Who's ever had a shoot without the camera malfunctioning?

[jonpaul]

Hello Drew and all! I have an IQ180 on my Contax 645 bodies (3!) and have not had any issues either via USB, FW or CF.

That leads me to think it issues are either in the camera or some handshake between camera and back.

One tool could be some special FW to create a lockup or crash report, that saves to CF or tethered storage.

Not sure if P1 has such a FW, but we can ask!

Enjoy and Good luck!

Jon

[Digital Transitions, Doug]

Wow, so sorry to hear you're having problems with your camera.

I've been a long time Canon user and in the last couple months I've been wanting to make the jump to Medium format, but the stories I read hear are pretty scary.

After sales and customer service is definitely not what I would expect for a system at this price.

It's a shame..

Do bear in mind when you go to a support-oriented forum you're, by definition, going to find mostly stories of issues/questions/problems. Users without any issues have much less cause to post to such a forum. I'd suggest calling your local rental house and asking how they've found their (heavily used and abused) Phase One systems. Or rent/borrow one to try for a weekend shoot - don't go easy on it; push it around hard. Most Phase One dealers are glad to help you test a system in a way that makes sense to your needs - if you're in the US feel free to contact us (www.digitaltransitions.com) to arrange this.

[David Cohen de Lara]

I guess I'm just a bit confused why that Firmware has not been tested yet when the errors you've mentioned are the ones that it address. Rather than continue this thread with frustration, lets have you test that Firmware and then take the next necessary steps should you still be unsatisfied.

I've spent six months with the new firmware and it seems to have fixed a lot of the reliability issues. Over the last six months my camera has only locked up a handful of times per shoot. Each time I was able to fix the lock-up by either a power cycle, or a lens remove/replace, or a battery remove/replace, or a back remove/replace. I've learned to try all these things in quick succession until I can shoot again. Not great but I guess that's all the 'reliability' I can ask for.

Sadly today my (< 1 year old) 645DF+ body suddenly started making funny noises and then completely stopped working. Of course this happened on the second day of a four day shoot on an island 5000 miles away from my dealer, just like my other 645DF body died on me when I was away from home in Vienna, and another one before that died when I was working in Melbourne.

I just hope my backup 645DF body holds up for the rest of the trip. Two more shoot days everybody, fingers crossed.

[Drew]

Support case #?
Let's get the specifics of the conflict and find you a solution.

[David Cohen de Lara]

I'm taking the 645DF+ body to my dealer tomorrow. Do you mean I should create a support case for the remaining lockups and errors?

[Drew]

You're dealer can do this for you if need be... I was simply noting that if you are having difficulty, it's best to contact the source for assistance (Support or your Dealer) so we can assist you as appose to the forum.
Lot's of people have experience with the camera and software, but not intimate knowledge of errors sources and fixes. We do.
As you can see from this thread, there are a few people that have had issues but it seems your experience is not the norm so there is certainly a fix for you if you just give us the details and opportunity.

[David Cohen de Lara]

OK I brought the body to my dealer and explained that apart from the defective body I still get errors and lockups with the new firmware. This happens regardless of which body or lens I mount to my back so I'm not quite sure how you guys intend to fix it by just servicing one body. Let me know if you need to take the entire system in for inspection again just like you did last year for the same problem.

[Drew]

Is there a Support Case from your dealer I can reference?
Again, we need to get the specifics of the conflict in order to find you a solution.

[David Cohen de Lara]

They did not give me a case number but Dick-Jan and Rob at EOM both know about it.

[Paqart]

Drew,

I've had the same problem you describe with my DF+, but nowhere near as often. At most it has happened (I think) twice in one day, and that day being one that involves a lot of shooting at a sporting event. My impression--though possibly wrong--is that the batteries heat up with heavy use and that causes the error. Replacing them with cool batteries from my bag fixes it every time, so as far as I am concerned it isn't an issue.

I should also point out that the expense of a system and its value is often connected to the unique selling point of that system. For Phase, that is image quality. I would prefer that it always worked exactly the way I expect, but if my expectations are unrealistic, like by ignoring the effect of heat on the camera, then that is my problem. Almost any complicated mechanical device will occasionally break down in certain circumstances. The key to getting the most out of the system in my view is to learn to work within the constraints of the system rather than insisting it be fixed to the point of flawlessness before getting back to the real work of taking pictures.

Ap

[Kevin Scott]

Never. Not once. In fact, I just bought a new XF/IQ3 100 and i can't even get it up and running without it losing connection to my Mac while tethered. Can't even get a single capture. It blows me away how they remain this technically inept after taking so much of our money

[dale11833]

Never. Not once. In fact, I just bought a new XF/IQ3 100 and i can't even get it up and running without it losing connection to my Mac while tethered. Can't even get a single capture. It blows me away how they remain this technically inept after taking so much of our money

Something in your setup is probably creating your situation.

I just worked with that system all day yesterday and we capture almost 1000 images. I did lose connection but I just unplugged and plugged back in and it connected in 2 seconds. I used a 30' usb3 active cable + the phase one cable with a powered usb3 hub. Firmware was up to date.

I think Phase might finally have a better system than using a Hassy H series body with a phase back. I would have to use it more to really know for sure.

[purezerg]

having used phaseone P45+ to IQ280,
I come to realized that most of the tethering problem lies with mac.
ever since I tether to a PC via firewire, I never had to plug/unplug or restart the system/capture1.

if any restart it's a bugging capture1. but that's about it.

for those wondering, my firewire outputs 12v @ 3a. via a expresscard.

the only annoying thing so far is the 645 bodies need to change batt.

[Ross Floyd]

Making pictures now has way more moving parts, and more opportunities for things to go wrong. The camera (XF) and digital back are two computers working in concert with each other and mechanical motors and sensors (shutter, AF, metering) to capture images and convert that information to zeros and ones, then transferring incredibly large files to a third computer nearly instantaneously where they are read and interpreted as an image you can then edit and manipulate... Holy shit.

We have 3 IQ3 50MP and XF bodies and as early adopters, we have had some problems, but Phase, true to their warranty, overnighted parts until those problems could be resolved.

Every piece of equipment in my studio has some sort of quirk or "problem." None of it is cheap. That in mind, what doesn't have flaws or thing you need to work around? I still have to press the button twice on my my toaster, and cameras, although significantly more expensive, are still subject to the same difficulties of engineering.

Back in the film days when you had mechanical lenses with specific characteristics, or a batch of film that was a little wacky, you would make adjustments. If you had faulty a 4x5 film holder, you would tape to up to get rid of the light leaks.

Image capture of this quality and size requires extra diligence and knowing your equipment from start to finish. I have been shooting phase since the P20 and AFDII and using the software for since v3. I can tell you first-hand, almost every process and all of the connection reliabilities have been vastly improved over the life of PhaseOne and they continue to get better.