Cross-platform MF Camera

[kgavin]

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am in the early stages of considering shooting more portraits in MF and would like to get some information. I used a friend's PhaseOne 645 with a 40MP back and an 80mm lens and I really like the quality of the images.</p>

<p>I'm currently shooting with a Nikon D800, and plan to hold onto that camera for many reasons (namely the video capability). The question I have is what would be the best body (645 body) to buy to get started that will allow me to start with a film back and then perhaps move on to a digital back if I feel this is something I want to continue. I'm definitely open to getting something on the used market.</p>

<p>On my buddy's rig, I also did some shooting with high-speed sync and flash, but he had leaf shutter lenses, which are a bit out of my price range now. I heard that with MF the lens type has just as much bearing on the sync speed as the camera body, and upgrading to LS lenses would render the higher sync speed. With the newer high-speed sync lighting systems from Profoto and Elinchrom, are LS lenses necessary?</p>

<p>Please feel free to point me to other threads if this topic has been addressed previously.</p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

Hasselblad 500 C/M or 503.

[Jochen_S]

<p>I think leaf shuttered lenses are desirable for 2 reasons: a) the light systems you metioned are probably not the cheapest. b) If you 'll ever shoot in continous light from a tripod, you might appreciate the absence of shutter slap.</p>

[ondebanks]

<blockquote>

<p>I used a friend's PhaseOne 645 with a 40MP back and an 80mm lens and I really like the quality of the images.<br>

but he had leaf shutter lenses, which are a bit out of my price range now.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Putting this together, I infer that your friend has a Mamiya/Phase One 645DF or 645DF+ body, or maybe he's lucky enough to have a new 645XF. These models are the only ones to work with the new Schneider leaf shutter lenses. But they dropped film back compatilbility.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>The question I have is what would be the best body (645 body) to buy to get started that will allow me to start with a film back and then perhaps move on to a digital back if I feel this is something I want to continue.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>The obvious answer - drop back a generation or two from your friend's camera to a Mamiya 645AFD III, aka Phase One 645AF [it had dual and somewhat confusing branding, as the first SLR to bear the Phase One logo since the merger with Mamiya]. This was the final model in the line to have dual film/digital back capability. But it cannot operate the Schneider leaf shutter lenses.</p>

<p>The earlier 645 AFD and 645 AFD II are very similar to it; the updates were minor and incremental (and for some people like myself, certain things within the updates actually worsened handling or operational convenience). I use a 645 AFD for both film & digital backs and am very happy with it.</p>

<p>These models work with all the manual focus M645 lenses - some tremendous bargains and unique lenses without autofocus counterparts - as well as the non-leaf-shutter AF Mamiya/Phase One lenses. </p>

<blockquote>

<p>With the newer high-speed sync lighting systems from Profoto and Elinchrom, are LS lenses necessary?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I don't know enough about lighting to answer that.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>[Jochen:] the light systems you metioned are probably not the cheapest.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Indeed, probably not the cheapest, but have you seen the prices of the Schneider leaf-shutter lenses for the 645 line? The price of the body to access those lenses is also higher. High price is an argument which probably cancels out on both sides.</p>

 

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>The problem of using a focal plane shutter with electronic flash is the upper limit on shutter speed is fairly low (e.g., 1/90s for an Hasselblad 205). This may not be fast enough to minimize the effect of ambient light. That said, the maximum speed of a leaf shutter is typically 1/500, which may not be fast enough to use wide apertures in sunlight.</p>

<p>The shutter must be completely open at the time the flash is triggered. Leaf shutters are open at mid point at any speed. Focal plane shutters are open up to a certain speed, then close down to less than full width. Exposure is controlled by a narrow opening traversing the film, so that any one spot receives the correct amount of light. With electronic flash, only the open part will be exposed, leaving the rest of the frame dark.</p>

<p>There are no "cheap" medium format lenses. Lenses with no shutters are probably as good as those with shutters, and may be a stop faster with the shutter absent.</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>The lag or rise time of any electronic flash is so short as to be irrelevant to this discussion. There is a rise and fall time surrounding the peak intensity, often accompanied by a slight shift in color temperature. However the useful duration is faster than any conventional shutter, typically between 1/1000 (some as low as 1/400) for a large studio flash to 1/80,000 for a shoe flash set to low power. The rise time is measured in tenths of a millisecond or less.</p>

[kgavin]

<blockquote>

<p>The earlier 645 AFD and 645 AFD II are very similar to it; the updates were minor and incremental (and for some people like myself, certain things within the updates actually worsened handling or operational convenience). I use a 645 AFD for both film & digital backs and am very happy with it.<br>

These models work with all the manual focus M645 lenses - some tremendous bargains and unique lenses without autofocus counterparts - as well as the non-leaf-shutter AF Mamiya/Phase One lenses.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Ray...thanks a lot for this information. There are some pretty good deals on used Mamiya 645 bodies well within my budget (I was thinking about getting a D810 or another used D800 as a backup along with a 35mm /1.4...still may end up doing this later down the line). I'm going to dig a little further and see. Definitely want to get some tests in with this and an 80mm lens.</p>