Mamiya DL28 Digital Camera System

In medium format digital photography, price and performance are usually at opposite ends of the digital spectrum. Normally you have to pay more – a lot more – for better quality, performance and features, certainly for the latest technology. The new Mamiya DL28 Digital Camera System try to changes that way of thinking.

The Mamiya DL28 Digital Camera System offers professional features and benefits found in much more expensive cameras. For example, even though the DL28’s resolution is an impressive 28 Megapixels, its large sensor allows a pixel size of 7.2 microns, producing images with unmatched richness and color accuracy, low noise, and striking highlight and shadow detail. Its 3.5-inch (diagonal) screen is the largest in the industry and offers a bright, high-contrast touch screen that is ideal for outdoor or indoor work.

The DL28 marries the professionally proven Mamiya camera system to the innovative 28 megapixel Aptus-II 6 Digital Back from Leaf - a system capable of unrivaled performance, image quality and value. The 645AFD III body has a new coreless motor for faster, more accurate autofocusing and an enhanced interface system that provides total communication between the camera, lens and digital back. The 645AFD III and Leaf Aptus-II 6 Digital Back work as an integral unit so you’ll never miss the action.

With 16-bit capture, 12 stop dynamic range and an ISO range of 50-800, the Mamiya DL28 is a full featured professional digital solution that allows photographers to focus on creating the image and not worrying about the technology. The 28 MP back provides raw files of 53Mb, and 16 bit TIFF files in excess of 159 Mb – ensuring that you’ll have the information needed for virtually any size reproduction.

Compact flash media storage makes it easy to shoot untethered on location or in the studio. You can also use the included firewire cable and Leaf Capture 11.2 software to shoot directly to your computer. And the latest Leaf Capture software allows other people - in the field or in the studio - to view your creativity on their iPhones as you continue shooting!

Mamiya DL28 launch: November 2008. MAP price is $14,999.

Aptus 75 Digital Camera Back Wins TIPA 2006 Award

The Leaf Aptus 75 digital camera back has been awarded the prestigious ‘best digital camera back in Europe 2006’ Award. The award will be presented on the opening day of Photokina 2006 in Köln, Germany.

The Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) was founded in 1991 as an independent, non-profit Association of European photo and imaging magazines. At present, with 31 member magazines from twelve countries, TIPA is by far the largest and most influential photo and imaging press association in Europe. Once a year, all the editors and/or technical editors meet to vote for the “Best Photo and Imaging Products in Europe”.

With its 33.3 MP sensor and 7.2-micron pixel size, the LEAF Aptus 75 camera back provides rich detail and color, striking highlights and shadows, and a high dynamic range, all ensuring exceptional, state-of-the-art image quality. The spacious 6 × 7-cm touch screen allows quick and easy access to the settings needed by professional photographers both before and during the shoot.

Dov Kalinski, General Manager, Leaf, Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group (GCG) said, “We are very pleased to have won this prestigious and independent award. The award is evidence of the relentless drive on the part of Leaf to continue to provide our clients, who are top professional photographers, with a solution that achieves the quality and features they expect from Leaf.”

The Leaf Aptus 75 camera back increases productivity, giving photographers the luxury of leaving technical issues aside and concentrating on their images. It features an extended ISO range from 50 – 800. With its manageable file sizes, users can easily and smoothly process, send, and maintain their files. The large choice of storage options, including the 30 GB Digital Magazine, makes portable photography more flexible than ever before.

Leading commercial and fashion photographers worldwide benefit from the Leaf Aptus camera back’s quality, speed, and flexibility. It comes with a wide range of preshoot options that make it easy to create camera and file settings as well as to edit images during the shoot. The camera back is certified for a wide range of medium and large format cameras and is compatible with most external hard drives. It uses standard external batteries, and its uncompressed files are compatible with Adobe Photoshop.

Leaf next-generation digital camera back

New Leaf Aptus digital camera back system. This next-generation digital camera back is being introduced in two models: the Leaf Aptus 22 and the Leaf Aptus 17, with resolutions of 22 million and 17 million pixels respectively.

The Leaf Aptus was designed to accommodate the needs of professional photographers. A user-friendly and intuitive 6 x 7 cm touch screen display enables photographers to shoot up to 1000 frames without interruption.

Images are shot at an unprecedented speed of up to 1.2 seconds per frame, and can be evaluated and edited on the spot. A unique user button is customizable and enables the photographer to quickly access vital image information and perform tasks without removing his or her hands from the camera.

“Following extensive research of our users’ needs and requests, we designed the innovative Leaf Aptus family with intuitive use, robust functions, and enhanced workflow all tailored for professional photographers,” said Ilan Carmi, Leaf product marketing manager. “Initial sales and orders have been extremely promising and reflect the market’s enthusiasm for the benefits the new Leaf Aptus delivers.”

The Leaf Aptus further offers a range of storage methods for any shooting situation: a standard CompactFlash card; the fast and portable 20 GB and 30 GB Leaf Digital Magazine (holds over 1000 lossless raw files); a high-volume portable FireWire disk; and the tethered option of shooting straight to a computer.

The Leaf Aptus is delivered with the enhanced Leaf Capture 10 software, which offers a range of image-editing tools to adjust, select, and process images quickly and efficiently. The software enables photographers to simultaneously edit multiple 16-bit raw HDR files, batch process, and create and modify color profiles. The digital loupe tool, unique to the Leaf Capture 10 software, enables users to zoom into any sized preview or thumbnail for focus and detail verification.

Leaf Valeo 22Wi and Leaf Valeo 17Wi Go Wireless

The fastest digital camera back system — the Leaf™ Valeo — is now wireless. This next generation Leaf Valeo is being introduced with an innovative wireless display on two models: the Leaf Valeo22Wi and the new Leaf Valeo 17Wi, with resolutions of 22 and 17 million pixels respectively. Both camerabacks feature an unmatched fast capture rate, optimized 3:4 format ratio CCD, Portable Power technology,and In-Studio Large Format Power.

The new Leaf Valeo Wi family uses built-in Bluetooth® wireless technology to accomplish two-way communication between the camera and the Leaf DP-67, a 6 x 7 cm (3.9 inch) image display and control unit, based on the HP iPAQ pocket PC. By using the Leaf DP-67 image display and control unit, users can zoom-inon high resolution images that display instantly, verify focus, set camera parameters or even manage files andfolders from a distance of up to 10 meters (33 feet). The DP-67 acts as both a “digital proof” and a “personal photographic assistant”.

The Leaf Valeo Wi family is the fastest digital back system in the market at 1.2 sec/frame with its unique DSR (Dual Sensor Readout) technology (patent pending). DSR technology achieves record capture rate by utilizingthe CCD two-channel simultaneous readout. Both the 17 mega pixel and the 22 mega pixel CCDs present an optimized 3:4 format for a classic photographic ratio that’s efficient and minimizes cropping.

Leaf’s Large Format Power turns existing large format analog cameras into digital systems, allowing users to control aperture and shutter speed from their computer. The electronic lens control allows speeds up to 1/500 sec in 1/10 f-stop intervals producing accurate and consistent shutter performance. A Live Video View feature enables easy and accurate composition by superimposing a designer layout over the live image as well as on sensor absolute focusing.

The 16-bit A/D (analog to digital) converter assures the widest tonal range for rich and smooth tonal transitions. An advanced scaling algorithm enables a smooth film-like look in high-scale enlargements for files over 300 MB.