• Please use real names.

    Greetings to all who have registered to OPF and those guests taking a look around. Please use real names. Registrations with fictitious names will not be processed. REAL NAMES ONLY will be processed

    Firstname Lastname

    Register

    We are a courteous and supportive community. No need to hide behind an alia. If you have a genuine need for privacy/secrecy then let me know!
  • Welcome to the new site. Here's a thread about the update where you can post your feedback, ask questions or spot those nasty bugs!

Leaf continues with phase one

COPENHAGEN and TEL AVIV, June 25, 2009 -- Phase One A/S, in conjunction with senior management employees of Leaf, today announced that they have created a new entity, Leaf Imaging Ltd., to purchase certain assets of the Leaf camera business. The assets include the “Leaf” brand product names, engineering design and production tools. The new entity will also enter into an intellectual property license with Eastman Kodak Company that is royalty bearing to Kodak. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In collaboration with Phase One, high end Leaf digital camera equipment will continue to be developed in Israel and marketed under the “Leaf” brand through a global network of specialized and dedicated value added resellers.

Leaf high quality digital camera backs with up to 56 Mega pixels and superior resolution and image quality can interface to all leading medium and large format cameras.

“We are committed to exciting future developments for the Leaf brand of products through innovative engineering, worldwide marketing and customer service,” said Henrik O. Håkonsson, President and CEO, Phase One. “Leaf customers will benefit from the many synergies with Phase One.”

“Since introducing the world’s first digital camera back in 1992, Leaf has been recognized as a worldwide leader in the professional photography market. Our extensive digital imaging and color management knowledge, combined with Phase One’s software and hardware capabilities creates a unique opportunity for the world’s leading photographers,” said Dov Kalinski, General Manager, Leaf.
 
For me very good news because I'm really very happy with the Leaf quality and the people behind it.
And for Phase I also think a very good option to position a brand that's in my opinion a bit better than the phase backs (I like the Dalsa more).
And in fact creating it's own competition.

It turns my stomach however to think about what would happen if Phase one stops....
We would loose Mamiya, Leaf and Phase one.....

Well don't think about that, I'm just very glad Leaf continues.
 

Ken Tanaka

pro member
The consolidation of this über-costly medium format digital back niche was inevitable and will likely continue. The severe constrictions that the recession has imposed on women's credit cards has dealt a serious blow to the primary outlet for this stuff: sales and leasing to commercial fashion photographers.

PhaseOne has been very canny in their business and marketing operations. They deserve to enjoy their spot at the top of the mountain, at least for a while.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
The consolidation of this über-costly medium format digital back niche was inevitable and will likely continue. The severe constrictions that the recession has imposed on women's credit cards has dealt a serious blow to the primary outlet for this stuff: sales and leasing to commercial fashion photographers.

Ken,

The question is whether, given equal talent, one can get the "money picture" with a lesser camera.
Well I have been impressed with Benjamin Kanarek's delivered product with the Canon Eos rebel and the Pentax K10D.

Look at work by Benjamin Kanarek. If I remember right, these were taken with the Canon Digital Rebel Xti!

390568_500x500.jpg

© Benjamin Kanarek

390574_500x500.jpg

© Benjamin Kanarek

Read account of a shoot and what it takes, at least for him and another photographer here[/url in an earlier OPF thread.

[url=http://www.pressbook.com/homebook.asp?owner_id=5144&langue_id=2&admin=&book_id=136308&style_id=&page=2&user_id=&bookpage=&category_id=&action=images]Source


So, if photographers are pressured to lower prices, then will a Nikon or Canon not be satisfy the top magazine's or AD's needs? I wonder?

Leica has betted they can etch out a spot for themselves, but beyond Leica afficionados, dentists and Japanese collectors, it's hard to know if the super expensive, (albeit superior), lenses can be supported by the current market.

PhaseOne has been very canny in their business and marketing operations. They deserve to enjoy their spot at the top of the mountain, at least for a while.
Simply because of the rock solid Mamiya platform and fine lenses, PhaseOne is in a pretty good position. They now get two edges to their sword and a much larger market of installed cameras to be able to "upgrade". They also will be able to remove from the market more used backs and so maintain the price of the new ones! just that has to be worth a lot.

Asher
 

Ken Tanaka

pro member
There's no question that with today's fabulous top-end 35mm-frame-size digital technology fashion spreads for magazines -can- be done with "lesser" cameras. Yes there's the whole anti-aliasing filter stuff, etc., but that's really an empty nit. No magazine or book spread benefits in any genuine way from a P65-class capture resolution, per se. Those image files have to be dumbed way down to print at such sizes and resolutions. The sole raison d'être for the growth of these backs has been the abundant budgets that p.r. firms have milked from clients (and all of the other little larcenies committed by subcontractors such as photographers).

Leica's bet with the upcoming S2 seems mostly on the "dentists" ;->, as cracking the commercial photo niche will require first cracking the big rental houses in LA, NY, London, etc., which, in turn, will require an enormously more robust customer service and repair operation than Leica hosts today. That just ain't gonna happen any time son with Leica's relatively poor finances. (The intrinsically proprietary nature of the S2 lenses won't help, either.) But the enthusiasts will still probably keep the German elves busy in their S2 workshop for at least a year or two, rather like the M8 elves (who now have little to do).

That wanking aside, however, I encourage Phase and Hassie to keep the flame alive for larger sensors and I also cheer Leica's efforts to introduce a new sensor size format and to break the arbitrary film size templates.
 
It seams that on their free fall, Afi/Hy6 took Leaf down and now Phase One is acquiring it from Kodak's hands. Phase one thinks that "We have said to our Leaf colleagues that we will evaluate the future of this camera system but we are not currently convinced of its potential."


Not convinced of it potential. With manufacturer insolvent, rumors of production stopped and workers not being paid. Is this the end of the Afi/Hy6?

Phase Ones is saying that Leafs will continue to be sold under their own brand, but the game now is narrowing to Hasselblad and Mamiya-Phase with Sinar probably weakened by time and resources committed to system with unclear potential.

This is probably good for Mamiya-Leaf distributor in the USA, no? (It has been awkward to have one Mamiya, now associated with Phase also distributing Leaf)

Some could see this coming, I saw it and said so receiving a lot of resistance here and in other forums and now it all has blown in a large collapse with collateral damage of Leaf, no less...
 
Ken,

The question is whether, given equal talent, one can get the "money picture" with a lesser camera.
Well I have been impressed with Benjamin Kanarek's delivered product with the Canon Eos rebel and the Pentax K10D.

Look at work by Benjamin Kanarek. If I remember right, these were taken with the Canon Digital Rebel Xti!

390568_500x500.jpg

© Benjamin Kanarek

390574_500x500.jpg

© Benjamin Kanarek

Read account of a shoot and what it takes, at least for him and another photographer here[/url in an earlier OPF thread.

[url=http://www.pressbook.com/homebook.asp?owner_id=5144&langue_id=2&admin=&book_id=136308&style_id=&page=2&user_id=&bookpage=&category_id=&action=images]Source


So, if photographers are pressured to lower prices, then will a Nikon or Canon not be satisfy the top magazine's or AD's needs? I wonder?

Leica has betted they can etch out a spot for themselves, but beyond Leica afficionados, dentists and Japanese collectors, it's hard to know if the super expensive, (albeit superior), lenses can be supported by the current market.


Simply because of the rock solid Mamiya platform and fine lenses, PhaseOne is in a pretty good position. They now get two edges to their sword and a much larger market of installed cameras to be able to "upgrade". They also will be able to remove from the market more used backs and so maintain the price of the new ones! just that has to be worth a lot.

Asher

Sorry Asher but these were taken with the Pentax K10D's.
 
The point is I think that there is a market for MF.
I really would not want to shoot my normal work with a DSLR.
I COULD do it and produce good work, don't get me wrong but the files from MF are especially on detail and quality a league on their own.
 
Still makes the point perfectly well! In fact even more so!

Asher

Just for your info, those images you posted are at all Lumas Galleries throughout the World and are 1.2 x 0.80 meters in size and were shot with the Pentax K10D. They have never had a client complain about the quality of their prints. In fact none of my exposed images were ever shot with more than a 14.6 mega pixel DSLR.

http://www.lumas.com/?id=717&artist=616&wid=1339&doc=info&ed=

Another point; I have never had a magazine question the tools I am using for a project. If I decide I want to use a Holga, they will not question my reasoning. If that is the effect I want, that is the effect I want. I once did a shoot years ago in Milano for Vogue Italia with 60 disposable Fuji camera's with flash. You know those cardboard pieces of crap with the fixed f11.0 three element plastic lens. I just set up my studio flashes to give me f11.0, taped an optical slave to the cardboard body against the flash and shot away. The images were "Horribly Beautiful", just like I intended them to be.

Just look at the detail, pulled off of the 14.6 mega pixel sensor. When viewing a huge print, you don't stick your face up to it to see the image. Unless of course you are a Pixel Peeper...Well, that is another story, isn't it.

http://www.pbase.com/benjikan/image/107202980
http://www.benjaminkanarekblog.com/?p=124

Ben :)
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Another point; I have never had a magazine question the tools I am using for a project. If I decide I want to use a Holga, they will not question my reasoning. If that is the effect I want, that is the effect I want. I once did a shoot years ago in Milano for Vogue Italia with 60 disposable Fuji camera's with flash. You know those cardboard pieces of crap with the fixed f11.0 three element plastic lens. I just set up my studio flashes to give me f11.0, taped an optical slave to the cardboard body against the flash and shot away. The images were "Horribly Beautiful", just like I intended them to be.
Ben,

I'd love to see these pictures? Do you have them online?

Asher
 
Top