Mamiya's DL28 digital camera system is slightly cheaper than you'd think

We know you want a pro-friendly medium format digital camera -- so do we -- but they're awfully expensive, aren't they? You might have to think about dropping as much as $30,000 one of these babies if you're the discerning type, but Mamiya is trying to convince you that you can save a few thousand dollars and still get results. Enter the DL28 digital camera system, which combines the body of the well-established 645 with Leaf's Aptus-II 6 digital back. It's got 16-bit capture, a 12-stop dynamic range, an ISO range of 50 - 800, and a fancy 3.5-inch touch screen at price of $15,000, appropriate for cash-strapped professionals and financially comfortable hobbyists -- unless Nikon has something to say about it.

[riffrocker134 @ Oct 21st 2008 7:51PM]

wait...

what?!

[srue @ Oct 21st 2008 7:57PM]

"and a fancy 7.5-inch touch screen"

So I guess this is a two-handed model.

[Stefan @ Oct 21st 2008 8:15PM]

lol no , it's a 3.5 inch screen

[Evan @ Oct 21st 2008 8:16PM]

Have you ever used a older Mamiya? You must use 2 hands. 12 stop dynamic range... wow! And at 15K, wow!

[Kenjis9965 @ Oct 21st 2008 8:19PM]

Its a 3.5" screen according to dpreview

And given its a medium format, a 3.5" screen sounds about right size-wise

But regardless, Yes, this is a 2-handed model

$15000 may not be "cheap" to most people [Consider a EOS-1dsIII is $7500!] but considering most other medium format digitals are in the $20k+ range last I saw this is a HUGE breakthrough in price terms!

Of course for the time being, film is STILL the way to go for the forseeable future when it comes to Medium Format

[Plothole @ Oct 21st 2008 8:18PM]

Three handed, if it were really that big.

[Stefan @ Oct 21st 2008 8:23PM]

Well i shoot even my nikon p5000 with 2 hands the no was refering to the 7.5 inch

[Samuel Axon @ Oct 21st 2008 8:33PM]

Whoops! Fixed, thanks.

[Billy Fiul @ Oct 21st 2008 11:13PM]

@ Plothole

Regarding your post on the Canon 5D Mark II, you called it the "Mark 5" which is so not what it's called. And that's why you're an idiot.

[Plothole @ Oct 21st 2008 11:52PM]

@Billy Fiul
"5 MarkII... ugh, what is with Canon and these names?"

Realizing I made a goof, I *immediately* posted this amendment. Now you're calling me the idiot in a completely different news post?

[iEye @ Oct 21st 2008 8:16PM]

And you guys were complaining about that Casio EX-FH20 $600 price tag...

Oh ho ho!

[scott @ Oct 21st 2008 8:34PM]

Dude, please stop posting here, you're really ruining my enjoyment of this site.

[JL @ Oct 21st 2008 8:19PM]

the aptus sucks. soo fucking slow, yeah 30megapixels is pretty impressive, but it's so SLOW, and the touchscreen sucks, also in the aptus22 when shipped it didn't have bluetooth enabled, it had the hardware but why the hell would they disable the bluetooth, especially when wireless tethering kicksass.

anyways cool maybe aptus will get it right this time
also check out the Phase One 645afdII it's pretty dope.

[Ender @ Oct 21st 2008 9:59PM]

Slow? Do you know anything about studio photography? This is a studio camera, not something you'd shoot superbowl sunday with....

[Ian @ Oct 21st 2008 8:29PM]

Firstly, why would you need bluetooth? It has slow transfer speeds, making it useless for a camera with so many pixels.

Secondly, the camera is slow, but I doubt it was meant for sports shooters or anything like it. How fast does your camera need to be to shoot landscapes?

[TheKillerDynamo @ Oct 21st 2008 8:50PM]

I don't know, with the pace those glaciers move at...

[foebea @ Oct 21st 2008 8:51PM]

you take a picture and send it to your pocket pc and crop it as needed with Phojo add subtitle and location info and hit send, it transfers via ftp over cell networks to your editor and they can put it in the afternoon edition.

[sean @ Oct 21st 2008 9:04PM]

LOL! As if you could do any of that with a 150 MB file. I think you're grossly misunderstanding what medium format cameras are used for. They prioritize quality way over speed, flexibility, and cost. No photojournalist could ever use one; they're just not fast, compact, or versatile enough.

[Tian @ Oct 21st 2008 10:14PM]

As for bluetooth, remote triggering perhaps? Its a pain to have a camera tethered to the computer.

[Michael @ Oct 21st 2008 10:32PM]

This is depressing. Medium format continues to allude me. When I was a teenager I really wanted to shoot with a hasselblad. But I couldn't afford the two or three thousand dollars for the camera and lens. Now that I'm older and making more money I still can't afford the medium format cameras.

[Dave @ Oct 21st 2008 11:43PM]

Get an old TLR camera. You'll be shooting 120 film for around 300 bucks, and you can't beat the old-timey-ness of shooting with a camera with two lenses on top of one another that you look down into. I made some pretty awesome photos with one.

Screw Hass and Mamiya. Tens of thousands for "financially comfortable" hobbyists? More like "stinking filthy rich" hobbyists.

[Unknown @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:16PM]

there are any number of very reasonably priced (ie $50) russian folders in the 6x7 and 6x9 range such as one of the Moskva's. There are also 6x6 models. If you are willing to pony up a bit more, there are plenty of Fuji 6x7s out there in the 700-1000 range. Great camera but a little on the heavy side.

[Bryan @ Oct 21st 2008 11:14PM]

Hope it's nothing like that pile of crap called the ZD.

I've used the Aptus 75S and liked it. The touch screen is a great feature. Too bad it's kinda unresponsive. Leaf makes a pretty decent system though.

[kb2zuz @ Oct 22nd 2008 10:34AM]

The Mamyia 645AFD and Leaf Aptus combo has been a pretty solid studio camera for a while now. I still don't think I'd ever use it at an ISO set higher than 100 but this isn't made for shooting sports at night. The Aptus backs have had touch screens going back several years now, unfortunately the last time I played with one (Aptus 22) the screen was a lot less responsive than what's available today with all the iPhones and everything else we've gotten used to.

@Michael, you can now buy a used Hasselblad 501 film camera with a lens for about $500-600 if you look around. Unless you're shooting in a studio with strobes, or maybe doing landscapes medium format digital is too much of a niche. A D50/1D MkIII/5D MkII, D300/D700/D3, or even an old hasselblad loaded with film is a lot more versatile. I use a H3DII-39MS for work, but it's not what I would carry around to shoot with, even if I was obscenely rich. If you're using medium format digital, 98% of the time you're going to either be using strobes, locked to a tripod, or both.