Phase One XF IQ3 review

If you're spending more than $60,000 on a camera and a couple of lenses, the technology better be good. And with its XF camera body and accompanying 80-megapixel IQ3 digital image sensor back, Copenhagen-based Phase One delivers top-notch results. Although the camera system is cumbersome compared to the marvels of miniaturized mechanization from Canon and Nikon, its images possess stellar sharpness and rich color. With this much detail, you want to dive into the pixels on your screen, then print huge posters.

These products are from the medium-format photography domain, where equipment is geared for professionals whose exceptionally large budgets can pay for the cameras' exceptionally large image sensors. Most high-end photographers are satisfied with the full-frame sensors found in the premium Nikon, Canon and Sony cameras that generally cost between $2,000 and $5,000. Those sensors measure 36x24mm -- the size of a full frame of 35mm-format film from the old days. But Phase One's IQ3 sensor is 2.5 times larger at 53.7x40.4mm. That's enough pixels to print a large poster measuring 34x26 inches at a sharp 300 dots-per-inch setting.

Phase One's extraordinarily high prices rule out these cameras out for the vast majority photographers, although you can rent them for fees that are more attainable. Despite the premium price, Phase One plugs away against more conventional competitors like Canon's $3,700 50-megapixel EOS 5DS and Nikon's $3,000 36-megapixel D810 . Cheaper medium-format options, notablyPentax's five-year-old, 40-megapixel 645D at $3,700 and the 2014 51-megapixel Pentax 645Z at $7,800, have some appeal to those with film-era Pentax medium-format lenses. The Pentax sensors, though larger than those in Nikon and Canon full-frame cameras, are only somewhat larger at 44x33mm, and they have only 14-bit color depth compared to Phase One's 16 bits. Phase One, dedicated exclusively to medium-format photography, also has a better selection of digital-era lenses, in particular with its partnership with Schneider Kreuznach.

Phase One caters to customers working on fashion, product photography and fine-art reproduction. It's geared for the best still-photo quality, and although video is in principle easier with the 50-megapixel IQ3 sensor, with its switch to the newer, cooler CMOS-technology sensor could do video, it's not the company's focus at present. I tested the Phase One system camera mostly with New Mexico landscape and macro nature shots you can scrutinize in full resolution in our gallery.

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The Phase One XF camera and IQ3 back produce great color and detail.

The XF and IQ3 products have been overhauled for better convenience, flexibility and performance. I found them significantly easier to use than earlier Phase One models, but most folks used to conventional SLRs will have to make adjustments in shooting style and technology. Like Canon, Nikon and Sony SLRs, Phase One has detachable lenses. But the Phase One also has a detachable image sensor module -- the "digital back" -- that lets those renting or buying the products upgrade just the camera body or image sensor as new models arrive. For example, the 80-megapixel back offers higher resolution and a larger sensor, but on another occasion you might prefer the smaller and lower-resolution IQ3 50-megapixel back with newer circuitry that offers a 14-stop dynamic range and vastly better low-light performance. The body handles things like autofocus and metering while the digital back captures and records the image.