The Leica 007 MEDIUM FORMAT camera will ship in July...

[Peer Landa]

Don't know if anyone has seen this yet -- the Leica S Typ 007 will start shipping next month (July 2015). Its sensor is well x1.5 larger than full-frame, almost 3 times larger than RED Epic Dragon, and a whooping x4.2 times bigger than Arri Alexa, (still a bit ironic that we call this 'Medium Format' when it's so much lager than 'Full Frame', etc ;-)

Here's some of the spec:

• 37.5MP 30 x 45mm CMOS Sensor
• Maestro II Image Processor
• No Optical Low-Pass Filter
• 4K Video at 24 fps, 4:2:2 Color
• DNG File Format, 16-Bit Color Depth
• Built-In Wi-Fi and GPS Connectivity
• Weather-Sealed Magnesium Alloy Body

If you can't afford it, don't click the link:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1082939-REG/leica_10804_leica_s_medium_format.html
-- peer

[Jon Fairhurst]

I still shoot film on occasion with my Bronica S2A medium format cam. It's 60mm x 60mm, so it's larger than the Leica sensor. Then again, my frame rate is a bit slower. (Shoot, crank, shoot, crank - 12 times. Then spend 30 minutes developing it. Let it dry. Then scan it. And if there's a particularly good shot, enlarge it.) How about "up to 24 fpd"? (Frames per day...)

[Andrew Smith]

I don't think I could justify spending $25k USD on it. I'm more than quite happy with my stupidly-awesome Sony A7 Mk II camera at the moment.

Andrew

[Jon Fairhurst]

I should note, I was gifted the Bronica with two lenses, multiple backs, aluminum case, etc. It was collecting dust in my friend's closet and he wanted it to go to somebody who would use it.

So yeah, you can get medium format for a whole lot less than $25k, but it means going back to film. And unless you rig something up, it can mean going back to older lenses. And unless there is an old-school camera shop in your town, it means developing the prints yourself.

What do you not get?
- Super sharpness, both due to older lenses and film grain
- Digital convenience
- Video
- Smallness and lightness
- Auto-focus (though some MF film cams have this feature)
- Auto-exposure (again, you can get this feature on other models)

What do you get?
- Character - that I simply cannot replicate from digital shots. The lenses, grain, tone curve, and the complex effects of the developer solution on edges all contribute.
- The ability to make prints from a pure optical workflow; it's more like art than tech.

Workflow:
- I use a Canon EOS-M (or the Sunny-16 rule and dead reckoning) as my light meter. I even get histograms! And because film doesn't have a hard white limit like digital, exposure is forgiving.
- I process the film at home, but it's a pain. If I lived closer to Blue Moon Camera and Film Processing | Portland, Oregon, USA, I'd just hand it off to them. Unless you are super particular, this isn't a particularly artful process. And if you have particular requirements (like pushing it a stop), you can request it.
- I scan the negatives. Epson and Cannon have good film scanners with negative holders for about $200. (I have the Epson V600, which works well for well-exposed, low ISO film.) The scan gives me a digital copy and helps me identify the good, the bad, and the exceptional.
- I print "the good" at home. I have the Canon Pro 100, which you can get for almost nothing if you look for the right rebate, including the included ink and an add-on 50 sheets of 13x19 paper. Note that the grays aren't "all that" with this printer. They're a bit green. Move up to the Pro 10 for great B&W prints. (I compared them at CES. The Pro 100 is fine for color but step up for B&W.)
- For great prints that will be framed, take them to a darkroom. You can set up your own, but I go to Newspace on rare occasion. Rental Darkroom Portland Oregon This is where the art is applied with burning, dodging and other tricks. If you do the same to the scans with Photoshop, you can get a good idea of how to attack the optical print.

If you go through the whole process with that exceptional shot, the result is much more a one-off piece of art than photograph. It makes the result well worth top quality matting and framing.

But it's not fast and won't turn out the volume of the Leica 007. It's the old time vs. money thing. And the character is totally different, but who is to say which is better?

[Zach Love]

It's an interesting camera for video work. Minimally I'd think they could a version designed for video people: one w/ good audio that pairs with an Odyssey 7Q+ (or similar), you'd have something that competes with Red, Arri, Sony, etc.

As is, it seems like this is designed for photographers and as a bonus, you can shoot video too.

[Jon Fairhurst]

I wonder what filtering they do for video? The sensor is 37.5MP and there is no anti-aliasing filter. 4K uses only 8MP. If the camera does pixel skipping the result could be poor. If they crop, there's no large sensor benefit. However, if the video is processed well, it could be a low-light, shallow DOF king. :)

And then there are lenses to consider. Accurate focusing is critical with medium format.

[Peer Landa]

Originally Posted by Jon Fairhurst

I wonder what filtering they do for video? [...] If they crop, there's no large sensor benefit.

Yep, and unfortunately it seems it'll have a S35 crop -- this from the manual:
"... 4K video (4096 x 2160) within a Super 35-sized area of the sensor,"

-- peer

[Jon Fairhurst]

Bummer.

Oh well, crop or no crop, its frame rate is still about 86,400 times faster than my Bronica...

[Ken Hull]

Originally Posted by Jon Fairhurst

I still shoot film on occasion with my Bronica S2A medium format cam. It's 60mm x 60mm, so it's larger than the Leica sensor. Then again, my frame rate is a bit slower. (Shoot, crank, shoot, crank - 12 times. Then spend 30 minutes developing it. Let it dry. Then scan it. And if there's a particularly good shot, enlarge it.) How about "up to 24 fpd"? (Frames per day...)

Ah, such fond memories!
And don't forget sheet film cameras ... 4x5, 8x10, 11,14. The fps rate (or fpd rate) would be a bit slower yet:
Focus, close shutter, insert film holder, set shutter speed, cock shutter, remove dark slide, trip shutter, flip and re-insert dark slide, remove film holder, set shutter to 'time exposure' and open shutter. Now you're ready to compose and focus your next 'frame'.
(and I wonder if today's photographers would believe me, if I told them my beloved view camera was made by the Singer Sewing Machine company.)

My, how times change!

[Jon Fairhurst]

The larger the format, the more patience you need.

This must be the most patient man on the planet...

SILVER & LIGHT on Vimeo

[Rakesh Malik]

Originally Posted by Ken Hull

Ah, such fond memories!
And don't forget sheet film cameras ... 4x5, 8x10, 11,14. The fps rate (or fpd rate) would be a bit slower yet:

I was joking about that very thing just a few days ago... and I still have an Arca-Swiss F-Field camera in my cabinet :)

[Peer Landa]

Originally Posted by Jon Fairhurst

The larger the format, the more patience you need. This must be the most patient man on the planet: "SILVER & LIGHT on Vimeo"

Very cool, but I'm still on the fence here -- waiting for his 30p model.

-- peer

[Warren Kawamoto]

If the body is $25K, I'll bet the cost of the lenses will blow you through the roof! High quality medium format lenses are big, heavy, and not cheap.

[Bruce Watson]

Originally Posted by Peer Landa

...still a bit ironic that we call this 'Medium Format' when it's so much lager than 'Full Frame'...
...
Here's some of the spec:

• 37.5MP 30 x 45mm CMOS Sensor

There was nomenclature before digital. There was a planet full of life before digital. Amazing, but true.

Not only is there medium format, there's also large format (4x5 inches to to 8x10 inches) and ultra-large format (basically anything bigger than 8x10 inches, but reasonably ends at 20x24 inches). IMHO, Leica does the world a disservice in calling this medium format. It's not even close. Medium format starts at 6x6cm (the old Hassy square format) and continues up through 6x7, 6x8, 6x9, and 6x12. Some would say on up to 6x17, or basically anything that's 6cm tall and however long.

People get into religious fist fights over the literal 90 degree flip that Mamiya did in the mid 1970s where they did just the opposite of what still photography did with cine film to arrive at the 135 "full frame" format. Mamiya just flipped medium format film on it's side and created the M645, which made an image that was 6 x 4.5 cm. Worst case, this is the very bottom of medium format.

So to claim that 30 x 45mm is medium format is sorta ridiculous. It's small format, just like 135 is.

From what I remember (and I never bothered much with small format film) is that the term "full frame" came about to differentiate 135 format film cameras from the newer miniature format digital sensors like APS-C and variants, because it wasn't possible at the time to make a sensor that big. It was a way to harp on one of the things a film camera could do that a digital camera could not.

[Jon Fairhurst]

I was thinking the same thing. Should we call it sub-medium format? How about a fuller-frame camera?

Then again, with 35mm becoming so dominant, anything that requires a step up in lens size but doesn't use sheet-sized formats falls into the medium format range for all practical purposes. But yes, it's smaller than traditional MF cams.

The lens mount becomes a challenge. My Bronica has a focusing helix device that fits into the body and has a nice handle for pulling focus. :) The lenses then go into that and can protrude far into the body. The mount is proprietary, so the lens choice is limited.

My main lens is 75mm, which translates to something like 45mm on a full frame camera. It was made by Nikon and is mostly well-behaved. Because I shoot B&W and can use color filters, there is no CA to worry about. The corners look as good as the center. Then again, the bokeh is horrid. It creates hollow rings, which look terrible on light shining between leaves of a tree. It looks like somebody put silver Cheerios all over the photo! But if you avoid slightly-out-of-focus small points of light, it looks amazing.

Anyway, it would be nice to be able to mount vintage glass like this to the Leica. They don't all have the best specs, but they often have great character.