New York City, NY—Phase One, a provider of medium-format camera systems, unveiled its Phase One IQ2 series: the IQ280, IQ260 and IQ260 Achromatic full-frame 645-format digital camera backs with wireless connectivity, ultra-high megapixel resolution plus options to meet specific photographic goals.
“Instead of trying to make our wireless connection a replacement for a wired file transfer, as others have done, our solution focuses on helping get the right image capture—whether that means perfecting composition or focus, or simply easing the challenges of capturing a hard-to-reach image from a remote location,” said Jan H. Christiansen, director, Marketing, Phase One.
All IQ2 camera backs feature full-frame 645-format sensors designed collaboratively by Phase One and Teledyne Dalsa. In addition, the IQ2 camera backs deliver a full 13 f-stops of dynamic range, which combines with calibration and hardware and software optimization to help ensure enhanced image quality.
The 80 megapixel IQ280 offers Wi-Fi to enable remote image capture and viewing of 80MP images on an iPad running Phase One’s Capture Pilot App—and it provides an ISO as low as 35.
The 60 megapixel IQ260 offers exposure ranges from 1/10,000 sec to one hour with virtually noise-free images. The 60MP sensor at the heart of the IQ260 is said to employ “the widest exposure range opportunities on the market coupled with phenomenal image quality.”
Both the IQ280 and IQ260 capture raw images at 16-bit color depth per channel, to enable reproduction of scenes with ultra-smooth transitions.
The Phase One IQ260 Achromatic is a dedicated image capture device designed to deliver pure black-and-white images while sharing the IQ2 series’ “unplugged” assets. Its 60 megapixel sensor has no color filter array mounted, which means that no interpolation is necessary. Each pixel of the sensor is focused on capturing the details of an image. This digital back has no mounted IR cutoff filter, and the IQ260 Achromatic is capable of capturing images in three light spectrums—infrared, visible and ultraviolet—allowing photographers to experiment with a range of filters to create unique images for artistic and scientific purposes.
All IQ2 backs include built-in accelerometers, whose input helps align images during capture. An intuitive virtual horizon offers a visual indication of an image’s roll and pitch, and that data is automatically stored with the images and can be automatically corrected in Capture One software after import. Additionally, the IQ2 digital backs are built of 100% aircraft-grade aluminum, and all electronic connectors and ports are protected with automatic retracting hatches or rubber covers to ensure they work even in the toughest shooting environments.
The Phase One IQ2 series camera backs are expected to be available in June 2013. Pricing will start at $39,990. Upgrade offers are available for all existing Phase One photographers. phaseone.com
