Three years ago I sold my DLSR system and went into mirrorless,
as mention I wasn’t 100% confident of this move. I still own a
Digital Medium Format(DMF) for commercial client that requires
larger output. That was my safety net too. I wasn’t sure if X-trans
16MP APS-C good enough.
Yesterday I decided to take out my DMF out for a spin and relive
the medium format dream. Its may not be the latest model but its
still a great tool. Its a Phase One 645DF with a Leaf Aptus 6 ll
28 MP digital back.
As I place it on my work table; X-Pro2 was just by it side. I was just
wondering how much different is the IQ between this 2 awesome
cameras? X-Pro2 mounted with a XF35mm F1.4 and Phase One
with a 80mm F2.8 Schneider-Kreuznach lens. Which is about 50mm
in 135mm format.
As usual I commission my not so trusty model, Summer; A.K.A. my
cheeky 5 years old daughter. I brought the DMF and XPro-2 for a
little unfair face-off at the playground.
As we all know there are so much differences between the 2 system.
First; its the size of the sensor. MF vs APS-C, CCD Sensor vs X-Trans
CMOS Sensor, 16bit depth vs 14bit depth. Old tech vs latest. 28MP vs
24MP. Almost 4 times in weight differences, and also as many times or
more in price differences. The list goes on.
They are different. Since I own both system, why not do a simple test of
how much different the picture will turn out. This is not a technical review
as I will leave this to the real expert.
Here are 3 samples taken. Both system are taken in Raw and converted
into Tiff. Its a no brainer that the MF do have more details in the picture.
Much creamer bokeh. The dynamic range is better. 28mp vs X-Pro2 24mp.
The winner is definitely the DMF.
My next question to myself; do I really still need this DMF? Is it so much better?
X-Pro2 is so much more affordable. At 24MP its good enough for a lot of commercial
work. The details from X-Pro2 is pretty amazing. Paired with the awesome Fujinon
lenses and this system is so much lighter. What is there not to love?
According to this article by HWZ, ‘Hard to believe, but it certainly seems
like Fuji’s engineers are spot on when they say their new APS-C 24.3MP
X-Trans III sensor resolves as much as a 30-plus megapixel full-frame sensor.’
Here is the link:
http://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/review-fujifilm-x-pro2-fujifilm-finally-gets-rangefinder-right
Is it time to upgrade to a 40MP to 50MP DMF? Is it worth in gold? I am
not sure about that. Its really a lot of money to invest into the latest DMF.
What do you think?
If rumor is true then I will be very excited about the new Fujifilm MF system. If the
price is true according to the article I read from Peta Pixel. “Yep, the medium format
Fuji will come,” Fuji Rumors says. “And if priced somewhere between the Pentax
645D [$3,400] and the Pentax 645Z [$7,000] this camera could be a real winner
for Fujifilm.”
http://petapixel.com/2016/01/26/fujifilm-planning-to-launch-a-medium-format-digital-camera-report-says/
Then I think the ownership of DMF system will be a lot more affordable. Finally
the last question; anyone keen in to buy my DMF system with 4 lenses? 😛
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I would love to see a comparison between the Fuji and the Sigma DP3M as well. The Foveon sensor always has more detail. I think DigiLloyd has a comparison in one of his reviews on his website. It’s mind boggling how much more detail the Sigma has over the Fuji. It’s the reason I dumped the Fuji back in 2012. I like the ergonomics of Fuji and the ability to shoot in higher ISO though so jumped back on board. The Sigma Foveon sensor did spoil me though and it is really hard to love Sony,or Fuji for the details now, because quite frankly, they still don’t measure up to the Foveon sensor. Having said that though, the Sigma is not a joy to use. It is slow, has to shoot in low ISO and eats batteries even more than Fuji or Sony put together. LOL! Love this article. I am such a fan of medium format, but in film, which is what I use. I can’t possibly afford the Medium Format system in digital. The Sigma DP Merrill cameras come close, and are pocketable. I find it’s always good to have a variety of gear for different purposes and jobs.
Lovely comparison. And I would conclude “Thumbs up” for the little one 🙂 FUJI X-MF will be truly a game changer …
Let hope so. Finger crossed. 😛
Wow. What a great ad for Fuji X Series. The superb image quality and colour rendition is why I use them in the studio and for weddings. Thanks for doing the comparison Ivan. Very much appreciated.
Can you please now test your Fuji against a FoveOn? The Fuji won’t see any light…
The difference between EVF Cameras like the Fujis and SLRs is most dramatic when using flashes. I have an X-T1 and like it, but the finder is unbearable when using studio strobe lights and small apertures. It becomes terribly noises and slow in frame rate. I can no longer react in milliseconds to fleeting expressions because the finder is not in real time. This deficiency is rediculously under reported! Sure the X Pro2 has an OVF, but is will not work with the 50-140 lens. Optical SLR viewfinders are vastly superior for such work. This is a sad fact, I spent a lot of money on the Fuji system only to find I still need my Nikons in such situations.
Dennis, you puzzle me. I use my X-T1 with studio flash all the time, with absolutely no issues. Presumably you are using manual exposure, so have you set the following correctly? Although this is in the screen set up, it applies to both screen and EVF.
Setup (first blue spanner), Preview EXP/WB in Manual Mode – should be set to OFF for studio use otherwise it will be grainy, slow and dark. With this setting correct, the only time I find it becomes noisy and jittery is if you have the shutter button held half pressed, which I don’t find to be an issue at all, even at F22 and I’d never normally be using such a small aperture in the studio. At f16 it is admittedly grainy with the shutter half pressed, but the response time, although not instant, is extremely fast.