Phase One photographer Tim Kemple puts XF 100MP back to use in new video: Digital Photography Review

Phase One photographer Tim Kemple puts XF 100MP back to use in new video

Published Jan 13, 2016 | Allison Johnson

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amateurphotographer

was lucky to actually press the camera button on this new model recently. Love the shutter sound! But even though you have the resolution, there still aren't the wide support of lenses like for canon or Nikon, e.g. 17mm TSE or super wide 11-14mm canon. Sometimes you do need the extreme lenses for work.

I looked at the TIFF and it was 500MB, these files are now coming towards the limit of Photoshop. I think 2GB. So you either have to merge layers which in many cases wouldn't be ideal in terms of work flow. So you got to be careful of the limitations of using this camera.

Jan 18, 2016permalink

Jon Rista

You should only run into a 2GB memory limit if you are running a 32-bit version of Photoshop. Run the 64-bit version, and so long as you have enough memory, you should not have any problems handling a 500MB TIFF, even with plenty of layers.

Jan 20, 2016permalink

Scott Birch

How many #richkidsofinstagram orders do they need to make this video worthwhile?

Jan 16, 2016permalink

nathantw

So, is this like a GoPro camera where you take it with you to shoot everything? That's the impression I got with this video.

I really, really liked that video shot in the helicopter when they're following that train. That was a unique view that I've never seen before. Very cool.

Jan 16, 2016permalink

KennyXYZ

I really dislike videos shot in MTV format.

Jan 15, 2016permalink

Nick49

There's absolutely nothing in the resolution of this video to sell me 100 big ones. Yes, they had to do the zooms, to show you can go into those images, but seriously, who here with their hand on their heart can say they saw the difference in quality between the video and the stills!?? I am not saying this camera isn't freeking awesome, but after this, I am thinking I must get me a go pro and a drone.

Jan 15, 2016permalink

mxx

freaking

Jan 15, 2016permalink

Guenter Hofstaedter

wow video !

Jan 14, 2016permalink

Mister J

Enjoyed that v much. Thanks Tim and DPR.

Jan 14, 2016permalink

Eric Hensel

Reminiscent of the old days, when it would have been a Hasselblad 500c.

Jan 14, 2016permalink

Pat Bate

PhaseOne goes GoPro? Ridiculous.

Jan 14, 2016permalink

Leonp

On my youtube version it's only 1080p ;-(

Jan 14, 2016permalink

Aasmund G

amazing video!

Jan 14, 2016permalink

biza43

To all the naysayers: this camera system currently offers the best image quality available. Hence the cost.

Good video.

Jan 14, 2016permalink

Handl Christian

100 Mp handheld? This is an ad video very well made but if you want the resolution of 100 Mp you will have to work from a tripod most of the time. But I do like the shape of the camera, reminds me of medium format I used in the anaolg years 20 years ago (with waist level finder).

Jan 14, 2016permalink

Glenn Schultes

I'll just pop out and buy another 8TB hard drive so I can download my photos...

Jan 14, 2016permalink

Dougbm_2

80Tb

Jan 16, 2016permalink

KAllen

I can't argue that it's a stunning bit of gear, best available maybe, but for who? How many people need to produce detailed pictures the size of a barn door?
I'm old enough to remember when Phaseone backs were 22mp and then users claimed you could make prints as big as a barn door.
I don't think people are lured into more pixels are better anymore....don't take my word for it ask Canon.

Jan 14, 2016permalink

kangoo1707

more pixel for big ad panels on the street, maybe

Jan 14, 2016permalink

PeaceKeeper

Serious question... how much did they pay you to air this commercial?

Jan 14, 2016permalink

Jonathan Brady

My thoughts on this video? Basically no one reading DPR is going to buy this camera. DPR knows it. Phase One knows it. I doubt they paid them anything. No ROI.
To me, DPR posted this video because it's photography related.

Jan 14, 2016permalink

mxx

Jonathan +1
Many stories about Ferraris in auto mags.

Jan 15, 2016*permalink

Sten E

Very good! I get a feeling that it would be nice to have that camera.

Jan 14, 2016permalink

Jonathan Lee

nice vid with coolest visual this year. luv it.

Jan 14, 2016permalink

johnsaxon

In the early days of digital I used to shoot commercial stuff with a Mamiya medium-format and a Kodak 16MP digital back. You could see individual threads in the cloth of a shirt which was already overkill for the purpose of a printed catalog. Not sure why you would ever spend the money on this unless you wanted to make a really large print with very fine detail up close. This has surpassed the ability of any of the reproduction or viewing mechanisms that we have. Even with my Canon 5D I generally have to reduce the file size way down for any practical purpose.
Maybe the whole logic here is to impress the client with how state-of-the-art your gear is, regardless of any practical purpose.

Jan 14, 2016permalink

SmilerGrogan

You got it buddy. You take a shot and motion the art director over to the monitor and zoom in at 100 percent and they'll be blown away. And they'll tell two of their art director friends, and they'll tell two art director friends and soon you'll have more work than you can handle.

Jan 14, 2016permalink

cropedview

> SmilerGrogan - not goon happen like that... Every art director has a clue for gear... And if he hire you for gear - he will pay you as minimum as market can offer (and as you know lot of "pros" work for less than brake even and some has incredible gear, because to get a top notch gear you have just to press a button "buy"or "order")

Jan 14, 2016permalink

Scottelly

Wrong. I've printed 19.6 MP photos at 40x60 inches, and that's not even large in advertising. That was Foveon quality, and those photos aren't even good enough for that size, because the detail is lacking. A 12 MP Canon 5 D or even a 22 MP Canon 5 D Mk III won't cut the mustard if you want to print the typical size of photos you see in a shopping mall or on a gallery wall. That's why medium format digital cameras are used for such work. I think you must be getting old and your eyesight is going bad.

Jan 27, 2016permalink

Satyaa

I see more of the videographer's skill here than anything special about this camera. If he was given a GH4 rig, I'm sure he would have produced a video equally good.

Or, is it that the image/video quality doesn't matter when most cameras today produce videos at twice the resolution of our TVs?

Jan 14, 2016permalink

alexanderflemming

Even though this is a video, why are TVs relevant for a medium format camera system shooting stills? If you want full res image samples, go to Phase One's website and download them.

Jan 19, 2016permalink

Scottelly

I thought it was pretty obvious that this is a promo video for the Phase One 100 MP back and the XF camera. OF COURSE you can't see the resolution in a video . . . even a 4K video (which this isn't). They're just trying to show that it's possible to use the XF outdoors for the type of stuff people typically use a Nikon D810 or Canon 5Ds. I guess you couldn't figure that out though, huh? Hmmm . . .

Jan 27, 2016permalink

kisvakoncl

Finally! The perfect gear for my cat videos!

Jan 13, 2016permalink

Snapper2013

Impressive! Looks way better than a movie film camera!

Jan 13, 2016permalink

RPJG

Err...

Jan 14, 2016permalink

art99

I thought this camera was shooting in video mode as almost all the footage was 99% video and a few stills. I know it does not shoot video but the demo was not clear to me of it's intent. Sure, you can strap almost any camera on a drone these days and rent a heli but what's the point? Show me a side to side cropped segment comparison to say an A7R2 or anything in that league at various iso's. I am sure it will out resolve all but it's that difference I want to see if it's worth the 49 grand.

Jan 13, 2016permalink

Scottelly

It's only worth the $49,000 to a select few photographers who need it. For most people who like high resolution photos it isn't even worth $10,000. My guess is the difference between a Canon 5Ds and this thing is pretty small. The horizontal resolution is probably only about 25% more, making it a pretty crazy investment. But if you have an almost unlimited budget, why not get it? Often the cost of the camera equipment is just a small part of a production. Let's say you're doing a 3 month trip to Antarctica with a crew of people. Let's say to do that you're renting a 180 ft. long arctic exploration vessel. How much do you think something like that costs? I'm talking about an expedition that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. To buy a couple of $50,000 cameras and $20,000 worth of lenses for them is just part of the equipment cost. Then there is the other electronic gear, like communications equipment, the cold weather gear, the high-end tents and other camping gear, etc. etc.

Jan 27, 2016permalink

Scottelly

Remember that the equipment can be sold when the expedition is over. None of the $300,000 for chartering the research vessel is recoverable though.

;)

Jan 27, 2016*permalink

Kamox

Oh, please. Megapixels are for parvenus.
Show us a hand-held 8x10 Linhof loaded with Velvia, then we can talk.

Jan 13, 2016permalink

noflashplease

It's very obvious that the point of the video was to depict Tim Kemple's very exciting lifestyle. Tim Kemple looks cool taking pictures with his Phase One. Tim Kemple has a hipster billionaire lifestyle, and by suggestion, you will too....if you buy this really expensive digital camera back..... or maybe not?

It's really just a marketing video and I'm sure that there are fat, grey haired middle aged hedge fund managers who'll buy this camera back, on the basis of this video. Maybe that's why Private Equities keep buying up Medium Format camera companies? Rich old guys selling cameras to rich old guys? None of this is about photography, just the prestige of owning something expensive.

Jan 13, 2016permalink

DenWil

Like all luxury goods, if you are not going to use them why buy them?

If the shot requires me to be standing up to the elbows in the stream or hanging out over the rim of Hoover Dam hand holding the camera pointing straight down then that is what I do. I do not put down the MF rig and shoot with a pocket camera. Rather defeats the opportunity to get a desired shot with the highest IQ I can muster.

Jan 13, 2016permalink

Timur Born

Well, there is 0:32.

Jan 13, 2016permalink

tecnoworld

The video is cool. And that was not shoot with this cam.

Jan 13, 2016permalink

whakapu

Not sure what the the point of that video was. He said the Phase 1 back he was filmed using in the video was the only one in the world, so what was the video filmed with?

Jan 13, 2016permalink

Scottelly

Who cares what the video was filmed with? Does it really matter? This video is about demonstrating that you CAN shoot with a Phase One XF outdoors . . . and even using a drone. It IS possible, which seems to be a fact beyond the thinking of most old men, who dominate the field of photography. Yes, I just said that the field of photography is dominated by old men, and this video is for them, to demonstrate that they can use this new, 100 MP back and XF camera the way they might use a Nikon D810 or Canon 50Ds.

Jan 28, 2016permalink

evog

The two seconds of the video that actually gave a taste of the camera's resolution were pretty interesting.

Jan 13, 2016permalink

Scottelly

Here's a video that shows it better for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okudd7b9dis

Jan 28, 2016permalink

Frank_BR

Wonderful images thanks to... the helicopter!

Jan 13, 2016permalink

photomedium

Spectacular!

Jan 13, 2016permalink

justmeMN

Two Thumbs Down for the music. :-)

Jan 13, 2016permalink

Albert Valentino

The most impressive part of ths video to me was the man flyng in the air, until the end when i saw the lines.

Not sure we needed 100mp to watch this video on my ipad!

Jan 13, 2016*permalink

Luisifer

Of course. For the Ipads there have to be four times higher resolution needs. :-)

Jan 13, 2016*permalink

NCV

If I start saving now............

Jan 13, 2016permalink

jaykumarr

Places matter. MP s don't.

Jan 13, 2016permalink

iAPX

Exactly, this video demo that perfectly (as others put it well here).

Until we have the RAW file from the camera, what we saw is just a talented photographer with a talented team, on perfectly selected locations, using a great action camera (GoPro it seems).

Jan 13, 2016permalink

steelhead3

All done with the p1....they velcroed the phase 1 onto his head

Jan 13, 2016permalink

iAPX

So it's perfect velcro work ;)

What's the brand of the velcro?

Jan 13, 2016*permalink

nicolaiecostel

Well, when you have to display a wall sized print at Photokina, like some pros do, MP's quite matter.

If you need to produce shots printed at high DPI, MP's matter.
True, it's a niche product, but some people will really benefit from it.

Jan 14, 2016permalink

DannyDoi

Let's buy one! :)

Jan 13, 2016permalink

AlexCHStudio

I would recommend to take 2 - one as a spare just in case if you drop a camera into waterfall.

Jan 13, 2016permalink

steelhead3

Another mention of Sony...everyone knows that if Canon wanted to put out a MF sensor it would be better and with adapter, you could use all the Canon lenses.

Jan 13, 2016*permalink

Suntan

I don't know how well that Phase One works, but this advertisement is a good look at how those GoPro's work.

Jan 13, 2016permalink

Hugo808

How big a screen would I need to actually look at a 100mp file without it being compressed?

Jan 13, 2016permalink

tkbslc

Depends on the DPI of the screen.

Jan 13, 2016permalink

Hugo808

Average.

Jan 13, 2016permalink

tkbslc

If you had 400dpi like a high end smartphone screen, then a screen that is 27" wide.

If you had 100dpi like a cheap 1080p monitor, then 110 inches wide.

Jan 13, 2016permalink

LJ - Eljot

Hm, let's see! My screen is a normal 24" 16:10 screen. It is 0.520m x 0.325m with a resolution of 1920 x 1200. The Phase One 100MP has a resolution of 11608 x 8708 (4:3 ratio). We want to see the hole picture at 100% zoom at a screen with identical pixel density as my monitor. We do some math and find that the screen would be about 3,144m x 2,358m in size.
Edit: We have screens with much higher pixel densitiy now, so the screen would be much smaller with up to date tech.

Jan 13, 2016*permalink

LJ - Eljot

Ok, lets see with an Eizo ColorEdge CG318-4K now. Because that would be more the normal srcreen you would be using if you have a Phase One 100MP. Screen is 0.698m x 0.368m with 4.096 x 2.160. Do the same math again and find that the screen would be at least 1,978m x 1,484m if it has the same pixel densitiy as an Eizo ColorEdge CG318-4K.

Edit: The Eizo CG248-4K has an even higher pixel density. About 1.5x higher than that of the CG318-4K. Calculate yourself!

Jan 13, 2016*permalink

AshMills

LJ, that sounds really wrong?

Jan 13, 2016permalink

tkbslc

Those from Europe and South America generally use the comma in place of the period to denote decimals. Certainly he does not mean almost 2 kilometers wide screen! :)

Jan 13, 2016permalink

LJ - Eljot

Oh! Habits. Hard to overcome. Of course it should be 3.144m x 2.358m and 1.978m x 1.484m. I double checked it but I did it wrong twice. Oh boy!

Jan 14, 2016permalink

-Teo-

I’m watching an XF 100MP sample photo on an iMac 5k.
Here what can be shown at 100%: http://postimg.org/image/uqa6992bn/

Jan 14, 2016permalink

Hugo808

-Teo- thanks, that's the sort of image I was trying to work out about my laptop which has nowhere near that resolution.

Jan 14, 2016permalink

Derek Dean

Beautiful!

Jan 13, 2016permalink

RoelHendrickx

I would settle for the experiences, with any camera.

Jan 13, 2016permalink

PKDanny

Lottery!

Jan 13, 2016permalink

Luisifer

looks good :-)

Jan 13, 2016permalink

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