Phase One 645 DF
| |
|
|
| The V-Grip Air attchment makes portrait-format use convenient. |
Rear view, with ZD back. |
| images by Carlos Echenique (Image rights) | |
The 645DF is a medium-format digital SLR camera body. It was originally a Mamiya product. The Danish digital-back company Phase One owns, or part-owns, Mamiya, and the camera is sold under both the Phase One and Mamiya brands. The 645DF was developed from the Mamiya 645 AFD series of cameras, and shares most of its features with the AFDIII (but is dedicated to digital media only, whereas the AFDIII can use a roll film back).
The camera has a focal plane shutter in the body, giving speeds from 1/4000 second to 60 minutes, and (with Schneider or some Phase One or Mamiya 645 AFD lenses) an in-lens leaf shutter can also be used, which can synchronise with flash at up to 1/1600 second. Phase One or Mamiya 645 AFD lenses without the leaf shutter can also be used, and Hasselblad V-series and Pentacon lenses can be used with a mount adapter. Phase One's literature describes the camera as an 'Open Platform', seeking to maximise compatability with other maker's equipment. This is almost an inevitable approach; given the very high price of MF digital camera system components, compatability with purchasers' existing equipment is very attractive.
Phase One recommends its own medium format digital backs as media, for example its 30-megapixel module Phase One P30. Mamiya's ZD or DM series backs can also be used. Since medium format digital backs are almost standardized Leaf Aptus modules or others can be adapted to the camera body.
The cameras pictured both have a V-Grip Air accessory fitted, somewhat increasing the camera's bulk. This gives a convenient right-handed grip for use in portrait format, with most of the camera's basic controls repeated in the same positions as on the camera body (shutter release, front and rear dial controls, AE lock and auto-focus lock). The V-Grip also incorporates a remote flash trigger and battery holder (it replaces the camera's own battery insert).
Links
- Phase One 645 Manual on Phase One website
- 645 DF datasheet (PDF download; as the body component of a Mamiya DM33 system), on the Mamiya global website.
| |
|
|
| Phase One 645DF, again with a V-Grip Air attachment. images by Uwe Kulick (Image rights) | |
