IQ

Image Quality, how much is enough? Is sixty megapixel medium format the pinnacle of IQ or is it overkill?

As the debate rages about file size, dynamic range, high ISO noise, etc... participants attempting to "scientifically" weight the argument to prove the gear they use is good enough or the best. The fact remains, gear choice relates more to the project at hand, one system cannot cover all needs.

I shoot 90% of my work with a medium format system. Phase One P65+, for me it is more about a balance of maximum quality and flexibility. The IQ is stunning, best I have seen in digital, but the ability to hang the back on a view camera is just as important.

More complicated and cumbersome? Sure, but crafting a great picture is what I am after and in that respect medium format is flat out the best. Not just huge files that easily crop to all the spaces and ad will run or the extra headroom for retouching. It is also about applying traditional photographic skills. View camera movements allow fine control over plane of focus and perspective. Large format lenses boost the IQ even more. In short the flexibility of medium format gives me a wider palette of creative and technical choices.

The day may come when Canon or Nikon delivers a camera that can make as many pixels that are as technically perfect as the best of medium format but it will still be just a quick pointing and shooting DSLR. Essential for some projects but in no way a universal solution.

The Leica S2 is a case in point. Beautiful camera, great lenses, as an improvement to the formats however, a failure. It combines the weakest elements of each into one convenient package that is excellent in a very narrow range. If that range is where you live then it is a great solution.

I shoot because I love it. I use the best tools available because it helps me to craft great pictures. That is real, the debate, the pixel peeping, the equivocation, is just noise.