These two mirrorless medium format cameras are also more compact than the current crop of SLR medium format cameras which tend to be bulky enough that their use for certain types of photography can be challenging. And in 2017 we will have two new 50 megapixel, mirrorless, medium format cameras on the market from Hasselblad and Fujifilm at significantly lower price points than the typical entry-level medium format camera. Phase One and Hasselblad introduced 100 megapixel systems in 2016. There are some very exciting developments in the medium format digital market right now. This is a real shame at this particular point in time given that we are going through a renaissance of sorts at the high end of photographic gear. Nonetheless, if you're a gear nerd and obsessed with the top end of camera equipment, the same way that a car enthusiast might be about Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, Porsche's, etc., you have a limited selection of online resources to help satisfy your information needs. And most of the photography news sites have business models that require them to focus their energy on the middle of the professional and hobbyist photography market. Granted, the vast majority of those 1.3 trillion images will be captured on smartphone cameras by folks who don't even consider themselves hobbyist photographers. That plus the fact that you have to go around your elbow to get files into Capture One because Phase One doesn't support competing medium format cameras in their software, are really the only two shortcomings of this camera that I see so far.)ĭespite the fact that 1.3 trillion photos will likely be taken in 2017, it is ironically difficult to find good sources of information about high-end photography on the Internet. You can pull the shadows around a little bit and the highlights almost not at all with the Leica, whereas the IQ3-100 files, or parts of them, can oftentimes be wildly under- or over-exposed and you can still pull something useful out of them. (The one thing that is noticeable with this camera's sensor after having gotten very used to the IQ3-100, is that it has nowhere near the dynamic range of the big Phase One. (I have not yet taken it into the studio.). And the image quality for natural light shots is great. The autofocus system is fast and accurate, even in dim light. That coupled with the f/2.5 aperture makes this camera very nice for natural and low-ish light, handheld shooting. ISO is good through 1600 and acceptable at 3200. I've shot perhaps 50 frames with the camera so far, but the early results are quite pleasing. With that information in hand, I made a bet, based on my recent surprising success with the Leica Monochrom M, and bought the Leica S with their shockingly good APO Summarit 120mm f/2.5 macro lens. But the Pentax is a bit bigger than the Leica, and the Leica glass (modulo a track record of auto-focus motor failures that has the forums lit up at the moment) is better than Pentax glass, and arguably better than the Schneider glass that I use on my Phase One. The Pentax is cheaper than the Leica, and a bit higher resolution (50mp vs 37mp). This left me with the Pentax and the Leica. It's also a weird option because I'd be laying out a ton of money and it would be solely a backup camera given that I already have one, it does not open up any new shooting scenarios.

But that's an expensive option, even if I went with a 50 megapixel back. I could buy another Phase Back and XF body (which I might eventually do) which could be a bit more compact given that I wouldn't necessarily need a second Schneider 120.

Space rules out carrying Hasselblads because I would need back, body, and a 120mm Hasselblad lens which is too much. My backup camera needs to fit into a carry-on sized hard case that includes: a Phase One XF IQ3-100, a Schneider 120mm f/4 macro, a Schneider 55mm f/2.8, laptop, batteries, chargers, tethering cable, remote trigger cable, memory cards, external storage, color calibrator, lens cleaning gear, etc. My choices, given my impatience, were to buy another Phase One, an H5 or H6 series Hasselblad, a Pentax 645Z, or a Leica S. I finally got tired of waiting for one of the new, mirrorless, medium format cameras-either the Hasselblad X1D or the Fujifilm GFX-50c-to come to market in order to get a backup medium format camera into my kit for location shoots.

Kevin raber leaves luminous landscape