Phase One P65+ Preview

I think that we're going to see two responses from photographers to the P65+. The first will be from armchair quarterbacks who will find the resolution too high for their tastes or needs, not to mention the price. The second will be from professional photographers who are being asked to pony-up some considerable coin for what might at first seem to be only an incremental increase in resolution and image quality. Also, 360MB 16 bit files are non-trivial to work with, to be sure. Workflow will definitely be affected.

I would agree with some of these concerns if it weren't for the variable resolution capabilities. If things end up working along the lines that I have conjectured, variable resolution could be the feature that makes the P65+ a compelling buy for those that need its multiple capabilities. Those that don't – don't. It's as simple as that. And, if the camera's claimed improvement in dynamic range also pans out, there will be few that won't find this another potential reason to consider robbing the piggy bank or mugging the bank manager.

Beyond what's been stated here, we don't know much more as of today (July 14, '08). It's my guess that Hasselblad's announcement of the H3DII-50 a week before is what catalyzed Phase One to make this announcement when it did. Otherwise, allowed to run its normal course, the P65+ development process would likely not have lead to an announcement until late September at Photokina, and at that time with much more comprehensive and firmer specifications than we have now. It's only human nature (not to mention sensible business practice) to want to head off a competitor at the pass when it comes to mind-share for new products, even if these are still six months away from shipping. Thus, this somewhat premature announcement.


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