older digital backs?

[Craig Wactor]

I am seeing a few older digital backs being sold on the auction site for an affordable amount. Does anyone know of a resource for comparing these backs, or just have a favorite that you have used?

[Brian Yarvin]

Craig:

Do you mean large format scanning backs or medium format single shot?

If it's large format, then the PhaseOne PowerPhase or any of the Dicomed/Better Light units will do the job well, albeit a bit more slowly than the newer models. If you're used to files from scanners or dslrs, the results from these units will be a bit of a startle. There's no getting away from the large format advantage, even when you're not using film at all.

I know almost nothing about the medium format backs.

Brian

http://www.brianyarvin.com

[Robert Skeoch]

I used a Phase One Light Phase on a blad for years. I thought it was good but now it sits on a shelf and I use my canon mark II.
I think the Phase can be mounted on a sinar but I only used it wiih the blad.
-Rob Skeoch

[Frank Petronio]

In addition to your older digital back, be sure to pick up an older yet ramped-up computer with lots of older RAM and SCSI connections, plus the versions of the OS, utilities, and Adobe Photoshop software you'll need to process the RAW images. I'd imagine you'd want to send them over a network to a newer system for any in-depth work. If you really want to work on large images with a 68040 or 604 processor (or 486 or P2) then pick up a cheap TV set because you'll be sitting around waiting between Photoshop operations.

If you go back far enough, you'll lose high bit files and color profiles. And spinning a tri-color filter in front of the lens is a lot of fun, just like the 1930s.

[Brian Yarvin]

Frank:

Not really. All you'll need is a SCSI card and an adapter, both are sold in my local computer shop.

Mac users should note that some large format backs run only on OS9.

[Janko Belaj]

To follow Frank's and Brian's advice, Craig, if you get some old back (scanning back), try to find one of G3 Macs. G3 beige 300 minitower might be the best workhorse (after old FX and 9600 and before 2xG5) and accepts both MacOS 9 (9.2.1 might be the best) and Mac OS X (10.2.8 last to recommend for that Mac). You have PCI, you have SCSI. fast enough even today for some serious PS work.

[Frank Petronio]

Remember trying to put RAM into those beige boxes though? You had to pull the motherboard and hard drives out... it took an hour.

[Janko Belaj]

Frank... not on those two I mentioned - G3 and 9600. PM 8200, for example, was one of those ugly designs (I hated moment of any upgrade with that beast), but later Macs, and specialy G3, those are "flip/flop" design (just like flatbad camera, to be a little more ontopic :-)) ...child game.