mawz Offline Dedicated FM Upload & Sell: Off
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I got a chance to attend a PhaseOne seminar tonight for the CaptureOne 5 Launch, as well as the 645DF and Schneider LS lens launch. Learned some very interesting stuff.
PhaseOne is partnering with Schneider for lenses. There's apparently 11 new lenses in the pipeline with the 3 LS lenses being first and 3 T/S lenses coming next year, possibly including a 28 (17mm equivalent). Mamiya is apparently doing the manufacturing for the new lenses to Schneider design and QC. Apparently PhaseOne likes the Hartblei T/S mechanism but was not as impressed by curvature of field problems on the 45 so the new T/S's will have the Hartblei mechanism.
The Schneider 80/2.8 LS is a truly stunning lens. Handles very nicely, AF's reasonably fast, EXTREMELY sharp. We were shown some 100% crops from an unprocessed P65+ file and that lens wide open at f2.8 that were unbelievable. Leica seriously has its work cut out for them if PhaseOne and Schneider release more lenses of this caliber. Kinda funky shutter sound when the Lens Shutter fires, sounds a little like the G1.
The 645DF is a nice improvement over the AFDIII. They concentrated on small things, tweaking ergonomics mostly. It shows once you pick it up, but isn't really visible otherwise. Improved grip, nicer buttons, much nicer AF system. Most notably is reduced shutter lag, it's a perceptible difference. The way it handles L/S's is very nice, you get seamless switching from LS to Focal Plane at 1/800 (1/1600 with a P40+ or P65+ back). No need for a LS/FP control on the back. A vertical grip is on the way, it takes two PO LiIon batteries and powers a PO back as well as the camera. I was damn near drooling once I got to try the 28/4.5 as well.
As to CaptureOne 5, it's looking like a big upgrade for Pro users, but regular CaptureOne doesn't get the really interesting bits like the Focus Mask (shows in-focus areas) or the Skin Tone tool (which is damned brilliant and does much more than skin tones if you're willing to make some presets). The lens correction tools are also much nicer and a single lens profile can be applied at any working aperture as it functions only as a baseline. The new NR is also pretty darn spiffy, far more effective than ACR's.
Looks like they'll be getting my money for CaptureOne Pro.
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