Klyment.com - Journal

It's that time of the year again. Those interested in the newest grads from one of Canada's top industrial/visual communications design programs come go check it out.

Front of the card. Designed by Natalie Olsen who is graduating from the program.

And the back of the card. See you at the opening reception. Sorry . . . the card looks kind of weird on the white background of this page but it looks really good as a physical card. =)

For most of my life as a full time photographer I have used Phase One's Capture One Pro as the core of my photographic workflow. With this software Phase One proved to me that the company understood the professional photographer. "For passion and profit" . . . not only do we have to be good at what we do but we have to be efficient. Throughput and turnaround has a huge impact on this business and Phase One understood by creating one of the most streamlined software solutions for the RAW-shooting photographer who understands light and shoots with good glass and does little retouching.

For almost a year I have shot the Franke & Heidecke/Rollei 6008 AF and a Phase One P20 digital back with Schneider glass that has 1/1000s leaf shutters. By releasing a back that functions with this camera system, again Phase One showed that it understood its market and the market's need for a high quality 16bit digital capture solution with a sickeningly-efficient workflow driving the world's most desireable glass with the world's fastest mechanical flash sync speed offering two full additional stops of ambient continuous light control over most Canon and Nikon SLRs when using strobes.

March 19, 2008, Phase One announces a camera that shows that it has forgotten about the photographer who chooses to make his or her studio in places never meant to be sterile and controlled but chooses to tame these environments with extensive light controls and studio lighting. These announcement commercially confirms fears that Phase One has no plans for building a back for a system with native support for exotic modern lenses. What does the Phase One 645 camera offer over a Nikon or Canon camera system other than more megapixels and two extra bits per colour channel? Slower flash sync. Slower glass. A much bigger, slower camera. With Nikon and Canon cameras with actual resolutions that can produce 40x60inch prints that hold up to close inspection when shot with good glass under ideal conditions (the same conditions that would be needed to run a Phase One digital back optimally), what is that extra $5,000 to $30,000 buying me exactly?

Vicki, as photographed through the Rollei 6008AF, Schneider AF Xenotar PQS HFT 80/2.8, onto a Phase One P20 digital back and lit with the sun and almost the full 1500W/s from a Bowens Explorer 1500 pack pumped through two Quad flash heads, a Bowens grid reflector with barn doors and a 20degree grid with a 30degree Lighttools Soft Egg Crate for a Calumet Illuma 75 soft box. Makeup, hair, and styling by Maurice. Shot in the afternoon at F/2.8 and 1/1000s. With the Phase One 645/Mamiya 645 AF lens system and their 1/125s flash sync, this photograph would require literally 16x the amount of strobe power or almost 24,000W/s (!!!). Keep in mind that the nearest AC power outlet to this location is about 30km away. Phase One: you were always at the top of my list for high end digital capture but I can't even consider you anymore.