.The Story of Steve Gosling Landscape photographer who is now working with a .
back.
In the last few years the photographic world has moved seemingly inevitably towards digital capture.
And like many others I've been happily using film and digital cameras alongside each other -
my cameras of choice have been mainly a Hasselblad 'V' system
(for film) and a Canon 1DsMkII
for digital.
My experience with the Canon has taught me to appreciate the advantages of shooting digitally e.g.
the immediacy of digital capture, the confirmation of the histogram display, the flexibility of RAW files.
For someone trying to make a living from photography these are benefits that can't be ignored.
And increasingly my commercial customers have been requiring submissions
in digital format.
I had considered purchasing a digital back for my Hasselblad but was put off by the cost.
So whilst I continued to keep a wistful eye on the evolving market this was done with few expectations
about making a purchase. That was until I met Chris Ireland
(Direct Digital Imaging)
who generously offered to lend me a back to try out.
I must admit, I was initially sceptical about the purported advantages of the Phase One product
in spite of listening to Chris wax lyrically about the advantages of CCD vs CMOS technology,
the tonal quality & exposure latitude of a true 16 bit file and the benefits of a sensor 1.5 times
larger than the Canon's 35mm sized chip. Would these be apparent in the final image and
most importantly would they justify the investment required? And how complex would the back be
to use in practice? These were questions at the forefront of my mind when Chris delivered a P20 back
to me just prior to a trip to Harris & Lewis.
