Those whacky Danish guys at PhaseOne have really thrown the gauntlet down in the digital camera back stakes - obliterating the Hasselblad H1D's lead with the launch of a 39MP unit, sufficiently powerful enough they say for no noise/moire billboard size prints - how many organs do you think youd have to sell to buy one of these puppies?

start drooling here.

39MP! So you already have your's ordered, Phil?

not just yet - have to wait till the exchange rate goes up a bit first :-)

Seriously though - stuff like this is a good thing for everyone. PhaseOne have announced that the P45 will cost no more than the P25 it replaces i.e. a complete setup of camera body, digital back and lens will cost roughly £24,000 or $42,000. This is obviously way out of most peoples leagues (unless of course you sell one of the afore mentioned organs) but what it does do is force the competition to work harder and their current top of the line products start working there way down the range.

It isn’t too long since that the idea of DSLR's with the quality of Canon's 350D or Nikon's D70/D50 being within the average users range was unthinkable. If there is one thing that remains a constant - it’s the speed at which models get superseded and become cheaper whether by acquisition or pure development.

Perhaps the first sign of this will be from Kodak. They recently scrapped their two well respected but unloved Pro DSLR's not because they are pulling out of that market but because they have acquired better technology already with the purchase of Creo. As well as producing excellent proofing and scanning machines, Creo have had a range (Leaf/Valeo) of 20+MP cameras for a few years now and will no doubt be working on some replacements for them as we speak now. It's likely to assume that once this happens Kodak could use the Valeo technology from Creo in a new range of Pro DSLR's priced as before to undercut both Canon & Nikon whilst offering a higher image quality. Watch this space….

I don't think any of my organs are worth that much.

I’m sure the filter down effect will bring this kind of technology within reach of mere mortal’s one day. Just imagine how long your computer will take to process files that are up to 585MB in size. No doubt computers will improve too, but Intel and AMD seem to be adding features rather than speed these days.

well - the 39MP camera backs produce 300MB RAW files so if you use Photoshops 2.5 to 1 memory ratio you would need at least 750MB of free RAM just to open the image and work on it at full program efficiency so if your going to tinker with filters as well you'd be looking a the thick end of a gig of free RAM required. As for the filtering down effect - thats already happening with the imminent arrival of Mamiya's 22MP full frame DSLR and the expected upgrades to Canon's xxD & xD model cameras offering 12-22MP (allegedly) over the coming year. granted the 1D series & Mamiya will still be at the far edge of mere mortals reach :-) I'm a bit confused about the Mamiya's specs though as it says 22MP but also 13.89 on the sensor spec - is the rest interpolated Fuji stylee?

Rushes of to Mamiya’s site to discover that the ZD has a 48mm x 36mm 22MB sensor in a six and a half-inch body. Hmm that is raising the bar another level.

That’s good news. The more competition there is the quicker the filter down effect will occur.

Apparently the Phaseone P 45 will do double exposures, then the files size soars to 585MB.

Well, if I sold all 3 of my families cars as well as the owners of them into slavery, I just might have enough to buy the body. Just out of curiosity, in a perfect world with no dust, what do pictures look like without a lens?

Well I've ordered mine. I'll let you know how it works when the neighbors start reviewing the billboard in the front yard. Note to self; pick up eight reams of high quality photo paper, four gallons of elmers and thirthy seven ink cartriges today.

well I dont know what it's going to retail at in the states but over here the Mamiya is priced at around £8,500 including a lens - sounds a lot until you put into comparison with the Hasselblad digital which is twice the price and 25% less resolution....

All the new technology that we use begins somewhere. Let's hope some filters down in pieces that we mortals can apply