03/18/19 IQ4-150 Firmware 1.03.26 – Released–It’s official now!!
It’s now official. You can update your Phase One IQ4 to the latest firmware which is 1.03.26.
The process itself will take approximately 8 to 10 minutes and the last four minutes, the back will power off the LCD and only gives a blue light blinking at the bottom. I found that a bit disconcerting, but overall the process did work as it’s supposed to.
With this update you gain a few new features for the IQ4 and get back a couple of IQ3 features that should have been there from the start, (unless Phase One replaced them with something better which the did not).
Old IQ3 features that have now been returned:
- Power share: which allows the XF and IQ digital back to share power. Important for field use as the IQ4 uses about 1/3 to 1/2 more battery in normal use. Power share allows the XF to send power to the IQ4 once the IQ4 battery reaches a certain level of discharge. This is a good thing since the XF takes very little power compared to the IQ4.
- Auto Gain for Live View: simple feature that has been in place with all IQ CMOS backs, since the days of the IQ250 back in 2012. Left off the IQ4 for some reason. With auto gain Live View you the back will pick an ISO level depending on the ambient lighting. It also added a bit more contrast to the Live View screen which I felt helped in critical focus. This feature was removed with the IQ4, and has not been available since December 2018. Instead Phase One offered Exposure simulation which showed allowed the Live View to display a representation of the currently selected ISO/Shutter Speed/Aperture. Great in good light outdoor, not so great in low light (sunrise or sunset). I have not tried the new Auto gain yet, but hopefully it will work as well as it did on the IQ2 and IQ3 backs. You also have the ability to use the Auto Gain Live view with your selected aperture, or wide open which is a great feature.
New IQ4 features that have been added:
- Live View zoom up to 400%. You now have the ability to zoom into your Live View screen as much as 400%. The details are still present and the ability to achieve very sharp critical focus on smaller distant details in a scene has improved.
- Self timer for ES (electronic shutter). Pretty straight forward, you now can trip a self timer while in the ES. Not that big a deal for me as I have a remote 12 pin that allows me to fire the ES without having to press the shutter button on the IQ4 LCD.
- While in Live View, 3x (triple) tap will take you all the way to 400% and or you can use a two finger pinch to zoom to any level from 0 to 400. Nice addition.
- The brightness slider for Auto Gain Live View is easily accessed view a single swipe from the left side of the LCD.
- AFr Zoom to Focus on the IQ4 with the XF Focus & Recompose feature
Overall, these are great improvements for the new IQ4, and hopefully they will assist photographers in the field.
However a few pretty important features still seem to be lacking surprisingly.
Auto Rotate: Simply stated if you take a vertical image the image will be displayed vertically in playback. Currently the IQ4 displays such an image horizontally. I still find this really disappointing as I show a lot of panoramas and use the vertical orientation to stitch with. I cannot think of any $99.00 point and shoot camera that can’t do this, and it surprises me that Phase One did not include this in December and now almost 4 months later still can’t implement it!. This is shooting preview 101, basic stuff and Phase One will require yet another firmware update to implement this.
Adhoc, where is it. Phase One seems to have a totally different direction now. I guess more pointed at studio work. Since day 1 of the previous IQ backs that had wifi, there was an adhoc option. Simply and clean created a static ip address that you could connect to in the field and thus use Capture Pilot from an iOS device. Phase One now only allows Capture Pilot use if you are connected to wifi over a router, again what the heck? Who thought this was a good idea? You have a great solution for field use of your software tool for iOS devices and then you just cut it off. Phase One has made limited low level statements that “adhoc” will return with a later firmware update. I still feel this won’t be possible as much system boards on PC’s or Mac, have all the networking capability hard wired in. Hopefully Phase had a way to implement adhoc without issuing an EC (engineer change) which would require all existing IQ4’s to be returned to the factory.
Heat and battery life, no mention as to if anything is being done to help on this. Currently a 3400 millamp Phase One battery will show totally drained when there is still over 20% of the battery left. The IQ4 also gets considerably hotter than the IQ3 and Phase One left out the feature that showed existing heat of the back that was quite popular for the IQ3. I wonder why?
written for www.photosofarkansas.com by Paul Caldwell please do not reproduce any of this content without permission.
08/15/16 A close look at the Dynamic Range of the Phase One IQ100
I have been using the IQ100 now for several months, and have noticed that there are some interesting facets to the dynamic range of this digital back. Lets take a more detailed look at this particular image taken on the Buffalo River, in Arkansas
The IQ100 is of course the first 100MP digital camera ever marketed, was introduced in January of 2016 by Phase One, and so far has had a very good reception. I was very interested in the previous IQ250, 50MP digital back, however it has a 1:3 crop factor, which for my work, (example this image) would have been too much to sacrifice. I use wide angle lenses in most of work unless I am stitching and the 30 percent loss in focal view was too much for me. But I easily saw with the IQ250 the massive advantages that CMOS had over the traditional CCD Phase One backs. This showed up for me in two main areas, noise and dynamic range. These both have many definitions but for me it’s simple:
Noise, how much noise will I see in areas of shadow, at base ISO and at higher ISO. If I push an image, how much detail is lost to noise in the shadows. With a CCD back, there was never too much room here even at base ISO of 50
Dynamic Range, with one single exposure, what can I capture? If I adjust for highlights, will my shadows be filled with too much noise or vise versa. Also how well does my color saturation hold up at higher ISO ranges. With CCD digital backs, the color saturation fell off very quickly once past the base ISO. You might be able to get one more stop before the saturation was lost.
Moving to the IQ100 from the IQ260 I was hoping to see similar if not greater dynamic range at base ISO to the Nikon D810. I still regard the Nikon D810 as the flagship for dynamic range at base ISO of 64. With the Nikon D810 it’s easy to push a single exposure as much as 2.5 stops and still have wonderful details in the areas of shadow. Phase One (P1) rates the IQ100 at a base ISO of 50 so I was hoping to be able to get at least 2 stops of details when shooting at ISO 50. So on my first couple of outings with the IQ100, I mainly used ISO50 and planned to push the shots when necessary. I quickly found out that this the chip in the IQ100 (made by Sony) behaves differently that the 36MP chip in the D810 (also by Sony).
In working at base ISO 50, it became apparent to me that a shadow push of even 1 stop may be enough to cause you to lose details in the shadows, and also a huge amount of color saturation. This was a surprise to me as I had expected to get even better push than what I was seeing with the D810. However it was also soon apparent that the IQ100 has quite a bit of leeway with highlights, much more so than any of the CCD backs I have used from Phase One in the past. You can easily let your highlights go past 1 to 1.5 stops and still regain the finer whites. If you combine the “highlights” slider in Capture One, along the exposure slider, there is a lot of recovery. Looking at the example below: Click on the image to view it larger
The image on the right side is the base image before any adjustments, the image on the left side, I just pulled the overall exposure down from center to -99 (almost 1 stop) and then adjusted the highlights to 47 from the far left. This pulled back all of the sky and actually provided some very nice cloud features. I then just added a local adjustment layer to the lower portion of the file, (non sky) and pulled up the overall exposure then added one more adjustment layer to tweak a few dark areas. Overall the end result to me is very nice and again is testimony to just how much range is in a single exposure from this chip. The take away is for sure feel free to let your highlights go a bit so that you can pull in a bit more shadow details.
Here another example.
Here the original raw file is on the left side. Initial thoughts are that the sky is pretty blown, but with just a bit of highlight adjustment and overall exposure work, you can pull back the sky to a very manageable level. The bluff and trees will easily recover to most of their full detail with a bit of shadow recovery and local adjustment layer to work only on that part of the image.
From my photography I feel if there is a downside to the IQ100 dynamic range, it would be in the shadow recovery. Here you have to be very careful as just one stop or two can make a huge difference between good details and color in the shadows. Lets go back to an example from the same set of images. If you look at the image at the top of this article, you can see that towards the far right on the bluff there is a dark area. I shot this scene in several brackets at both ISO 50 and 100 as I was unsure as to just how the clouds would capture. As it turned out, the clouds/sky were not the problem, but the dark shadows were. Look at this comparison: make sure to click on the image to view it full screen.
The image on the left was shot at ISO 50 at 1/25th of a second, F12, and the image on the left was taken immediately next at ISO50 and 1/60th of a second F12. If you click on the image, you can see that the bluff and trees along the bluff are almost devoid of color and there is considerably more noise. Both of these screen crops are from sharpened final images. The image on the left holds the green down into the shadows where as the same part of the image on the right is starting to lose the color fidelity. The color you may be able to pull back with some work in Photoshop, but the noise and loss of overall details you will never get back. So the point, is that you really need to watch your exposure and if you are unsure, bracket the frames. Just a difference in 1/25th and 1/60th can make a big improvement in the overall quality of the final image.
Photographer’s Notes:
I feel that there is considerably more dynamic range in the IQ100 CMOS back, over similar CCD backs like the IQ260 and IQ380 (60 and 80MP respectively)
The IQ100 has a tendency to push to a green overall tint and it seems that the greens can easily be come over saturated.
When working in mixed outdoor lighting, I would recommend exposing to the right, and pushing the highlights, as from my shooting experience you can easily recover 1 stop and possibly 1.5 stops in the highlights.
The shadows will quickly loss details and color if underexposed, even at base ISO of 50 or one push to ISO100. Once these details are lost you will not be able to get them back easily.
Considering that the 100MP back will start to suffer softness from diffraction at apertures past F11, you need to balance your shooting between both shutter speeds (subject allowing) and ISO.
When working on a single file, don’t be fooled into thinking that you have lost your highlights as you will be surprised to see just how much dynamic range and malleability is available in these fantastic files.
Richland Creek in Autumn–12/18/14 Featured Arkansas Landscape Photography
Taken with a Phase One IQ160, Rodenstock 28mm HR lens, F11 for approximately 1 second, iso 50. Richland Creek, which runs from Newton County to the Buffalo River near Woolum Ford, has some of the most beautiful photographic subject matter in Arkansas, if you love creeks. Here you can find huge rocks that have ended up in the creek that had to have originated up much higher on the bluffs. Some of these rocks are the size of a small house and most are the size of a car. Richland creek has several sections that run over flat bedrock and this spot is one of them. This spot is about 100 yards long and starts out directly below Shaw’s Folly Rapid. The foliage on the left back, which is featured in this shot, is full of oaks, maples and hickory trees which on this day were all in full color. There was just enough water in the creek to allow for a movement shot. Normally, I like to have bright sunny days to work Richland, but on this day which was overcast I was able to get one of my best shots of the creek. Using tilt, I have gained quite a bit in overall depth of field so I was able to keep the details of the large rock on the left foreground in focus along with the trees in the background. This was a magic day for sure.
03/30/13 Adding a Grip Extension to a Arca Swiss Rm3di–Getting a better handle on things
- At March 31, 2013
- By paul
- In Phase One & Arca Camera
- 0
One of the more unique aspects of the Arca rm3di camera are the orange/yellow horizontal and vertical grips. These grips are made from a smooth plastic material that seems very durable. However the grip for the vertical extension has one rather minor issue, clearance for fingers around the grip. Arca does not allow for any extra height and the stock grip fits flush to the camera body. Also Arca does not allow for a left side grip. This to me is a huge oversight in the design since you can only grip the camera/lens and digital back on the right side. If you are right handed, you have to dedicate your control hand to move the camera around, similar to how a DSLR works. In my workflow, I would like to be able to hold the Arca with my left hand, which would allow me to make easier adjustments, like for tilt, shift, aperture, shutter speed and focus.
The larger issue however is that you don’t have a solid and secure grip when using the stock vertical grip. I have a large hand, but even with a smaller had, there is not enough height to get any purchase on the grip. When you consider the fact that you are holding a camera, lens and a digital back with a value of over 30K, you want to be sure when you grasp the vertical handle that you have a solid purchase. Since the handles designed by Arca don’t have finger indentations, you are looking for the ability to wrap your fingers around the handle and dig into something solid. After I worked with my rm3di for a few months, I realized I needed something more, and I reached out to Rod Klukas, the U.S Arca Rep. Rod informed me that Arca made a “grip extention” and I ordered one immediately.
The Arca rm3di grip extension made from one piece of material. It is concave on the inside which will allow the user to get a very secure grip on the handle. To install it one simply unscrews the current handle and places the grip extension in the same place. The holes line up perfectly and you use the new screws that are included with the grip extension. Then it’s simple process to screw back on the stock Arca grip. Arca has designed a very secure solution here. The grip is angled outward and presses right up against the back of the camera. The fact that it’s angled outwards gets the grip away from the mounted lens and thus your fingers will not be hitting the lens or shutter.
Once it’s mounted, make sure to place the included allen wrench somewhere secure. I just keep mine with the camera body in the case I use. I have had my grip installed now for over a year and I have never had anything come lose. When I installed it I put just a bit of blue thread locker on my threads. The grip extension gives me total confidence when I pick up the rm3di with a Phase One digital back installed. I have carried this camera/digital back combination over pretty rough terrain and in streams with no concerns at all. My only issue is that Arca just don’t include the grip extension with the base price of the camera. The additional cost of the grip extension is approximately $385.00 and you may have to wait a while to get one. I ordered mine from Rod Klukas directly.
Here is a link to Rod’s website: www.Rodklukas.com