... BACK TO PART 1
POST PROCESSING
For the finishing of my pictures taken with the D3X, I have a solid workflow on the Mac Pro through the program "Adobe Lightroom 3." This works pretty nice. For Phase One it was recommended to use the software package, the Capture One Pro 6.
TIP:
On the Phase One's website you can download the program and test it for 30 days after which it can be bought at 299€.
The training at the local shop showed me the most important issues but this training of less than an hour was clearly not enough for me. The software may have a steeper learning curve than Lightroom, but once you understand where to find what, you will certainly be impressive.
It is however good to know that the program reads your IIQ RAW files from Phase One effortless.
With both programs it is possible to work in a studio and to show your pictures and images directly on the computer (so-called "tethered-shooting”). However you should know that the connection to the camera is different and thus parallel also the speed of the downloading of the pictures. On the D3X you have only a mini-USB port at your disposal whereas on the Phase One Firewire you have a 800 port and USB 3.0 at your disposal. Without getting too technical, it is good to know that Firewire 800 is about 60% faster than USB 2.0 & USB 3.0 is about 10 times faster. The rate of downloading D3X Raw images is painfully slow, with Phase One it is quite acceptable.
In the future, manufacturers will continue to develop this innovation. According to the latest Canon and Nikon specs, they both added a Gigabit Ethernet port into their highend DSLR. This would implement that the speed on their DSLR will increase, but USB 3.0 on a Phase One is still faster!
Nice extra feature in Capture One:
Capture One Pro 6 is a function built-in "Capture Pilot". This feature allows you to give your clients, who are present on your model or product shoot, the free app “Capture Pilot” on their Apple iPhone, iPhone or iPod Touch. The images come in live, without having to interrupt the photographer. The photos can be viewed and even zoomed in and even a star system is possible! Everything you need is to set up a wireless network and provide a session name & password in the program. Simple, but genius!
PRICE
In this final section, I would like to give you a first impression of the prices involved. A high-end professional DSLR like the Nikon D3X, will cost you 7931 Euros (Nikon Benelux official price) and the lenses about 1500 to 2500 Euro each. A Phase One 645DF together a P30+ digital back (entry model), will cost you 11990 Euro. Together with the tested IQ140 digital back and a standard 80mm Schneider Kreuznach F / 2.8 LS, it will end at 19,990 euros. Would you like to extend the warranty to 5 years, with additional accessories such as battery, cf card, full license for Capture One Pro and a nice Pelican, you will have to pay 3000 Euro extra! Lenses are on sale for 2500 to 3500 Euro each.
The sensitive reader, better stop here ...
Earlier in this review, I mentioned already the cream of the crop: Phase One 645DF with IQ180 back and 80mm lens, but this set also has a hefty price ... 37,000 euros! (+ 3000 Euro if you want the extra accessories and services).
Of course this kind of investments is not taken into consideration by the average man in the street who is interested in buying a camera, but if you're a photographer and if you work on behalf of large clients, who are very demanding, this camera might help you to meet those requirements.
CONCLUSION
The photographers who can handle these kind of investments, I would definitely recommend the step! A high-end DSLR is a great camera, but a medium format camera is a step higher, but quite obviously with a huge financial impact ...
Finally, I want to thank Servix Aartselaar for the possibility of testing these products and for the professional explanation and assistance they were so kind to give me.
Best regards,
Sven Michiels
