New Hardware Article

Not that many years ago it looked as if medium format was on its deathbed. Bronica and Contax ceased production and Hasselblad was struggling. Prices of digital backs for medium format were beyond the reach of most photographers and the image quality of digital SLRs was improving rapidly.

The turnaround began in 2004. That year Hasselblad’s survival was assured when it found a significant other in the Danish firm Imacon. The prices of digital backs started coming down as the market for them at their existing price level became saturated and manufacturing costs began decreasing.

Then, two years ago at Photokina, medium format was the talk of the show. Hasselblad Imacon announced that the electronic interface of its new camera, the H3, would no longer support digital backs from other manufacturers. At the same event Sinar, Leaf (Kodak) and Rolleiflex (Franke & Heidecke) announced the development of a new camera, the Hy6, with an open interface—though still several years away from production. As you might expect, pricing for each of these cameras with associated digital backs and lenses are back in the stratosphere.

Through all the medium format turmoil of the past years, two companies, Mamiya and Phase One, have consistently produced camera equipment with an open interface and pricing geared to all levels of the market. Now the two have partnered to introduce a Phase One medium format camera, the Phase One 645.

To say the Phase One 645 is based on the new Mamiya 645AFDIII would be misleading—the Phase One camera simply is the Mamiya 645AFDIII with a Phase One logo on the body, the 80mm standard lens and lens hood. As such, it will accept any digital back from Phase One or any other digital-back supplier that would mount on a Mamiya 645. It will also accept Mamiya 645 film and instant film backs.

The Phase One camera is also compatible with all Mamiya 645 lenses, although the latest line of Mamiya Sekor D lenses will provide full electronic functionality and optimum image quality with digital as well as film backs. Mamiya even offers an adapter to mount Hasselblad V system lenses on the camera for those photographers who require leaf shutters, but at the cost of autofocus and manual exposure setting. Rumor has it that Mamiya will have leaf shutter lenses available in the near future.
The Phase One 645 (and Mamiya 645AFDIII) is based on the very popular and affordable Mamiya 645AFDII body that I have used with digital backs for many years. Changes have been made in a number of areas. Photographers shooting handheld should welcome all of them. On the other hand, those of us accustomed to working with a tripod-mounted camera will find some of them frustrating.

The first thing I noticed with the Phase One camera was the black matte finish, which replaces the previous shiny plastic body of the 645AFDII. It is much more in keeping with the high professional standards to which the camera aspires. The change in finish is also applied to the new Sekor AF 80mm f/2.8D lens, whose polycarbonate plastic cover is now aluminum finished in matte black. The lens sports a new ring next to the camera body that allows you to change from autofocus to manual focus with a quick turn. Other new Mamiya D lenses feature a large focusing collar that can be pulled toward the camera body to instantly switch from auto- to manual focus.

The handgrip has also been totally redesigned. It is larger, more comfortable and now rubberized for a more secure feel. The function buttons on the top of the handgrip have had their functions reassigned and new functions added, so 645AFDII users will need to pay attention when using them initially.

For example, the 645AFDII’s multiple exposure button is used to choose the type of metering—spot, center weighted or averaging—or, by holding it down longer, the focusing area. The Phase One’s focusing area can be set to the center of the field or to the left or right of the center. There is no indication in the viewfinder exactly where the left and right areas are, but they seem to be just outside the etched lines in the viewfinder. Without a clear idea of where the focusing area is, I found the new feature not fully useful.

Changes have been made to other function buttons. The previous autobracketing-control button now controls that function in addition to controlling multiple exposures. The position of the self-timer control, which had been found in the ring surrounding the shutter release button, has been swapped with the mirror-up button previously found on the top of the handgrip. Using the self-timer seems more complex that it should be, but I doubt if many professionals ever use it. I can’t remember the last time I have.

If you use the mirror-up function at all, it has its own issue that I discovered in the studio when doing still lifes. I normally lock the mirror up to minimize vibration from its rising. With the Phase One camera, the process involves several steps: Move the ring around the shutter release to the MUP position, focus, press the release once to release the mirror, wait a second or more and press again for the exposure. However, if you press and hold the release too long the second time, the camera makes the exposure, the mirror descends, then immediately rises again! It takes another (quick) press of the shutter release, which makes another exposure, to bring the mirror down again. In trying to avoid this, I found myself quickly stabbing the release button, which could well introduce vibration into the exposure. Using a screw-in mechanical cable release, the problem still exists, and I presume it still would when using the accessory electronic release, which I didn’t have.

The Phase One camera is a complete pleasure to work with when shooting handheld. I didn’t have an issue operating the function buttons and control dials, then confirming the settings in the top LCD. But, when shooting on a tripod or camera stand with the viewfinder at eye level, I was frustrated by having to choose buttons by feel and being unable to see the LCD screen to adjust or confirm settings. This is even more of an issue when a button has one function if pressed quickly and another if pressed, held and released. With more familiarity with the camera, or a ladder, I’m sure I will be better able to deal with it. I suspect that only those photographers, like myself who are familiar with the AFDII buttons, will have this issue.

I do question the wisdom of one other change from the AFDII. The exposure-compensation dial, which had been an analog dial and found on the metering prism, is now a function button on the top of the handgrip. Exposure-compensation correction may be a thing of the past for digital photographers shooting RAW files given the software controls available to them. The exposure-compensation value is shown in the viewfinder, so it is possible to use it with the camera at eye level on a tripod. But it’s almost a two-handed operation, due to the placement of the button and dial used to change the value.

Okay, maybe I’m nitpicking. I imagine that all of these changes to function buttons, including assigning them dual roles, serve to improve the operation of the camera and the communication between the camera and its digital back. Perhaps future generations of Phase One backs will allow these functions now set on the handgrip to be set on the digital back and confirmed on the back’s LCD screen. This would be an enormous benefit to photographers using a tripod and those with failing close-up vision.
Duplicating the camera’s LCD on the camera back would have another advantage. As with the current crop of professional digital SLRs, the Phase One camera includes a slew of custom functions, 35 to be exact. The small LCD on the handgrip provides only the most cryptic information about each function plus the function number. Phase One includes a handy start-up guide (shaped like a Pantone swatch booklet) that details them, but digital SLRs do it better. Further communication would be welcome between the camera and the Phase One digital back’s LCD.

So much for the external changes from the 645AFDII to the Phase One. The real excitement, and the major improvements for professionals, are inside the new bodywork. A new, powerful and silent coreless motor improves autofocusing, making it faster and quieter. This is especially noticeable with the Sekor D 75–150mm f/4.5 zoom, which focuses quickly and without hunting at all distances when mounted on the Phase One body. But don’t expect it to match the focusing speed of your digital SLR.
The Phase One camera also incorporates Mamiya’s updated intercommunication protocol MSCE (Mamiya Serial Communication for External). This provides increased information transfer between the digital back and the camera body, making data transfer fast and reliable. Most likely true, but not without a new product “bug” in my test system.

When I mounted the 75–150mm on the camera for the first time, the camera refused to see the lens, so I couldn’t autofocus or set the aperture. Thinking it was a problem with the lens, I went out to rent another and by chance ran into Chris Benes, the local Phase One rep. He’d heard of a firmware problem and suggested removing the battery from the Phase One back, remounting the lens, reinserting the battery and turning on the camera. Sure enough this worked—until I turned the camera off.
It turned out the procedure needed one more step. The camera first needed to see the 80mm lens. Then I turned it off, removed the battery, removed the 80mm, mounted the 75–150mm, reinserted the battery, turned the camera on and everything was fine. Most likely this communication bug will be quickly fixed in firmware, either in the camera or in the lens, which contains its own 16-bit CPU. I had no similar problem with the 80mm or 28mm lens.

The camera I tested was a Phase One P31+ Value Added package, plus a 75–150mm and 28mm lens. The Value Added package consists of the Phase One camera with the new 80mm lens and the Phase One back of your choice, plus all accessories you need to begin shooting. These accessories include a 1GB Compact Flash card, a FireWire card reader, a FireWire cable for tethered shooting, two batteries for the digital back, two battery holders for the camera batteries, Capture One 4.1 and Capture One 3.7.8 software, the Quickstart guide and a manual (I am told) on a 1GB flash drive. (I could not access the flash drive on any of my Windows XP computers.) All of this is custom packaged in a roll-around Pelican-style case with enough extra space to comfortably hold the two additional lenses Phase One sent along. An attractive package and sturdy enough for the toughest location assignment.

The bottom line is simple. If you’re using a Mamiya 645, of any vintage, for film or digital, you will love the Phase One camera. The internal upgrades and compatibility with your legacy lenses will soon let you forget that you have to learn new button positions for certain functions.
If you’re moving up to a medium format camera, the Phase One camera is an excellent choice, particularly if you shoot handheld or want the ability to shoot both film and digitally. The ability to mount any Mamiya-compatible digital back is a big plus. Mamiya has always produced excellent lenses, and the new D-series lenses are optically and ergonomically equal to anything on the market, and a far better value.

I can only assume that this Phase One camera will be the first in a new line of bodies that will ensure the future of both Mamiya and Phase One and offer photographers both now and in the future an open platform for digital backs that will benefit us all.

The Phase One 645 camera kit (camera and 80mm lens, without a back) is priced at $4990. MSRP of the Value Added system with a three-year extended warranty/300,000 shutter actuation guarantee, and Hasselblad V lens adapter, is $7990.

Various Value Added systems are available with a Phase One P+ back. The P20+ Value Added system has an MSRP of $12,490 up to the P45+ Value Added system at $35,990. Price with the new P65+ full-frame 645 back is not available yet.

Stan Sholik is a contributing writer for NewsWatch Feature Service. He is also a commercial photographer with over 30 years of large format studio and location experience.