photo:digitalbacks_history
introduction
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Note that ONLY the H1D and H2D of the
Hasselblad H series can be used with 3rd party backs as Hasselblad has now created a closed system with its later digital only models which can only used the Hasselblad back.
the main manufacturers of current digital backs are:
note: depending on the sensor size, they usually have a crop factor for 6×4.5 camera lenses which have a film area of 56mm x 41.5mm:
37x37mm sensor = 1.5x crop thus a 40mm wide angle becomes 60mm effective medium format lens
43x32mm sensor = 1.3x crop
48x36mm sensor = 1.17x crop (ie. twice the area of 35mm full frame)
timeline
2014
2012
2011
2010
2009
Phase One acquires Mamiya and
buys parts of the Leaf business (formerly owned by Canadian company Creo which is an independent subsidiary of Kodak) to form Leaf Imaging which will continue to manufacture products in Israel.
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Franke & Heidecke (manufacturer of Rollei cameras and a supplier for Jenoptik) becomes insolvent and Jenoptik decides to exit the medium format digital market by splitting off Sinar AG which will continue to provide warranty services
Sinar Hy6 camera system appears terminated given the loss of Leaf, Jenoptik and Franke & Heidecke from it's production
Hasselblad H4D introduced:
Hasselblad H3DII introduced:
Hasselblad CFV-39 V-mount:
16bit 6.8um sensor - select aspect mode - either 39 mpixel 37x49mm or 29mpixel 37x37mm
ISO 50-800; 2.5“ LCD with histogram; 1.4 sec per capture (0.7fps);
cable-free operation with V-system cameras, PC-sync cable trigger with other cameras or exposures > 1 sec (max. 32 sec);
CF card or tethered via firewire 800; 530g excl. battery and card;
set the V-system lens used , aperture and focus distance and the back will apply digital corrections
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Phase One P40+:
2008
Phase One P65+:
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Mamiya DL28 digital medium format camera introduced with integrated 28mp Leaf Aptus-II 6 digital back
2007
Global Financial Crisis hits
Hasselblad H3D introduced:
Phase One P+ series introduced:
16bit sensor
2.2” 230K pixel LCD, CF card, FireWire, no live view, no touch screen
P20+: 36.9 x 36.9mm 16mp
P21+: 44.2 x 33.1mm 18mp
P25+: 48.9 x 36.7mm 22mp
P30+: 44.2 x 33.1mm 31.6mp
P45+: 49.1 x 36.8mm 39mp
Jenoptik buys the remaining 49% of Sinar AG making Sinar AG a wholly owned subsidiary of Jenoptik's Laser & Optics division. The 49% stake was previously held by the Koch founder family
Jenoptik/Rolleiflex/Sinar Hy6/Leaf AFi open camera system introduced
2006
Leica tries to buy a controlling share of Sinar but Jenoptik decides against the sale
Mamiya ZD digital medium format camera introduced with integrated 22mp ZD back
Hasselblad H2D introduced
announced in Aug 2005
22mp and 39mp Imacon Ixpress CF and CFH backs
increased level of integration with Imacon Ixpress CFH backs
2.2“ color display
Digital APO Correction using highly detailed mapping of each lens to reduce moire
Hasselblad Natural Color Solution using a new 3F RAW (3FR) raw file format can convert to DNG
Leaf Aptus S series introduced with faster burst rates:
Aptus 54S - 22mp, 48x36mm 5356×4056, 25-400ISO; 75 frames/min unlimited;
Aptus 65S - as for 65 but unlimited burst at 63 frames/min instead of 39/min for 6 frames
Aptus 75S - as for 75 but unlimited burst at 53 frames/min instead of 33/min for 5 frames
2005
Jenoptik buys controlling share in Sinar AG
Mamiya ZD back:
designed only for the Mamiya 645AFD & RZ67ProIID camera bodies
22mpixel 14bit 48x36mm sensor; $11,800
Leaf Aptus series:
6x7cm LCD touch screens (requiring a stylus) and 30Gb HDD magazine
battery mounting prevents access to Firewire port hence cannot use battery mode whilst tethered
noise is evident at ISO 400 and becomes unusable for MF image quality purposes at ISO 800
fan cooled
exposures limited to 30sec unlike the Phase One P series
Live Video Preview (B&W only) available when tethered to a Mac which may help manual focus confirmation in some situations
Bluetooth capable for use of HP iPaq as with Valeo wi but not functional?
17mp: $A29370 for 645AFD
22mp: $A41000
Aptus 65 - 28mp, 44x33mm; 6144×4622, 16bit, 160Mb HDR;
Aptus 75:
33.9mp, 48x36mm 6726×5040, 16 bit, 200Mb HDR; $US30,000; started shipping early 2006;
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Leaf Valeo series
Hasselblad Ixpress CF and CFH backs:
Phase One P series new models:
P21: 44.2 x 33.1mm 18mp 1fps
P30: 44.2 x 33.1mm 31.6mp 0.67fps
P45: 49.1 x 36.8mm 39mp 0.58fps
2004
Hasselblad and Imacon merge
Phase One P series introduced:
116,000px 2.2” screens
CF and Firewire400
able to do long 30 minute exposures
noise is evident at ISO 400 and becomes unusable for MF image quality purposes at ISO 800
no fan cooling - instead it just powers down the sensor when not in use to minimise heat build up HOWEVER when using a view camera, one needs to adopt a two-shot approach, taking two shots in quick succession – one to wake up the back and the second to expose the sensor, or, alternatively, use a special single shot cable from the Kapture Group that does the same trick as the sync circuits in a medium format camera.
no Live Video Preview in tethered shooting
P20: 36.9 x 36.9mm 16mp 0.7fps
P25: 48.9 x 36.7mm 22mp 0.58fps
Leaf Valeo Wi series introduced:
2003
The Shriro Group - a long-standing Hasselblad distributor for the Asian Pacific region – acquired the majority shareholding of Victor Hasselblad AB
untethered shooting becomes a reality but how much better is the image quality than the 11mp Canon 1Ds dSLR released at that time?
Kodak DCS Pro Back 645 back:
the 1st truly untethered digital back
dedicated specific versions for three cameras: the Mamiya 645AF and AFD, the Contax 645, and the Hasselblad H1; $12,000
16mp 36.9 X 36.9mm 12bit/color sensor (lenses have similar FOV as 35mm full frame except 1:1 aspect ratio)
rechargeable Lithium Ion battery, AC-adapter for studio use
CF card, color LCD screen for menus and playback but not for Live View
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Leaf Valeo 22:
1st 22mp untethered shooting digital back
36 X 48 mm Kodak chip
16bit; Firewire; 500Mg buffer; 1fps;
Leaf's DP 67 software, which is designed to run an an HP iPAQ handheld PC
$30,000
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Imacon Ixpress 96:
a unique untethered option - portable battery operated dedicated hard disk drive (“ImageBank”) connected via Ethernet
16mp 37x37mm true 16bit sensor
monochrome LCD only displays histogram not the play back image itself
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Imacon Ixpress C series:
Ixpress 96C: 16mpixels; 16bit; 37x37mm sensor; 96Mbyte 16 bit images; ISO 50-400; shutter to 1/800th to 32secs; ext. 40Gb HDD; 2secs write;
Ixpress 132C: 22mpixels; 16bit; 37x49mm sensor;
Ixpress 384C: 16mpixels; 16bit; 37x37mm sensor; multi-shot (ie. can take RGB separately & thus 3x higher resolution);
Ixpress 528C: 22mpixels; 16bit; 37x49mm; multi-shot;
Ixpress V96C: 16mpixels; 16bit; 37x37mm sensor; V-system cameras;
Phase One H25:
48.9 x 36.7mm 22mp 16bit Kodak chip, 12 f stops dynamic range
ISO 50-400; 0.5fps; no storage, no display; FireWire tethered shooting on Macs but with a cludge for Windows XP laptops:
“Windows laptops (assuming they have a Firewire connection (which most do)), all have 4 wire unpowered connectors and therefore you must use Phase One's “Mobile Solution”, which consists of a small Firewire junction box coupled to a Panasonic Lead Acid battery. (More stuff to schlep). But, the good news is that Windows XP laptops can be configured through their Power Option settings in Control Panel to operate with the screen closed. This means that if you're willing to forego looking at a histogram you can shoot on location with the closed laptop, junction box and battery in a small shoulder bag, and just the Firewire cable running from the bag to the H25 back.”
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2002
2001
2000
Phase One PowerPhase FX:
scanning back 12,600 steps x 10,500 pixels = 132mp, 14bit, ISO 100-1600, FireWire tethered only
1999
1998
1997
Phase One PowerPhase:
scanning back 7,000 steps x 7,000 pixels = 36mp, 12bit, SCSI tethered only
1996
Leaf DCB-II single shot introduced:
Phase One PhotoPhase FC70:
scanning back 7,200 steps x 5,000 pixels = 36mp, 10bit, SCSI tethered only - NuBUS
Phase One StudioKit CB6x:
scanning back 3,600 steps x 2,500 pixels = 9mp, 10bit, SCSI tethered only - NuBUS
1993
1992
1991
photo/digitalbacks_history.txt · Last modified: 2014/07/26 09:22 by gary1