Digital BW, The Print

In a message dated 8/24/2005 11:58:49 AM Pacific Daylight Time,  
DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com writes:

I am,  though, very surprised by your comment re Canon glass.  I only  have
two Canon lenses: the 28-70 f2.8L and the 70-200 f2.8L.   Admittedly the
Canon glass I have is one generation old - the first  replaced by the 24-70
f2.8L and the second by an IS version - but neither  of these comes close to
my Contax Zeiss 80mm planar or 120  Makro-Planar.

I have used the Phase One backs (up to the P25) in a  studio, handheld, with
the Contax 645/80 Planar. They beat the 1ds2 for  sharpness and detail any
day.
 
I am even more surprised by the double standard in your comparison.  You are 
comparing old zooms to fixed focal lenghts. Even the new zooms woudn't  hold 
up to the Contax Planars. You can't compare zooms to fixed lenses and call  it 
fair.
 
Let's try a $1,600 L series 85mm f/1.2  at f/4 vs. the 120 Planar  at f/8 
which for the format differential would be about the same DOF. All Canon  has to 
do is make a chip that would "use up" that extra resolution and MTF and  put 
the 50mm f/1.4 Canon (non-L) against the 80 Planar. Since the lens  formulas 
are similar in all cases the smaller image circles of the canons would  make 
them at least 25-50% sharper, all other things being equal in optical  
design.....all for 1/2 to 1/4 the price depending on which repsective lenses you  
compare.
 
Also, the P25 doesn't use an Anti Aliasing filter, which give it a  sharpness 
advantage and a moire/color aliasing disadvantage. I shot the original  Phase 
One lightphase against the Foveon in 1999, and the Foveon equaled the  Phase 
One sharpness (after USM), had better color, no moire and no aliasing. I  know 
the P-25 is one of the top dogs out there and in the right application, for  
the right client, it's the better choice.
 
My point was about 80% of the performance for 1/3 the system price with a  
whole lot more choices in glass than a few single focal lengths from a defunct  
camera company.
 
A few years back, I tested the full frame Contax N Digital camera with the  
superb 85mm f/1.4 Planar which is every bit the lens the the Canon L is. It was 
 too few pixels, and 2 years too late to market. Nice try, but no cigar. If 
they  had gone to the 11 Megapixel Dalsa Chip they might still be here. Now 
they are a  memory unless some other Chinese
 company picks them up, mostly for name, like Hasselblad.
 
Unless MF back and camera makers start thinking in terms of 40-50  Megapixels 
with those big chips, Canon will eat their lunch within a few years  because 
for some things, it's plain and simply "good enough."
 
In my markets, I would lose money with an H25, but it's a great setup if  you 
can afford it, great color, mature workflow, etc., so I'm not slamming it.  
Just telling it like I see it.
 
Claude

 


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