Earlier this week there was this great air of excitement among the team at The KMR Group. Everyone was excited because we got the call that our new PhaseOne 645DF Camera and PhaseOne P40+ Digital Back were ready for pickup at our PhaseOne Dealer, Digital Transitions.

Three years ago, when I first made the decision to go the medium format route (over DSLRs) for my major client work, I did a ton of research. I tested every camera and back available on the market for a period of about 6 months – the rental shops loved me because every week I had a different body and back out.

I would put these systems through the ringer – in studio tests, on location tests, technical testing, looking at images at 600% in Photoshop. We photographed rulers and color charts, white models and black models, still lifes (though I’m far from a still life photographer) and motion concepts. I wanted to make sure that the camera system that we purchased was going to be the right camera system for the type of work that I do – the quality of the pixels and color rendition was of upmost importance.

Prior to making the medium format digital leap, I was using Canon systems, so another important factor in my selection of a system was that I needed a camera system that would feel like a DSLR when I was holding it.

Support from the manufacturer or dealer was also a major concern. We needed a “partner” that would stand behind its products and do everything required to keep me running even when the system was malfunctioning.

Finally, it had to be affordable. Of course, compared to DSLR’s affordable is relative. So the real question was do I need the most resolution, or the most speed, or do I need the appropriate amount of resolution and speed for my work.

In 2007, we ended up purchasing a Mamiya 645 AFD II and a PhaseOne P30+ Digital Back. The system worked perfectly for my work. It wasn’t the back with the most resolution and it wasn’t the back that shot the fastest, but it was perfect for my studios needs. Over the last three years, we’ve made about 300,000 captures with the system. We did have a couple problems, but Mamiya and Digital Transitions were always there with quick and appropriate support when we needed it. (The shutter died on the body, but Mamiya sent a technical support person from their Westchester NY campus to pick up the camera at my studio and give me a temporary replacement; the back started overheating at one point last year, but Digital Transitions provided me with a loaner while the back was being repaired.) Needless to say, the 645AFDII and the P30+ worked their hardest and all the right support mechanisms were in place to keep me working seamlessly throughout the last three years.

The PhaseOne Warranty is three years (with the Value Added Warranty) and, well, May 31st, 2010 was the last day of my original warranty, so it was time to start looking for a new system. I did my due diligence, I explored other systems from Hasselblad, Leaf (now a PhaseOne company), and Sinar. After a bunch of testing, and prodding sales reps to let me borrow their systems for a couple days, I settled back on the Phase system.

The P40+ has the best pixels in the range and the upgrade price was just about right; by upgrading we gained another 10 megapixels (my retoucher is groaning about that) and amazing pixel quality that I haven’t seen in any other back I’ve tested. We’ve also gained some light sensitivity with an ISO range of 50-800 (and using PhaseOne’s Sensor+ technology an expanded range of 200-3200). In the area of speed, we’ve also gained frames per second the P40+ combined with the PhaseOne 645DF body allows for 1.2 frames per second (though I never shoot that fast, it’s nice to have).

The new PhaseOne 645DF body is just awesome. It focuses in an instant, the controls are simple and easy to access and, well, it’s made by Mamiya (and I had few problems with my Mamiya systems in the past). One of the greatest things about the DF is Phase now has brand new lenses with Schneider optics and leaf shutters that sync at 1/1600th of a second. I’m excited to explore the possibilities of this.

As we put the new PhaseOne DF and P40+ into action in our every day shooting, I’ll report back every once in a while with sample photographs, issues, problems and ideas.

Heres a gallery of photographs of the PhaseOne DF camera and Schneider glass (they’re pretty aren’t they!?!?):

About the author

Kevin Michael Reed
Kevin Michael Reed (Google+, Facebook) is a fashion & beauty photographer and producer/director based in New York City and Los Angeles, CA. He is the President/CEO of RedFOG Visual Media, a production company in New York City, and a partner in Passion of Photography, Inc, a company dedicated to teaching photographers and sharing our passion through charitable causes. Kevin has lectured and hosted workshops throughout the United States and the world teaching photographers the business and creative sides of photography. (Kevin's Fashion & Beauty Photography Portfolio can be seen here).

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