Phase One P65+: Pushing the Limits

Documentation and Links

Flow Chart of the Menu

User’s Manual

Sensor+ Explanation

Capture Integration Tests and Comparisons

Sensor Technology Co-Developed by Phase One and Dalsa

Phase One has a history of firsts in the medium format market. The Phase One P65+ is the debut of another major first: through the cooperation of a digital back manufacturer and a sensor manufacturer, Phase One has locked in an indefinite exclusivity on the ground breaking Phase One P65+ sensor. Phase One worked closely with Dalsa to develop the technology that makes the Phase One P65+ the most advanced digital back in the world. The results can be seen in it’s list of credentials: the largest sensor size, the highest resolution, and the highest dynamic range, 60 frames per minute of throughput, 50-800 ISO and less susceptibility to lens cast and moire. Phase One has exclusive use of this sensor and of these technologies for the indefinite future, making this full-frame 60 megapixel back the undisputed king of the digital back world for the foreseeable future.

Sensor Size

The Phase One P65+ is the only true-full-frame 645 sensor on the market. Measuring 53.9mm x 40.4mm. This is 21% larger in area than the Phase One P45+ and 250% of the area of a full-frame 35mm dSLR. This means the sensor now gives full viewfinder coverage for the Mamiya AFD and Phase One AFD camera bodies.

For those who wish to nitpick: the frame size of the Phase One P65+ is 1mm smaller on the left and right and 0.5 mm smaller on the top and bottom than a traditional 120 film exposure. See the diagram to the right. This means a 35mm lens when used with a Phase One P65+ would be the same image as a 36mm lens when used with 120 film, a negligible difference. Moreover, on the Phase One body platform the Phase One P65+ has 100% viewfinder coverage – what you see in the viewfinder is what you get.

The Highest Resolution

At 60.5 megapixels the Phase One P65+ exceeds every other medium format digital back. The native resolution of the chip is 8984×6732 pixels. This produces a 360MB 16-bit-TIFF or a 180MB 8-bit TIFF. Thanks to Phase One’s best-in-class compression methods the P65+ IIQ-Large (lossless) raw file is only 60MB and an IIQ-Small raw file is only 40MB.

The Best Dynamic Range

The Phase One P65+ touts 12.5 stops of dynamic range, the largest range of any medium format digital back (and light years ahead of dSLRs). This is perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the technology behind the P65+ and illustrates the amazing technology developed by Phase One and Dalsa for this exclusive offering.

All at 60 Frames per Minute for Full Resolution

Helped by four readout points on the sensor, best-in-class compression algorithms, the Phase One P65+ is fast! Furthermore the generous 1.3 GB of buffer will be nearly impossible to overshoot, allowing for continuous shooting at 60 frames per minute.

ISO

As with the Phase One P25+ and Phase One P45+, the Phase One P65+ will operate from ISO 50-800. Exclusive to the Phase One P65+ is the ability to upgrade in 2009 to higher and cleaner ISOs. Phase One’s continued cooperation with Dalsa will lead to this and other continued image quality advances.

Open Platform

The Phase One P65+ is a renewal of Phase One’s commitment to keep medium format solutions open rather than closed. The Phase One P65+ will be produced in all of the current mounts including Contax, Hasselblad V, Hasselblad H, Rollei 6000, and Mamiya/Phase-One, and solutions will be provided for nearly all view cameras and technical cameras (see next paragraph). In this case the sensor is produced by Dalsa rather than Kodak as with the other current Phase One digital backs, showing that Phase One is open even in its selection of sensors.

Less Prone to Lens Cast and Moire

The Phase One P65+ decreases the effect of lens cast even at extreme lens angles and incredibly reduces the occurrence of moire. This makes it the ideal flexible solution for photographers using view cameras, technical cameras, or tilt/shift lenses.

Sensor Plus Mode

The Phase One P65+ also includes a brand new and patented technology called Sensor+. You can read about the Sensor+ technology in this technical guide. By using a unique read-out of the pixels and binning their signals together prior to the digitization of the file the P65+ can shoot at 15 megapixels and gain two full stops of ISO response and at a 40% faster frame rate. These 15 megapixel files are generated by effective 12 micron pixels and from high quality medium format glass and enlarge very favorably compared to dSLRs such as the 1Ds III with higher pixel counts. The smaller file size also makes post processing much faster when very large file size is not required for a particular job._

Pricing

Prices start $39,990, call for details. Upgrade pricing is available from any Phase One product and trade-ups are available from dSLRs and competitors’ digital backs.

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