As Phase One’s new P65+ and P40+ with Sensor+ Technology has started shipping, DigitalFusion had a unique opportunity to spend time with Claus Mølgaard, Vice President of Research & Development for Phase One Denmark.
DigitalFusion: With the P65+ with Sensor+ Technology now shipping, can you share with our readers why it is such an important breakthrough?
Claus: If you take it from the top, the P65+ has the ability to scale pixels dynamically. That means that one second you have the full frame 645 format with 60.5 MP and with only the flick of a switch, the next second have the full frame sensor with only 15 MP but your pixels are four times larger. Essentially, you get medium format image quality combined with the performance benefits of 35mm – all in the one product. If you considered bringing both a 35mm and a medium format system, you no longer need to do that. You can just bring a P65+. And when shooting at 15 MP, you have an astounding four-fold increase in sensitivity that is actually higher than we had initially considered possible. With the P65+, you can go from ISO 50 to ISO 3200 and this is the first time that such a high ISO has been possible with any medium format digital camera.
DigitalFusion: Is that the upper limit or could it [the P65+] actually achieve more [higher ISO]?
Claus: It can achieve more. It depends on the scene you’re shooting. To give you an example, I was shooting images of my kids – 100% hand held and I needed the fast shutter time so I set it to ISO 3200. But I was still too low on light, so I deliberately underexposed the images almost two f-stops. I then kicked one up to ISO 12800 and it printed very nicely at A3 size [about 11 by 17 inches].
DigitalFusion: It appears that the higher ISO resulted in a lower maximum exposure time for the P65+.
Claus: Yes, that was one of the trade-offs we made to achieve the higher ISO and greater dynamic range in the Sensor+ technology. But what you can do is crank the ISO up to 3200 and expose the sensor for 30 seconds – you’ll actually capture as much light as a 30 minute exposure at ISO 50. This can be a real time saver. On a pitch black night the P65+ would capture the shot in one minute [30 seconds of black calibration followed by 30 seconds of exposure] while a P45+ would require one hour. Of course, if you really want a long exposure to catch star trails or other motion, then the P45+ remains the best back in the world for extended time exposures.
DigitalFusion: Do the higher ISO and long exposures result in more noise in the image?
Claus: Yes the higher you go, the more noise. Temperature also plays a critical role in long exposure times. This is the case for both the P65+ and P45+. As temperature rises your maximum exposure time is reduced. For example, if I cooled a P65+ down to 0° C [32° F or freezing point], I would be able to expose [the P65+] for considerably longer than one minute, probably for several minutes. However, because we cannot control temperature, we specify the exposure times for normal operating environments of 25°-30° C [70°-85° F or room temperature].
DigitalFusion: When you say “crank the ISO up”, you also mean changing the resolution down to the 15 MP setting in order to achieve the ISO you want, correct?
Claus: You can do that, but it may not be required. Depending on the ISO you want, you may be able to achieve it in full resolution [60 MP] it just depends on how far you want to go. For instance, an 8 minute exposure with a P45+ at ISO 50 would be similar to a one minute exposure with a P65+ [at 60 MP] with the ISO cranked up to 400.
DigitalFusion: Are there plans to expand the technology, perhaps a 50% resolution?
Claus: No, we actually couldn’t do a 50% resolution because the pixels would not be symmetrically correct – they would have different dimensions on each side. Nikon tried this many years ago with very poor results and that is not a path we want to go down. What we have done is create a technology that enables the 15 MP image to be scaled very well. For example, I was able to print a 15 MP image at 300 dpi, scaled to fit an A3 sheet [about 11 x17 inches] – it looks absolutely stunning. You cannot tell the difference between the full resolution image [60 MP] and the 15 MP image. And if you scale an output file equivalent to 30 MP [50% resolution], your results would be similar and that is why we didn’t consider a 50% resolution approach.
DigitalFusion: When given the choice, you would still recommend that the photographer shoot the full resolution image [60 MP] and scale down, unless the situation required a high ISO – then you would shoot the lower resolution [15 MP] and scale up.
Claus: Exactly. I recommend you try it yourself — shoot a variety of settings and then make large prints. In the development of the technology, our R&D team wondered if this could really be done. And even we have been very surprised with the results. Our team imagined that this result could be achieved based on the math and theory, but the results actually exceeded our greatest expectations. That, of course, was very nice to see.
DigitalFusion: When you turn down the chip to 15 MPs are you actually going physically faster in shutter speed or per frame timing?
Claus: Yes, you are. For example, on a classic Hasselblad V system, you can shoot 1.0 frames per second at 60 MP and at 15 MP you can shoot around 1.4 frames per second. That’s pretty fast.
DigitalFusion: Have you tested the Sensor+ on the Hasselblad H2 systems and are there similar speed increases as well?
Claus: This depends on the type of camera body and the setup of the camera. Combining auto-focus systems with P65+ at 15 MP, you typically shoot from 1.2 to 1.4 frames per second.
DigitalFusion: That’s still a significant speed bump over shooting in 60 MP mode.
Claus: Exactly. An interesting related experiment is to compare a Canon 1DS Mark III shooting raw at the high speed setting of 5 frames per second to the P65+ on a Hasselblad V system [in 15 MP mode] to determine which is actually “best”. Of course the Canon shoots the first 5 or 6 images very fast, although not 5 frames per second, maybe 2 to 3 frames per second. But what happens after 5 or 6 frames is that the Canon will simply just stop for 3 or 4 seconds and then it will allow you to shoot two more frames and then stop again and so on. In contrast, the P65+ starts out at 1.4 frames per second and you continue until you run out of storage space, no buffering at all. And after one minute, the P65+ captures about 86 images and the Canon less than 60 images.
DigitalFusion: Where did the idea for the Sensor+ technology come from?
Claus: It’s simply an extremely bright idea that came out of the wonderful minds in our R&D department. We are lucky to have many gifted people on our R&D team and are fortunate to pull them from all over the world – New Zealand, the US, Germany, France, Denmark, wherever… We seek out the best minds in the world who want to dedicate themselves to high-end imaging and we foster an environment and culture that allows them to be very creative. We have been fortunate that this combination has resulted in some very bright ideas.
DigitalFusion: The Color Editor was an example of an R&D project that came out of basic research and was then added to the Capture One software.
Claus: We like to have our engineers talk with the creative photographers who use our products. That dialogue enables the photographer to directly express their needs to a gifted engineer or scientist creating a spark of genius that results in a process which brings about interesting and exciting new features. And when the photographers finally do see a solution in action, they go – “Wow, this was just what I needed!”
DigitalFusion: What portion of your R&D effort is focused on hardware development and portion is software development?
Claus: It’s a very equal now. In terms of manpower, we have more software people than we have hardware people. We are “math heavy” and are fortunate to have a number of very gifted mathematicians and physicists, many with PhDs. As a company we strive to use math and physics theory to solve problems while others will try to overcome the same problems with electronics.
DigitalFusion: With the Sensor+ Technology, is Phase One at a place where photographers can expect to maintain their investment in digital equipment for several years while continuing to receive improvements through hardware and software upgrades?
Claus: We believe that it’s very important to protect the investments photographers make in our products and we have a history of providing attractive upgrades paths. Sometimes hardware will need to be upgraded to a new generation while other improvements will be through software – we strive to provide both. As an example, the P65+ backs currently shipping will be eligible for upgrades that improve the results for high ISO and long exposure shots and we offer those upgrades to our customers at no additional charge.
DigitalFusion: Do your recent achievements on the P65+ and Sensor+ technology enable your R&D team the freedom to consider other aspects of the camera system?
Claus: Yes, they definitely do. We find our efforts focusing more on the camera system and through our work with our partner, Mamiya, we are able to use our R&D team to bring the Phase camera system to a higher level than what our customers have seen in the past. We attempt to view things from the photographer’s point – that means the need to capture an image in the best way possible. Phase One strives to provide photographer’s a complete and flexible set of products to capture those images. We work to keep our system open to other companies and from a mind-set perspective, we are probably more “Google/open-source thinking” than “Microsoft/tie-down” even though we have been working closely with Microsoft. We believe that if you provide a good open system, you will succeed in business.
DigitalFusion: You mentioned Microsoft, might we be seeing some fruits from your involvement with Microsoft in the near future?
Claus: Yes.
DigitalFusion: Can you tell us anything more?
Claus: I cannot. I can add that we are working to improve how Capture One handles large databases of images as well as overcoming challenges that our multiple file format creates when transferring files. These have been some of the weaker points of Capture One.
DigitalFusion: Do you mean the introduction of the new EIP file format in Capture One Pro 4.7?
Claus: Exactly, we want to make it easier for photographers to transfer files and for other companies, such as Microsoft, to interface to our files. We have found that it can be difficult to persuade larger companies to participate in open standards in order to help photographers.
DigitalFusion: We expect the P65+ to achieve quick adoption with working professionals and we think that is a clear tribute to your team’s efforts.
Claus: We strive to produce an experience where photographers respond by saying, “Wow! I love this thing when I use it!” We work to ensure that they have that feeling the first time they shoot it, as well as after one week, one year, many years… And we are committed to delivering products that will make people feel that way.
DigitalFusion: Thank you for your time and we appreciate your science!
Editor’s Note: More information about Phase One’s Sensor+ Technology is available in a white paper titled, Phase One Patent Pending Sensor+ Explained by Walter Borchenko.
About Claus Mølgaard, Vice President of Research & Development, Phase One Denmark
Claus Mølgaard has more than 12 years of experience within the fields of digital camera technology and image processing. Currently he holds the position as Chief Technology Officer and Vice President R&D at Phase One; a digital imaging camera and software company.
In the past he founded Chipmunk; a software company providing internet based job database services, and here he held the positions as CEO and CTO. He continued to found Comfact; a company providing advanced technology education and publishing services. Serving as Course Director he lead courses in VHDL and Digital Electronics teaching hundreds of engineers.
Prior to this he served as an assistant teacher at the Technical University of Denmark, where he also received his degree in Electrical Engineering. Over the years he has served as an external teacher and guest speaker at the Technical University; teaching digital electronics.
Claus has written books and articles about VHDL and Digital Camera technology. He is the inventor of patented and patent pending technologies within the fields of digital camera systems and data compression.
