems that I would put down to JPEG problems, though it
is possible that the files were altered prior to posting. This might be a little
technical, but I think it hints at the colour issues of direct digital capture.
Obviously, there can be colour issues with film choices, so film users are not
totally immune to this either. My comments are also being BCC to Michael
Reichmann, though it should be noted he will be in Iceland until late July.
First off is the Gretag Chart. When this is placed into PhotoShop, and the colour
picker is used (eyedropper tool), the grey values at the bottom can be checked
for colour casts. I would not put colour cast problems to an issue of being a
JPEG, though post processing could have caused an error. The fourth and fifth
grey squares show a slight colour cast in RGB. When you compare CMYK values, all
the grey squares, and the "white" square, show colour casts. You can easily do
this comparison by altering the setting of the information palette in PhotoShop,
not by switching the file to CMYK. The importance of judging the CMYK values is
that printed items from a professional studio could often go to a CMYK printed
output. It is interesting that the white and black squares correspond well to
NTSC white and black limits, when the same file is checked in Final Cut Pro.
It is also possible to view as CMYK, without switching to CMYK. Judging colour on
a monitor for printed output is difficult, even when using a calibration device.
A proof print, or press check, would be more accurate, though informal testing
can be judged on a monitor, with some concessions. If anyone wants to try this,
just take a look at the Gretag Chart using the CMYK preview, and the eyedropper
tool. Particularly check the Yellow square, and the Cyan values of the blue
squares.
Another issue comes up in the three images with the lady in the "orange" dress.
While Mr. Reichmann did complain about the auto white balance, there is a
separate issue with the colour of the dress. I suggest anyone who wants to try
this should download the three files, and use Hue/Saturation, the eyedropper
tool, and the information and colour palettes to make adjustments. The first
thing that should be attempted is matching colour on each image, just on the
dress. The top most larger image shows some yellow detail areas on the sleeve;
though when the orange area of that dress is used to match the other two images
to that orange, then the yellow of the sleeves shifts. What this addresses is the
issue of consistent colour. In a studio, you could photograph the model with a
colour chart, and balance all images to that, which means post processing and
colour matching all images used.
This is a working issue, and sometimes the client could complain about accurate
colour. If this was a fashion shoot, perhaps the clothes manufacturer could
supply a fabric colour sample. My contention here is that using film of a known
batch and type would yield more consistent, and less variable colours. It could
also mean less post processing, and less pre-press preparation. Obviously, not
all photographers offer pre-press preparation, but how would another individual
doing pre-press preparation actually know what colour that dress was supposed to
be? I think it also illustrates a problem in RAW capture, and fixing in post,
since you would need to remember what that colour was, or have a fabric colour
sample under the same lighting conditions as the shoot.
I bring up this colour issue because it has come up as an issue amongst some
working photographers. A typical scenario is that the final print does not match
the colour output the client expected. When that issue is put up against a film
image, such as a transparency, then a change in colour from transparency to print
would indicate a problem in post processing (not necessarily the photographer).
If that same issue came up with a direct digital capture, then was it the
photographer who made the mistake, the post processing person, or the camera CCD?
What can happen is that blame can be thrown at the photographer, and sometimes
the person doing post processing or pre-press. Film transparency is a slight form
of insurance to the photographer, though if that same photographer does pre-press
preparation, then he could still be at fault. I think it is important to consider
these issues, since some clients could be very picky about final printed outputs.
What would make this comparison better would be if I had small TIFF examples of
these images, rather than JPEGs. Also, it should be noted that Mr. Reichmann was
testing a pre-production unit, so possibly there are still some colour bugs to be
worked out in the software. The resolution and detail level are definitely very
good, just going by the supplied JPEG samples. Even the smoothness of colour
areas is clean, and I would only put the Gretag aliasing down to JPEG problems,
not a capture issue.
I do look forward to a further review when the production back becomes available.
It is my hope that Mr. Reichmann can supply downloadable TIFF files for colour
comparison (small files okay). Finally, these are issues that should be further
discussed, and I have only briefly made comments, so I hope we have more
discussions on this.
Ciao!
Gordon Moat
A G Studio
<http://www.allgstudio.com>
<http://www.agstudiopro.com> Coming Soon!<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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