Popphoto.com has published a brief story about the new Mamiya Leaf Credo line. Writer Stan Horaczek hits many of the top features in this recap. He writes, “When it comes to sheer power and resolution, medium format backs still sit at the top of the heap and Mamiya Leaf has a new option today.”

If you’re looking for a brief primer on the line of 40, 60, and 80 megapixel models, check this one out.

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Posted by admin on May 11th, 2012 :: Filed under Leaf Credo
Tags :: Mamiya Leaf Credo, News, popphoto.com

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One of the most difficult things to do when creating art is to get the hell out of the way. The art of photography has a leg up on, say, writing, when it comes to minimizing editorialization. Many—myself included—would argue art is all about the artist injecting the self into the art. No argument against that here. It’s a question of how much and how well-crafted the editorialization is, and how well it strikes a compelling balance with the subject matter. The success of these two individually and in harmony enable us to love the art or quickly forget the art.

It’s not an unreasonable statement to claim the art of documenting something with a camera lands slightly closer to an idealized bullseye of pure objectivity than interpreting the same thing with dance or music or painting. Photographers have almost countless tools at their command to force a narrative on every image they produce. Whether you are Tim Wolcott on your hands and knees in a field with a series of framing cards or Mary Ellen Mark directing subjects while street shooting or anyone applying Curves to an image in Photoshop, photographers make viewers see what they want us to see. The very presence of imposing a frame on any scene edits the rest of the world out of the subject matter. This is editorializing the art of taking a photograph, and with that act, the artist has injected their subjectivity into the shot.

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Posted by Ron Egatz on April 27th, 2012 :: Filed under 645
Tags :: 645, Chicks with Guns, Lindsay McCrum, mamiya 645, Portrait photography

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Mamiya Leaf Introduces the Leaf Credo
Medium Format Digital Camera Back Platform

New Hardware Design with Blazing Performance Speed

TEL AVIV, April 23, 2012 – Mamiya Leaf, a leading provider of medium format camera equipment, today introduced a newly designed medium format digital camera back platform — the Leaf Credo. Available in three different models, the Leaf Credo 80, Credo 60, and Credo 40 digital camera backs feature high-quality resolutions of 80, 60 and 40 megapixels respectively.

Key platform features include:

• A large, high resolution (1.15 megapixel), touch screen with excellent rendition of 16 million colors for quick and easy verification of focus and tonal accuracy;
• Fast, new dual-core microprocessor enables powerful performance for the fastest available image viewing, focusing and editing;
• A new, intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) offers easy navigation and extends the touch screen beyond the LCD area — letting you navigate and click outside the image area;
• New FireWire 800 and USB 3 implementation delivers fastest image transfer speeds.

Planned from the ground-up for comfortable, effective shooting both indoors and out, Leaf Credo delivers high-resolution Live View functionality for precise focusing when shooting un-tethered.  It also offers a wide viewing angle and a built-in bi-directional spirit level.

The flagship of the Leaf Credo platform is a full-frame 80 MP CCD sensor with a dynamic range of 12.5 f-stops. New to Mamiya Leaf is a full frame 60 MP CCD sensor with 3:4 aspect ratio providing unmatched detail, richness of color, low noise and beautiful tonality. Also available is the 40 MP CCD sensor which offers the fastest capture speed in the Leaf Credo platform at 1.2 frames per second.

Leaf Credo digital backs work seamlessly with the Mamiya 645DF camera — which offers shutter speeds up to 1/4000 of a second and sync speeds of up to 1/1600 of a second with Schneider-Kreuznach designed Leaf shutter lenses.

The Mamiya Leaf open platform philosophy enables compatibility with other medium format camera bodies, such as the Hasselblad V and H and Contax (see www.mamiyaleaf.com for full compatibility list).

Leaf Credo digital backs are optimized for shooting with Capture One software, which comprises a comprehensive workflow to capture, organize, edit, share and print images.

“Leaf Credo delivers the best price/performance ratio in the large sensor digital back market,” said Ziv Argov, marketing director, Mamiya Leaf. “Its impressive combination of high resolution image quality, ease of use, and the latest touch screen LCD technologies makes the Leaf Credo digital back platform appealing for all photographers regardless of their styles.”

Pricing for the Leaf Credo 40 starts at € 14,995/$19,495. The Leaf Credo 60 is listed at €24,995/$32,495 and the Leaf Credo 80 for € 29,995/$38,995. Shipping is planned for June, 2012.

Leaf Credo Technical Highlights:

	Leaf Credo 80	Leaf Credo 60	Leaf Credo 40
CCD size	53.7 x 40.4 mm	53.0 x 40.4 mm	43.9 x 32.9 mm
Pixel size	5.2 micron	6.0 micron	6.0 micron
ISO	35-800	50-800	50-800
Capture rate (frames per second)	0.7	1.0	1.2
Exposure time	Up to 2 minutes	Up to 1 minute	Up to 1 minute

 

Please see more information on the Leaf Credo product page.

About Mamiya Leaf
Leveraging 70 years of Mamiya camera and optics expertise with the digital imaging technology of Leaf – the company that introduced the world’s first commercial digital camera back – Mamiya Leaf represents the finest in high end photographic solutions, and is dedicated to improving the quality of its products, technologies and services to support the advancement of professional digital photography. For more information, please visit the new Mamiya Leaf Web site.

PR Contact:Kathy Madison
Arcand & Madison PR
kathy(at)am-pr.com
+1 781-259-1764 direct
+1 781-640-1850 mobile

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Posted by mamiya on April 23rd, 2012 :: Filed under Leaf Credo
Tags :: Capture One, Credo, digital back, Leaf Credo, Mamiya Leaf

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Flashmaster David Hobby over at Strobist has published Part 1 and Part 2 on his wildly-popular blog detailing a portrait session he did for mezzo soprano Alexandra Rodrick.

The shot was lit with Profoto. Hobby used an Acute2 1200 60 feet away as a fill light and an Acute2 2400 120 feet away as a rim. It was keyed with speedlights in a Japanese silk lantern.

His camera was a Mamiya 645DF with Phase One P25+ digital back. His lens was a Mamiya Sekor AF 80mm f/2.8 D. PocketWizard Plus III units were used to trigger the lights furthest from the subject.

Hobby explains he wanted to “push against the boundaries a little more, both creatively and technically.” He educates readers about the relationship between lighting distance and depth of field, and how he wanted the light to disperse evenly throughout the scene. The text of these posts are as enlightening as the photo is beautiful. Don’t miss both full texts on Strobist.

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Posted by admin on April 20th, 2012 :: Filed under 645
Tags :: David Hobby, Mamiya 645DF, Phase One P25+, portrait, Strobist

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4/19/2012 1:00pm EDT

LIVE VIDEO SEMINAR:
Join host Joe Brady for this live video webinar on tools and techniques to create panoramic landscape images. Learn how to capture the best images possible in preparation for stitching together in Photoshop with the least amount of editing possible.

Joe will cover the basic technical issues of lens selection, color and exposure and help to simplify the more complex issues of nodal points and hyperfocal distance so that you can create stunning panoramic images with consistent focus and tone while keeping all of the foreground and background elements lined up.

If you want to improve your results with this type of photography that can be both fun and full of impact, join us for this free live video session.

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Posted by mamiya on April 16th, 2012 :: Filed under Webinar
Tags :: joe brady, panoramic, panoramic shooting, Webinar

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Photographer Allan Williams and his “wife, muse, and better half” in Allan Williams Photography, Susan, have posted about their recent experiments with Ilford Delta 3200 and a Mamiya 645ADF.

Williams, a self-confessed film grain junkie, was knocked out by the grain. His post explains, “I often used this film in the past when I need to get the shot in near dark conditions, but it occurred to me I have never intentionally used it for portraits in great lighting conditions just for its amazingly rich grain.”

The camera used was a Mamiya 645ADF, a Mamiya 150mm f/2.8 lens, and a Mamiya 80mm f/1.9 lens. Williams also writes, “Nothing can substitute for real film grain.”

Allan and Susan are located in Franklin, Tennessee. Check out more of their work on their site.

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Posted by admin on April 11th, 2012 :: Filed under 645
Tags :: 645ADF, Allan Williams, film

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Photographer Norman Jean Roy has completed a gorgeous series of photos featuring Drew Barrymore for Neiman Marcus. The great site, Fashion BTS has put together some fine documentation on this collaboration, including a video.

Great behind the scenes still images can also be found on this series entitled The Art of Fashion, with Roy using a Mamiya RZ67 and PocketWizard Plus II radio triggers to fire off Profoto Pro-8a units.

Roy’s photos in this series are saturated, moody, and suit Barrymore’s new hair color well. The shoots were both indoors and out, affording a great spread of different looks, which give the impression of a sizeable project.

Great production and great images. Thanks, Fashion BTS.

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Posted by admin on April 4th, 2012 :: Filed under fashion photography,RZ67
Tags :: Drew Barrymore, Neiman Marcus, Norman Jean Roy, RZ67

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Belgian painter and photographer Wouter Van de Voorde was recently profiled in the Canberra Times. Influenced by artists from David Lynch to Rene Magritte, the article details Van de Voorde’s medium format film photography which documents alternative narratives in and around Canberra, Australia.

Written by Gillian Freeman, the article points readers to Van de Voorde’s show in April at The Photography Room in Queanbeyan.

Van de Voorde, a native of Flanders, shoots a Mamiya 7 II. You can see more of his work at his site and on his blog.

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Posted by mamiya on March 30th, 2012 :: Filed under 7 II
Tags :: Canberra, Mamiya 7 II, Wouter Van de Voorde

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Wisconsin Photographer Troy Freund has a blog called Mil-Leica, where he shares info and photos taken primarily with Leica cameras. Freund recently posted about his initial testing with a Mamiya DM28.

He includes several bullet point observations and some test shots. “The camera was great to work with. Though larger even than my Leica R8+DMR, it still felt good in my hand and wasn’t hard to hold,” Freund writes.

Check out Troy Freund’s site for more of his work.

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Posted by admin on March 28th, 2012 :: Filed under Mamiya
Tags :: Leica, Mamiya DM28, review, Troy Freund

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As reported by the esteemed British Journal of Photography, Los Angeles native Alex Prager has won the latest Foam Paul Huf Award. Known for her saturated film exposures which blur lines across decades by utilizing multigenerational styling, Prager shoots with a Mamiya 645.

The story, written by Olivier Laurent and Diane Smyth, has several great quotes by Prager, and goes into detail on the Foam Paul Huf Award itself.

See more of Alex Prager’s work at her site. Congrats, Alex!

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Posted by admin on March 26th, 2012 :: Filed under 645
Tags :: Alex Prager, British Journal of Photography, Foam Paul Huf Award, mamiya 645

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