Leaf Aptus II 10R /10 digiback

[parkn123]

I surfed the internet for 2 days & found there are so little Leaf Aptus II 10R/10 users , any users here & comment ?

Many many Thanks.

[Brian Hirschfeld]

Personally, when I attempted to demo one a few years ago it was certainly not a good experience (http://brianhirschfeldphotography.com/2011/12/07/leaf-aptus-ii-10-on-phaseone-645df/) although some of the issues might have been extenuating circumstances and whatever. However the new Leaf Credo is MUCH much better in every way Lance from DT did a good job of showing this in the video-review of the Credo I made with him last year... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2hcOt_YLno

[Geoffreyg]

. Brian - did your demo have troubles with this particular model, or was it the Leaf in general you found problemmatic? I've had really good results with the Leaf AFI II 7 - which also has the rotating sensor.

[Brian Hirschfeld]

I think it was more Leaf in general. I didn't have much experience with the brand when I wrote that, however I have much more now and the big points I make in that review still stand. Also in my articles where I discuss the Credo, which you can find on my website as well (both viewable here: http://brianhirschfeldphotography.com/?s=Credo&search=Search) I discuss the Aptus series and some flaws which I (and others) see in these backs for certain applications.

If you are able to work with the AFI / Aptus software and UI (which I believe are the same but I am not sure since I have never used the AFI) then I don't think there would be any great trouble with the 10.

The MamiyaLeaf Credo is in many ways a baby PhaseOne IQ depending on what you are doing the Credo can be more economical, the IQ has some advantages including the focus mask which many who shoot on technical cameras find invaluable.

[EricWHiss]

Brian,
Leaf has updated the GUI since your review and the big virtue of the 10R is the rotating sensor which is lost on people who use 645 cameras.  For someone who is using a 6x6 camera such as the AFi, the leaf aptus 10/12 is the best game in town.   Now if I were buying a back again for my AFi, I would still pick the Aptus 12r over the credo 80 any day purely for the rotating sensor. It's one of those features, that I wonder how I managed before.  I may have written this before, but many people shooters have preferred the Leaf backs over the phase backs for the skin tones and film like file quality. 

As an aside, it seems you like quality photographic gear so I'm simply baffled that you haven't checked out the Hy6/AFi and the wonderful Schneider lenses so far.     Next time you are in San Francisco, I'll be happy to personally show you the platform. 
Eric

[Brian Hirschfeld]

Eric,
Sure if I wind up there again you can show it to me. The camera SEEMS awkward to me, never having used it. The lenses are absolutely excellent, and the 10R certainly has its square format advantages, although its not clear if this matters to the OP...

http://brianhirschfeldphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/hand.jpg
PhaseOne IQ180, P65+ and Leaf Credo 80 (Left to Right)

Make your own decisions on skin tones, I know its not terribly scientific but I think it highlights the differences in processing well enough for someone to draw their own conclusions. The IQ180 file and the Credo 80 file seem very similar however, the Credo is slightly different and some may accept this as better or more preferable, of course this is personal taste. Certainly the Credo file could be processed to look like the PhaseOne and visa-versa however it is unclear how difficult or time consuming this would be.

[EricWHiss]

I vaguely recall we had a discussion about this in the past when you posted your review no need to rehash now.   Frankly the differences are smaller now that both backs use more or less the same DALSA sensor than they had been in the past.  I've always liked the Kodak sensor colors and only moved to Leaf when I changed to the AFi from 6008AF.   Still when I compare the color from the Aptus 12 to something like the nikon d800 its simply amazing how good it is. I do wonder why Phase has not introduced as many different skin color profiles as Leaf has now that they have acquired Leaf.

For the OP, the choice between the credo and aptus probably has more to do with how much you shoot tethered and how much not, and how frequently you switch between portrait and landscape.   I mean you can do it with the Credo too, but you have to remove the back and physically turn it.  I wouldn't be doing that a lot on landscape shots because of the dust issue.  In studio its probably fine, just a tad slower.

If you have mostly shot DSLR type cameras the 645DF may seem more at home, and I'll admit the Rollei 6000 and Hy6 platforms take a period of time to get used to, but once you've gotten there there is no other camera that is even close to it in terms of ergonomics. 

[Brian Hirschfeld]

Hopefully I'll get a hands on with one of them soon.

[yaya]

I surfed the internet for 2 days & found there are so little Leaf Aptus II 10R/10 users , any users here & comment ?

Many many Thanks.

You can PM or email me and I'll do some name-dropping, there are quite a few landscape, architecture, car and product shooters out there using the 10/ 10R backs. It it one of my favourite backs for landscapes on a technical camera

BR

Yair

[parkn123]

Thank you very much .
Actucally, I want to learn more from professionals , I already ordered an 2nd hand 10R .

Good services!!