GEAR TALK - LIFE WITH A PHASE ONE P25

Entry #1: Finally bought the Mamiya 645AFD II and Phase One P25

MAMIYA 645AFD II AND P25 WEEK ONE

Saturday, December 22, 2007

The above picture was selected because it illustrates some of the positives in shoot medium format - narrow depth of field; 80mm for a very relaxed view, but still a wide field of view; amazing detail courtesy of the P25, rich colors; highlights which blow out very gracefully; and a rich a color palette. Okay, maybe a bit of symbolism too for some subtle humor. Could this picture have been taken with the Canon 1Ds Mark II - absolutely.

For the most part medium format is not about being able to do things that cannot be done with a dSLR. At a very basic level they do exactly the same thing - take a picture. There are photographers who selected medium format back to use with view cameras, large format set-up, etc, etc. This was not my reason for selecting medium format. My reasons are simpler and more subjective - I just want to shoot with a narrow depth of field, I do not really care for wide angle lenses and digital packs hold the promise of better file quality.

My biggest reason for switching to medium format was for the larger negative and the relative changes in FOV, DOF and compression associated with a larger negative size. There’s a bit of religion that goes with medium format too. Some believe that medium format has a more three-dimensional look. I’m a believer. I began to notice a difference a couple years ago and went on a personal crusade to replicate that feel on the Canon 1Ds Mark II via fast primes with high levels of micro contrast (ultimately the Contax 100mm F2 Planar and Contax 28mm F2.0 Distagon. The Canon set-up worked well and on occasion it achieved the desired effect, but I still believe medium format will achieve the look more often and with less work. To help illustrate the difference sensor size makes, below is a picture from the Mamiya with a 80mm lens and the Canon with a 85mm lens.

WIth medium format and a full-frame digital sensor (using the term full-frame very loosely) the sensor simply “sees” more to the right, left, top and bottom. If I tried to replicate the 1Ds FOV with the Mamiya, then I would have need to step forward significantly or use a longer lens. In turn the DOF would decrease and the medium format image would have a very narrow DOF rendering. Either camera can do the job, but the medium format sensor is going to have a different FOV, DOF and compression than the Canon 1Ds sensor size. For me this changes the composition, approach and look of my pictures - hopefully for the better. With the medium format back there’s a new learning curve to conquer. It will take time and I think my goals are realistic.