@Billy, way to overreact. Bandigolo actually has a point. For the vast majority of commercial work, a modern Canon or Nikon will do the job just fine with resolution to spare. You only need 16 megapixel for a magazine double page spread at 300DPI. Sure, when shooting for uber-high end clients you would be using a digital back and medium or large-format camera system but it is certainly not the norm in the commercial world.

Not that I would do this myself, far from it, but I've been on the odd shoot where we have shot 48-sheet billboards with a 5D. Pretty dodgy, I know, but not many clients can tell the difference with a bit of quality post production factored in.

Uh... 'full frame' does not only apply to 35mm. the P65+ is the first digital back that has a sensor roughly equivalent to 645 film and the camera format that it is designed for, thus making it full frame in my book. I'd be interested to know if this one is too but can't be arsed finding out.

Phase One and Mamiya are partners, and Phase One are heavily involved in the design of lenses and camera electronics. So yeah, I'd say Phase One do make cameras, even if they are rebadged Mamiyas.

so, umm... is this full frame like the p65+? If so, yay. That is all.

I'd totally be in for that.

If Kyocera (I think that's who owns the rights to the Voigtlander brand now) jammed a 12 megapixel 35mm Sony CMOS like the one in the Nikon D700 into one of their Bessa cameras, man... I would buy it in a heartbeat. It would beat the pants off this polished turd above, too.

The Epson RD-1 was close, but not nearly close enough.

The M8 has indeed been bagged by alot of professional photojournalists. Their main complaint, apart from image quality problems and the large crop factor, is that the control layout just isn't that well designed. It's quite easy to bump the mode dial into self-timer and end up not getting the shot when you raise the camera to use it. The solution- gaffa tape. There was a time when Leicas were field tested by pros before they went into production, but less so with the M8 it seems. I think Leica look at M8 purchasers as incredibly rich unpaid beta testers.

Damn straight.

Lucky Pierrot FTW!

I dunno about that. The D3x, being the pinnacle of 35MM DSLRs at the moment, and targeted more at the studio/fashion market with its high pixel count, ultra-low noise and lower frame rate, is clearly taking a shot across the bows of medium format digi, at least at the price point where this Mamiya sits.

Many pros would have to seriously consider what this camera is offering them over say the D3x (much cheaper), Sony Alpha (much much much cheaper) etc. For the majority of paid work, and I say the majority- there are always exceptions, there's just not that much in it anymore.

if you work at an elementary school you aren't the target market for this device, kay?

Uh, dude... Olympus zuiko (35mm film) and now Zuiko Digital are some of the best lenses ever made. I'm a nikon person, but I know full well Oly optics are top notch.