Phase One IQ4 and XF body have a new firmware coming soon in 2019
Here is a quick video, from Capture Integration, my Phase One dealer based in Atlanta GA. This shows the new zoom to 400% feature for Live View.
With this firmware Phase One will be adding 4 new features to the IQ4, 2 of which are really carry overs from the older IQ3 Live view that did not make it to the IQ4.
- Power Share (between IQ4 and XF)
- Auto gain exposure for Lieu View
- Self timer for Electronic shutter
- Live View zoom to 400%
When the IQ4 rolled out in December 2018, two features from the IQ3 were not available, auto gain for live view and power share.
Power Share allowed the XF camera body to share power with the IQ3 digital back. The XF takes much less power to run than the IQ back, thus you gained a considerable amount of time in the field. In fact with the IQ3 and XF most days I only need 3 batteries. At first ship the IQ4 did not have this capability, and it will be a nice addition.
Auto Gain for Live View, with the older IQ CMOS backs, Phase One implemented a process for the Live View that allowed it to adjust the Live view increasing the ISO gain for low light work. You also had the ability to manually brighten the screen with a slider. With the IQ4, Phase One decided to have the Live View “simulate actual exposure” only Most digital cameras will have a setting to allow you to either simulate actual exposure or manually brighten the live view for low light work (sunrise, sunset for example). With the Phase One exposure simulation only method, in bright daylight work, or indoor studio work, it was not a problem, but if you were in a low light situation the Live View Frame rate switched to too slow a read out such that the Live View appeared to lock up, but instead it was just moving extremely slow due to the much slower frame rate. With the new firmware you will have the ability to use either the Auto Gain Live View or Exposure simulation.
Self Timer for Electronic Shutter, This is a new feature, and will be a great addition for photographers using the ES with a tech camera, as currently you only have the shutter button on the LCD or have to use a remote release like the Phase One Bob.
Live View zoom to up to 400%, I was at first a bit skeptical on this, but from watching the video it seems that this feature will be a huge feature addition for the IQ4. I have been having a bit of trouble dialing in exact focus with the Live View on the IQ4, mainly due to the fact that the screen doesn’t seem to have the same amount of contrast. I am hoping that with the auto gain exposure now coming back, along with this new ability to zoom into 400%, capturing a sharp manual focus will not be as difficult. The IQ4 150Mp sensor has amazing detail capturing capability, but you are operation on a razor thin line. So being able to see past 100% zoom up to 400% will be a great new feature. Glad to see that the LCD on the camera back can support such detailed views. When you view the video created by Capture Integration, watch when they zoom in to 400% and focus on the F stop setting on the Rodenstock lens. It’s impressive.
Thanks to Capture Integration in Atlanta Georgia, for their supplying both the short video and detailed information on this exiting new firmware update for the IQ4 digital back. You can reach them at: https://captureintegration.com
Written for www.photosofarkansas.com by Paul Caldwell, please contact me before reprinting or reproducing any part of this article.
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