Pentagon Uses Phase One

December 29, 2008 | Doug

The Pentagon 3D aerial mapping system using a Phase One back and Contax camera body.

Granted, I’m not positive the Pentagon’s use of a particular brand should be automatically considered a ringing endorsement given that they once used frozen bats as a method of bomb delivery. However, it’s still neat to see our product on a system on which I’m sure millions of dollars and hundreds of hours were spent.

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10.5.6 = Faster Canon Tethering

December 18, 2008 | Tech Features

Apple recently updated their operating system OSX to 10.5.6. This update contained a long awaited optimization of their USB drivers. Combined with the beta with Capture One 4.6 which includes many performance boosts we tested a Canon 1Ds Mark III tethered to our 8-core Mac Pro.

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Testing with the True Wide

December 10, 2008 | Uncategorized

A local Atlanta photographer was picking up a rental recently at our office and noticed that we were about to list a Kapture Group True Wide camera on E-Bay.  He told us that a fellow photographer might be interested in it and wanted to see if he could test it and see if it would fit his style.  This photographer shoots quite a bit of commercial and editorial jobs with a standard Holga and scans the film.  He brought in his Holga and took the lens off.  We proceeded to use artist tape to mount the lens on the True Wide along with a P45+.  It took a little time to figure out the right focus point, but we did get it to work. I was truly amazed that it worked and the nice feel of the images have.  Below are some of the examples of the testing we did.   

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P65+ Test Out West

December 2, 2008 | Chris, News

***Update, late breaking news!***

Surprise I arrive in San Francisco to meet up with Jack and Guy on Tuesday morning and I get a message on my iPhone, “Surprise, Guess What? We are heading to Yosemite in the AM!, Attached are the directions and meet you at the cabin. BTW can you pick up a few items for dinner, Guy is cooking, we need some oregano, pueblano peppers and oh some wine and vodka!”. Also keep in mind Lance that there is no cell coverage, but we do have internet.

I am guessing they kept this as a surprise for me traveling out west personally with one of the few P65+ prototypes floating around so I did not let anyone know of our where-abouts and chance getting hi-jacked.

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P65+ preview with Guy and Jack from GetDPI.com

I thought that it would be great to get some real world experience with the P65+ out in the field. Me being a technical sales person/relationship builder it is not very often I get an opportunity to really have hands on with the gear that I represent (this is no reflection on my knowledge of the products). It is just that I often give up “my turn” to allow others to test and play then I listen to their feedback and sit in awe looking at their images. Now it is my turn to spend time out of the office, actually very far from the office with two well-respected photographers (and current Phase One customers).

So what better way to not only test the new P65+ out then to do it with Jack and Guy of GetDPI.com. My relationship with these two goes back over a year ago when prospect at the time (now friend/client) Jim Stone recommended that I check out their forum. I went over to the website and perused through the topics and information, and of course I was drawn directly to the Medium Format area. I have to say at the time it was sparse. I threw up a few posts, started to get the buzz out about this new forum that I felt had potential because of the people running it and their members were open to new things and helping each other out. It was truly a community that was growing. As time passed I realized that this destination was like its founders, laid back, genuine and full of knowledge.

Over the past year I have had the opportunity along with my colleagues at CI to contribute to the forum and be part of multiple workshops. Our involvement has kind of changed the way I feel people are evaluating their new investments in high-end digital products. Where else can you go on a shooting trip or workshop and have access to multiple Phase One digital backs, camera platforms, lenses and professional advice from seasoned veterans in the industry. It is one thing to hold a new camera system over a counter and get advice from someone who looks at it as a ‘box’, but another to actually use it in the field shooting a sunrise, or models and sunsets along side your current gear.

Anyway I am digressing. The purpose of this blog entry is to document the evaluation of the new P65+ camera back next to its siblings the P45+ and P25+. We have all three systems with us along with a Cambo RS1000 with full compliment of lenses. We were planning to have some other technical cameras, but we can save that evaluation for another time (plus I had to carry it all, already my pack is about 35lbs full of toys and $$$). The important thing is we will be using the highest quality digital lenses from Schneider and Mamiya.

Gear bags between all three of us contains:

• P25+
• P45+
• P65+ (prototype, had to beg borrow and steal to get this bad boy)
• (3)Phase One 645AF bodies
  • 28mm  D
  • 35mm
  • 55mm
  • 80mm D
  • 120mm D
  • 150mm F2.8 D
  • 210mm
  • 300mm
• Cambo RS 1000
  • 24mm
  • 35mm
  • 47mm

More to follow here on the GetDPI.com thread.

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Just a taste of the images:

(A full-frame and 100% crop. Click for larger versions. Shooting notes and discussion on GetDPI thread.)

Special thanks to Dave for allowing me to travel out here, Doug for covering the office while I am out here, and of course Steve Hendrix from Phase One for arranging the p65+ for us.

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