................................. Move over 35mm D-SLR's While I have never been fortunate enough to go to Photokina, I hold out hopes that someday that dream may come true. And if I think back over the past couple of years of producing photographicage, I may have predicted a 20 megapixel camera by this time. But I probably was thinking in the 35mm SLR type body and not anything like the awesome new Mamiya ZD and ZD Digital Back that was introduced at Photokina.
This not just a high powered 35mm sensor adapted to fit, but indeed it is a full frame 48mm x 36mm sensor capturing 21.8 million pixels. That will capture at 1.5 frames per second in burst of 11 images. Writing in JPEG or RAW or even simultaneously to your choice of CF or SD media cards. As you would expect it performs just like your film bodied 645 and then some. Your choice of programmed, aperture priority, shutter priority, manual and bulb exposure modes leave no stone unturned
If you already have a 645 AFD you can use the ZD back with it or the RZ67 PRO IID. While it tips the scales at 42.3 oz., you can quickly get use to the weight one you see the difference in image quality. Just like the old days when a bigger negative meant a bigger sharper print, the same holds true with this camera/back.
The ZD body is compatible with the 645 AF lens mount, so you won't have to reinvest in lens gear if you already have 645 AF gear. Combined with the whopping 4008h X. 5344v image sensor that translates to 3 times the size of a typical DSLR and twice the size of a full frame DSLR.
Add in the firewire connectivity, removable low pass filter and its host of other pro oriented features, the Mamiya ZD is bound to have you frothing at the mouth.
Pass Me The European Flavor Please
If for some reason you just don't think Mamiya gear is up to your standards, then maybe the new Hasselblad H1D will wet your whistle. Also featuring a 22MP sensor in its removable back which can be swapped out for those film shoots by using the film backs or Hasselblad Ixpress 132C or 528C digital camera through the use of an adapter.
But from what I can gather from the information about the H1D, it appears as if the back does not use CF or any other common type of media card. You can use the camera tethered to your computer or use the Image Bank 40Gb hard drive. So this does limit the "out of studio" uses very much. Did somebody drop the ball or what? I know that the studio is not the only place where images need to be captured and this limitation already has me saying no to the H1D if given the choice.
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While I have never been fortunate enough to go to Photokina, I hold out hopes that someday that dream may come true. And if I think back over the past couple of years of producing photographicage, I may have predicted a 20 megapixel camera by this time. But I probably was thinking in the 35mm SLR type body and not anything like the awesome new Mamiya ZD and ZD Digital Back that was introduced at Photokina.
