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151.30 Megapixels	Non-Zoom	Medium format size sensor

Phase One XT Camera System Review - Hands-on Review

by Jeremy Gray
Preview posted: 03/30/2022

Update:
03/30/2022: XT IQ4 150MP Achromatic Gallery Images added
04/18/2022: Hands-on Review added, Gallery Updated

Phase One XT IQ4 150MP Achromatic Hands-on Review

Black and white landscape photography has rarely been this fun

by Jeremy Gray | Posted 04/18/2022

I love landscape photography and have long been especially enamored by black and white landscape photography. There's a special quality to the rich contrast and tonal range of a dynamic black and white image. Admittedly, the first black and white photos lacked color because of technological limitations. However, that doesn't mean that monochromatic images have lost their place or are less impactful in the digital age when cameras are fully capable of capturing beautiful, vibrant color images.

However, I'm hit over the head with color nearly everywhere I look. If you scroll through Instagram, it seems like every image is more colorful and vibrant than the last. Your photos need to be loud and attention-grabbing to stand out. With few exceptions, black and white photographs aren't loud. They're emotive and beautiful, but quiet. They don't command your attention, even if so many beautiful black and white photos deserve it.

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0 lens at F11, 13s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. This is a focus stack of four images. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for one of the original RAW files. The rest are located in the Gallery.

I won't be so bold as to say that my black and white photos deserve attention, but I will say that doing black and white photography fills me with joy. Photography is about being able to express yourself in a visual medium and, the photography gods willing, having fun while doing so. Black and white photography is a different way to express yourself, and I think aspects of it make it a more compelling way to tell a story.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F6.3, 1/200s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

Enter the Phase One XT camera and the IQ4 150MP Achromatic digital back. It's a bare-bones, no-frills field camera-inspired camera body paired with an achromatic (black and white) medium-format digital sensor. And it's very fun. You rotate the field camera's built-in dials to adjust shift along X and Y axes, manually focus an attached Rodenstock prime lens, and capture an image devoid of color information. While incredibly sophisticated software is working behind the scenes inside the IQ4 digital back, using the camera feels so pure and unadulterated.

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0 lens at F11, 1/40s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

My week-plus out in the field with the Phase One XT camera and IQ4 150MP Achromatic digital back was some of the most fun I've had doing photography in a long time, so let's talk about it.

Phase One IQ4 150MP Achromatic technical specs

• 53.4 x 40mm medium-format backside-illuminated CMOS image sensor
• 151 megapixels
• No color filter
• No IR-cut filter
• No interpolation
• ISO range of 200-102,400
• 16-bit RAW image capture
• Long exposures up to 60 seconds
• Lens-based shutter system, plus electronic shutter

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F18, 1/25s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

 

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F18, 1/25s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

Phase One XT camera body design and usability: Precision- and purpose-built camera body

If you're not familiar with a Phase One camera system, it works differently from most digital cameras. The camera body comprises a frame, some controls, and a pair of mounts, one for a lens and one for the digital back. Then there's a separate digital back that you attach to the camera.

The Phase One XT camera frame itself is quite small and has a nice, albeit thin, wooden grip. The large protrusion from the back is the IQ4 150MP Achromatic digital back. The attached lens is the XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0.

In the case of the Phase One XF camera, it's an SLR-styled camera body with numerous buttons, dials and controls. The newer XT instead is shaped like an old field camera. It is best described as 'basic.' It's much thinner and lighter than an XF camera body. The XT camera is a metal frame with mounting points, a wooden grip, a shutter release and precisely machined dials for adjusting shift along the X and Y axes. That's all; there aren't any function buttons, displays or a viewfinder.

The Phase One XT camera weighs around 700 grams (24.7 oz.) without a digital back and lens. The digital back roughly doubles the weight. Depending upon the lens you use, you could add over 1,000 grams more to the total weight. The XT with the Rodenstock 90mm lens weighs about 2,650g (5.8 lbs.). For reference, a Nikon Z7 II camera body with a Nikon Z 24-70mm F2.8 S lens weighs about 1,500g (3.3 lbs). Of course, a Phase One image sensor is 53.4 x 40 mm, compared to a 36 x 24 mm full-frame image sensor. That's a massive difference and a larger sensor, all else equal, requires larger glass.

The camera includes a built-in tripod foot that rotates 90 degrees for easy vertical photography. You can see the rounded rail underneath the 'XT' branding on the front of the camera. It's a very useful aspect of the camera's design.

When viewed from the front, the XT camera is somewhat square. It's 16cm tall, including a built-in rotating tripod foot, and it's 14.8cm wide. In imperial terms, that's 6.3" x 5.8". It's not exactly compact, but where the XT shines relative to the XF camera is depth. The max depth is around 70mm (2.8") with the tripod foot included, but much of the XT camera is thinner. I could easily fit the XT camera with an attached lens inside my Think Tank backpack. Without detaching the electronic viewfinder, I can't even do that with my (gripped) Fujifilm GFX 50S camera.

The XT doesn't have any ports of its own. The ports, battery slot and memory card slots are located on the IQ4 digital back itself. The camera is shown here with the XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens.

While you can't divorce the experience of using the IQ4 digital back from using the XT camera body, I want to touch on how the XT camera feels to use. The frame is constructed using metal, and Phase One has spared no expense or ignored any detail. While I wish the wooden grip were a bit larger, there's no doubt that every aspect of the XT camera has been precisely constructed. Enthusiast and pro-oriented full-frame cameras don't feel cheap, but the Phase One XT feels especially high-end.

One of my favorite aspects of the XT camera body is its metal dials for adjusting shift. The two dials allow you to move the digital back up, down, left and right. The total adjustment range is 24mm for both X and Y axes. The adjustment dials have a window to allow you to see the adjustment. You can use the shift to allow for easier panoramas, or you can use the shift to adjust composition while keeping lines straight. For example, if you want to photograph a scene with trees, instead of needing to tilt your camera up, which disrupts the lines in your frame, you can move the image sensor to shift the image frame without adjusting the tilt of your camera.

The Phase One XT camera includes two precision-built metal dials to adjust shift along the X and Y axes.

Another excellent aspect of the XT's design is its built-in Arca Swiss-type tripod foot. It's a great tripod foot, and you can unlock it to rotate it up to 90 degrees, allowing for easy vertical compositions. The rail for the rotating foot necessitates a rounded left edge on the camera, but that's a small price to pay for the added utility.

What the Phase One XT camera lacks in bells and whistles, it more than makes up for in precision and usability. I could spend time knocking the camera for what it isn't – technologically sophisticated, equipped with customizable buttons, dials and an EVF, and capable of autofocus – but time is better spent lauding the XT for what it is – beautifully simple.

Phase One IQ4 digital back user experience

That about covers it for the XT camera itself. If the XT camera body is the skeleton of the Phase One XT system, the IQ4 digital back is the brain. And it's a big brain. Attaching the digital back to the XT camera adds quite a bit of size and weight to the overall kit.

The XT camera lacks a viewfinder, so you must use the IQ4's 3.2-inch touchscreen as an electronic viewfinder. You also use the touchscreen to interact with the camera's menus and settings. There are four physical buttons at each corner of the display, allowing you to navigate menus without touch, although the interface works extremely well with touch. I used touch most of the time, although the buttons were great in cold weather when wearing gloves or shooting in wet conditions.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F11, 1/30s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. This is a focus stack of three images. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for one of the original RAW files. The rest are located in the Gallery.

The IQ4's menu system relies heavily upon directional swipes and icons. Overall, it's intuitive to use, but it may take some getting used to. I went into the wrong menu a few times and occasionally forgot where a setting was in the menus. Those are small complaints, though, because overall, the IQ4 is easy to use. I occasionally missed the XF's buttons, but not very often.

It starts with glass: XT – Rodenstock lenses deliver terrific resolution

Of course, the IQ4 image sensor matters, but it's only part of the equation. Excellent image quality requires great glass. The Phase One XT camera system uses exclusive lenses from the Rodenstock HR lens range. Rodenstock lenses are well-known for their exceptional resolving power and control of aberrations. The XT Rodenstock lenses I used were no exception and delivered top-notch image quality.

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4 lens at F16, 2s, ISO 200 This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

The lenses also feature robust, rugged build quality. While you can't truly know a lens's build quality without taking it apart, a high-quality feel can inspire confidence. The Rodenstock lenses deliver that confidence in spades. The focusing rings are among the best I've used. They deliver enough resistance to ensure precision, and they are extensively engraved with focal distances.

In every XT – Rodenstock lens is Phase One's X-Shutter, an integrated, electronically controlled shutter. Phase One has used its experience with industrial applications to design the X-Shutter. Each shutter is rated for half a million actuations, a number I think you'd be hard-pressed to reach with a camera system like the XT. It's not an action camera where you can easily fire off thousands of frames in an afternoon.

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0 lens at F11, 1/10s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

Alongside the XT camera, I requested two specific Rodenstock lenses, the XT – Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4 and the XT – Rodenstock HR Digaron-SW 90mm F5.6. These lenses have 84 and 67-degree fields of view, respectively. In general terms, I was armed with a wide-angle lens and a standard lens. The widest available lens is the XT 23mm F5.6, which has a 112-degree field of view. The 90mm lens I used is the longest lens in the XT system. I used the 90mm lens for around 60% of my total shots during my time with the camera.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F16, 1/4s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

There were very few occasions when I wanted a wider lens than the 50mm, but there were plenty of times I wished for a longer lens than the 90mm. But you know what they say, the best zoom is your feet. The problem is, I can't walk into the ocean. Well, that's not strictly true. I can. I simply decided against it. The 90mm lens is the biggest in the XT system, so I figure that a longer lens may reduce the utility of the XT system, which has been designed as a lighter, more portable alternative to the XF system. The marketing could get a bit muddied if Phase One and Rodenstock start making big, heavy telephoto lenses. I'd be okay with the tradeoff, but I understand that building the XT lens lineup from the wide-end out makes a lot of sense.

The XT lenses have fantastic focus rings.

Overall, though, the XT lenses are fantastic. In the age of mirrorless cameras, it's unusual for me to use a lens that isn't focus-by-wire. Until using the XT lenses, I didn't appreciate how much I missed a lens that delivers consistent, reliable focus that is physically tied to the focus ring position. Focusing manually can be frustrating, but not so with the XT lenses. Plus, they deliver outstanding image quality.

But what about the image sensor? Phase One IQ4 150MP Achromatic delivers out-of-this-world resolution

This is as good a time as any to point out that you can download my original .IIQ files and open them in Capture One – a free trial of Capture One 22 is available to download directly from Capture One. Viewing JPEG conversions on the web, while convenient and illustrative of a camera's abilities, is not the ideal way to consume any image, let alone ones from a 150-megapixel medium-format camera. The incredible detail in .IIQ files cannot be replicated in resized files on the web.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F11, 1/8s, ISO 400. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

Putting great glass in front of a bad sensor results in bad image quality. What about when you put excellent lenses in front of a cutting-edge image sensor? That's when medium-format magic is made. It's difficult to overstate the Phase One IQ4 150MP Achromatic image sensor's resolving power.

Sensor specs

The sensor captures images that are 14204 x 10652 pixels, which works out to a 4:3 aspect ratio image with 151.3 megapixels. That's a lot of megapixels. Of course, megapixels aren't everything. Sensor size has a dramatic impact on image quality too. The sensor is 54mm x 40.5mm, about 2.5 times the size of a full-frame image sensor. Packing that many pixels onto that large an image sensor results in a compelling blend of resolving power and low visible noise.

This is all standard fare, even if the IQ4 150MP operates on a much larger scale than the image sensors in nearly every other camera. However, some critical differences truly set the Achromatic sensor apart from traditional image sensors. For starters, there's no color filter. The Phase One IQ4 150MP Achromatic doesn't just convert a color image to black and white. Rather, no color data is recorded at all.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F16, 1/13s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

Typical image sensors, like the one found in cameras like the Sony A7 IV, Fujifilm GFX 100S or even a standard Phase One IQ4 150MP, have special color filter arrays in front of their image sensors to expose certain pixels to only red, green or blue light. Beyond allowing for color data to be recorded, the color filter array reduces the amount of light that reaches the image sensor. That's why the Achromatic image sensor's base ISO is 200, whereas the standard IQ4 150MP's base ISO is 50. The Achromatic receives more light and doesn't require ISO 50. Despite the higher base ISO, shadow detail is cleaner with the Achromatic.

XT - Rodenstock HR-Digaron 50mm F4.0 lens at F8, 210s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

There's also improvement at higher ISO values, as the Achromatic doesn't have issues with false color or strange banding, as all the pixels are made equal and lack color data. Light reaches every pixel equally. Phase One claims a 'film-like' quality to images from the IQ4 150MP Achromatic, and I must agree. Images are clean and deliver a sort of dimensionality to them that's a bit hard to put my finger on but does feel 'filmic.'

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F5.6, 0.5s, ISO 12,800. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file. This image, shot at ISO 12,800, is clean with excellent dynamic range and gradation considering its relatively high ISO value.

Even when images aren't free from noise, the noise is uniform and smooth. Light being exposed evenly across all pixels also results in better fine detail. There's no interpolation taking place with the IQ4 150MP Achromatic digital back.

Infrared: Putting the IR in Imaging Resource

A color filter isn't the only typical filter missing from the front of the IQ4 150MP Achromatic's image sensor. The digital back also lacks an infrared cut filter. Color cameras have IR-cut filters that prevent infrared light from hitting the image sensor for numerous reasons, not the least of which is to ensure accurate colors and sharp images. There's no need to worry about accurate colors with a monochromatic camera, so the IR-cut filter is gone. Instead, you can either shoot with more wavelengths of light – although not all wavelengths converge in the same way, which can cause issues with focus and sharpness – or do what I did and use an IR-cut filter on the lens.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F11, 1/6s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

Depending on the situation, you can go without the filter, but I mostly stuck with the IR-cut filter, plus a high-quality polarizing filter. If you're working with different wavelength filters, you must be vigilant with double-checking your focus. You can learn much more about filters and the Achromatic digital back by clicking here. It's a fascinating topic but outside the purview of this review.

It was fun to try out infrared photography for the very first time. While the conditions and season weren't very conducive to IR photography, it's a great benefit of the Phase One Achromatic back that it provides so many unique possibilities to photographers. You can be very creative.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F14, 6s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

The Phase One's incredible resolving power

Returning to resolving power, the IQ4 150MP Achromatic, like other Phase One digital backs I've used before, allows you to see an absurd amount of detail. Consider the image below. The blue outline shows a 640 x 640-pixel square. Beneath that image is the 100% crop from that blue outline. That's a lot of detail in the vegetation, right? It looks even better in the original RAW file. You can see individual strands of moss on the rock. If you printed that image at 300 dpi, it would be 47" wide, and that cropped section would be a roughly 2" x 2" square in that massive print. That's just talking about printing at 300 dpi from the image. You can easily print an enlarged image with incredible detail or print much larger at a lower resolution. You wouldn't necessarily make a large print meant to be viewed from distance at 300 dpi resolution. Plus, it's a focus stack, so I've had to trim some around the edges to accommodate focus shift.

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0 lens at F10, 4s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. This is a focus stack of four images. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for one of the original RAW files. The rest are located in the Gallery.

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0 lens at F10, 4s, ISO 200. 100% crop. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. This is a focus stack of four images. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for one of the original RAW files. The rest are located in the Gallery.

Let's consider another example. In the image below, look at how you can pick out individual rocks in the 100% crop. You can see twigs and branches along the cliff. While the crop, in and of itself, may not seem that impressive. Consider that it was hundreds of feet away from me, and I was using a relatively wide lens. While there are plenty of impressive cameras with excellent resolution, Phase One's 150MP digital backs still deliver resolving power and fine detail that other cameras can't match.

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0 lens at F11, 8s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0 lens at F11, 8s, ISO 200. 100% crop. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

Night skies with the IQ4 150MP Achromatic

The IQ4 150MP Achromatic performs exceedingly well at higher ISOs. I generally shot at base ISO when using the camera, but I did want to do a bit of night photography with the camera to see how it performs.

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0 lens at F4, 4s, ISO 16,000. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

And the answer is surprisingly well. It's certainly not the best choice for night sky photography, but it's no slouch. Beyond the impressive image quality, especially when you downsize the files to something like even 50 or 75 megapixels, is that the camera's live view worked well for focusing. It was straightforward to dial in focus on stars in the night sky, which is not an easy feat for most cameras, let alone extremely specialized ones like the IQ4 150MP Achromatic.

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0 lens at F4, 4s, ISO 16,000. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

Overall, the star of the show is the IQ4 150MP Achromatic sensor itself. While I enjoy the XT camera body a lot and the Rodenstock XT lenses are exquisite, there's a special quality to the IQ4 150MP Achromatic image sensor.

In the Field: How about that dynamic range?

There is much more to discuss about the XT camera and the IQ4 150MP Achromatic digital back, so I'd like to cover additional topics while discussing different photos I captured with the camera.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F11, 1/25s, ISO 200. Frame Averaging - 60s This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. This is a focus stack of two images. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for one of the original RAW files. The other image is located in the Gallery.

The first one is dynamic range. Most modern image sensors deliver good dynamic range performance, and I rarely review a new camera and think, 'Hmm, its dynamic range is lacking.' However, the IQ4 150MP Achromatic stands out thanks to its superb dynamic range. In scenes with a wide range of light and tonality, the camera easily captures just about everything. There weren't many situations where I knew I would lose shadow or highlight detail. Even when I thought I would, Capture One usually proved me wrong.

Consider the image below captured at sunset. The foreground was in shadow, and the sky was still quite bright. It's a challenging scene for just about any camera, but the Phase One IQ4 handled it quite well and Capture One allowed me to do the rest and rescue additional detail.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F11, 1/60s, ISO 200. Frame Averaging - 30s This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. This is a focus stack of three images. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for one of the original RAW files. The rest are located in the Gallery.

The flexibility and versatility offered by the camera are some of its greatest strengths. Approaching a scene, even in harsh light, without worrying much about highlight and shadow detail is freeing. There were some scenes I normally wouldn't have bothered photographing that proved to be quite compelling in black and white with the IQ4 150MP Achromatic.

One such image is the one below. When traveling along the Schoodic Peninsula, which is an underrated part of Acadia National Park, the afternoon light was harsh, and there was a bit of sea mist in the air. It looked flat to the naked eye, and I knew it would make for a boring color image. Plus, with some cameras, the sky would be too bright and the trees too dark. However, the IQ4 150MP Achromatic made easy work of the scene. I didn't even need to do much processing in Capture One to recover highlight and shadow detail.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F11, 1/100s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. This is a focus stack of two images. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for one of the original RAW files. The other is located in the Gallery.

 

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0 lens at F11, 10s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. This is a focus stack of three images. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for one of the original RAW files. The rest are located in the Gallery.

In the Field: What's special about black and white photography?

I've written about 3,000 words about the Phase One XT camera and the Phase One IQ4 150MP Achromatic digital back so far and have spent relatively little time talking about the impact of the 'Achromatic' sensor on the photographic process itself. I've talked about how the lack of a color filter affects image quality, but how does it affect photography?

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F8, 1/1000s, ISO 1600. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

I think there are nearly as many reasons why someone shoots black and white photos as there are colors those photos lack. I can't speak to why every photographer may choose to shoot without color, but I can certainly speak to why I enjoy black and white photography.

Black and white photography challenges me in different ways. You can use color in a lot of interesting fashions. It can be used to create dynamism or lead the viewer through the frame or develop contrast within the frame. Color can be used to elicit specific emotions or tell a story. Color can even be the subject.

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0 lens at F16, 6s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

With black and white photography, you don't just lose color. You lose all the ways it can affect an image. Using a black and white camera doesn't mean just one fewer tool in my photographic toolkit; I've lost a lot of tools. It may seem counterintuitive, but a certain freedom comes from that restriction. Some doors close, and others open.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F11, 25s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

Without color, fewer complications exist between my idea of a scene and the final image. Once color has been removed from the equation, I'm left with light and how it interacts with a subject and scene. In addition to light, compositional tools include texture, contrast, gradation and tonality. While achieving a black and white image I'm happy with may be more difficult in some situations and perhaps easier in others, the process is always less complicated.

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0 lens at F11, 10s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. This is a focus stack of six images. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for one of the original RAW files. The rest are located in the Gallery.

I think that the Maine coast lends itself extremely well to black and white photography. It's rugged and harsh. That winter was still clinging onto its last life when I was shooting with the Phase One XT only helped. But ultimately, shooting in black and white helps me see the world, and the possible photographs within it, differently. Is every scene better in black and white? Of course not, but some are. And even when they aren't better, they are, at the very least, different, and that's exciting.

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0 lens at F11, 1/30s, ISO 200. Frame Averaging - 60s This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. This is a focus stack of four images. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for one of the original RAW files. The rest are located in the Gallery.

In the Field: The XT camera body brings photography back to the basics, mainly for the better

While the Phase One IQ4 digital back is an advanced, sophisticated image sensor and photographic tool, complete with top-of-the-line, cutting-edge image quality and performance, the Phase One XT camera is basic in comparison. Reduced to its core components, the XT camera is a metal frame with a shutter release button and some electronic contacts for communication between the digital back and the lens. The camera body has no viewfinder or ports, and it doesn't even have any buttons aside from the shutter release. The camera also doesn't have autofocus like the Phase One XF camera. It's a strange juxtaposition that in 2022, I shot a 150-megapixel medium-format image sensor attached to the back of a manual focus camera with a single button. The XT is new but somehow feels like a relic.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F11, 1/50s, ISO 200. Frame Averaging - 20s This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

Simplicity in photography is almost always a good thing. When it comes to a camera itself being simple, the situation is more complicated. The Phase One XT camera is fun and satisfying, but it's highly limited in what it's good at. It is purpose-built, and when you stray outside that purpose – landscape photography – the camera punishes you. Everything about the XT camera demands patience, thoughtfulness and time. Patience and thoughtfulness are near-universal qualities of the landscape photographers I admire.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F11, 10s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

However, that's not to say that every photographic situation works well when slowed down. Even landscape photography, a relatively slow-paced photographic genre, can become extremely fast-paced when light is fading fast. Sometimes it feels like you have all the time in the world, but at other times, you have only a single opportunity to capture the best shot of the day.

During much of my time with the Phase One XT camera, I was happy to slow down and enjoy the process. However, there were instances when beautiful light was fleeting, and I wished I could just half-press the shutter, acquire focus automatically, and capture a shot. But that just isn't how the camera works. I don't think it's fair to judge a camera for what it isn't – and I don't intend to do so here – but the point I'm trying to get at is that the Phase One XT camera is not the ideal tool for many types of images. However, what it does well, it does extremely well.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F11, 1/30s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

The XT's shifting perspective

One of the most satisfying parts about using the XT camera is getting everything set up on my tripod, leveling the camera using its built-in electronic level, and then using the X and Y-axis shift dials on the XT to recompose a scene while keeping lines straight. For example, when photographing a landscape with trees, I typically must tilt my camera up or down if I want to capture more of the sky or more foreground. This can create issues with perspective, especially if using a wide-angle lens.

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0 lens at F14, 20s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. This is a focus stack of four images. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for one of the original RAW files. The rest are located in the Gallery. I've shot this scene many times with a wide variety of cameras and lenses. It's a challenging scene because you have very little space to work, so you must use a wide-angle lens to capture the foreground rocks. However, I usually must also tilt the camera down, which distorts the trees in the background. You also need to contend with the fallen tree that crosses horizontally through the scene. If you get too low or tilt too much, the tree cuts off the small cascading waterfalls in the middle of the scene. The 'shift'ability of the XT camera helped considerably. It allowed me to maintain vertical trees, capture the foreground, and I also used horizontal shift to ensure that the icicles didn't obscure the little waterfall in the scene, given that I had extremely limited physical space in which to work.

With the XT's adjustability, I can shift the image sensor relative to the lens rather than change the camera's angle. The XT is adjustable up to 24mm across both axes. That might not sound like a large amount, but the effect is dramatic. Depending upon the image circle of a lens, you may not want to use the entire range, but I routinely went to +/- 10mm and it allowed me to capture images that aren't otherwise possible.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F11, 2.5s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file. For this image, I would normally need to tilt the lens up to ensure that I captured the full height of the trees. Instead, I was able to utilize Y-axis shift, ensuring that the trees remained straight up and down.

 

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F11, 1/30s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file. In this case, I used negative Y-axis shift to capture the foreground without needing to tilt the camera down. This ensures that the building and posts, which admittedly aren't perfectly straight after years of being abused by the ocean, remain straight, or at least as straight as they actually are. Normally, I'd need to tilt my camera down or get lower, but that would dramatically affect the composition and perspective. If I got lower, I wouldn't be able to show water between the rocks and building, they would run together. If I tilted the camera down, the composition would change, too.

Bright lights and low angles make it tough to see what you're doing

Given that the XT is basically a field camera, it makes sense that there's not a viewfinder. After all, the camera body is a frame; there aren't any optics inside. You must instead use the IQ4 digital back as a live viewfinder. In many cases, that's not a problem. The 3.2-inch screen is reasonably sharp, and you can easily zoom in to 100%, or even 400% as I did on numerous occasions, to check your focus.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F16, 1/20s, ISO 200. Frame Averaging - 30s. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file. I was set up on my hands and knees for this shot to ensure the right framing. Beyond it being somewhat hard to see the display in bright afternoon light, I got wet and sandy. To quote Anakin Skywalker, 'I don't like sand. It's coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere.' It would have been much easier with a tilting display.

However, the most frustrating aspect of my time with the XT was how difficult the IQ4's display is to use in certain situations. It's a fixed display, so when my camera is set up low, the lack of a tilting display is difficult, especially on my knees and back. Further, without autofocus, I need to be down there next to the display so I can focus manually. I can't just set up the camera, check composition, and fire away. Further, the display itself is recessed underneath layers of protective glass, so it's hard to see detail from an angle. Given how heavily you must rely upon the IQ4's display when using the XT – you use it for basically everything – the usability issues with the display are magnified and can, at times, be very frustrating.

The XT doesn't have a viewfinder, so you must use the IQ4's display to frame your shots and adjust all camera settings.

Let's end this section on a positive note. When the XT is in its element and you can be slow and methodical, it's such a fun camera to use. If you try to push it outside of its comfort zone, it's a lot less fun. But there's something else that the XT offers that the XF doesn't, a relatively compact and lightweight form factor. The IQ4 digital back is still hefty, that hasn't changed, but the XT camera itself is lightweight and relatively small. Plus, it has a built-in tripod foot. The Rodenstock lenses aren't overly large, although they are densely packed with large optics. All that said, I was able to carry the Phase One XT around, both in my hand and mounted on my tripod slung over my shoulder, with ease. When I didn't need to have the camera out, it easily fits into the camera backpack I always use. You may be thinking, 'Well, of course a camera fits into your camera backpack, that's what it's for.' However, that has never worked for me with a Phase One XF camera kit, so having the full medium-format experience without it being a hassle was an extremely welcome change.

In the Field: Frame Averaging is a neutral density filter without the filter

I've alluded to how there's a lot of sophisticated technology hidden inside the IQ4 digital back. Sure, the XT camera itself is old-school, but inside the IQ4, there's an awful lot of modern power. One such modernity is the Frame Averaging feature. When I initially went hands-on with the XT camera in 2019, Frame Averaging was a 'Lab,' or beta feature. It's fully fleshed out now, and it's fantastic. You can dial in your exposure parameters and then enable Frame Averaging to have the camera shoot for some specified period with your desired settings. The camera builds a composite image on the fly as it shoots, which can simulate the effect of a neutral density filter.

Frame Averaging is an excellent feature that lets you simulate the use of a neutral density filter while avoiding the usability concerns that come with a physical filter.

For example, if I am shooting at 1/10s, I can have the camera record images shot at 1/10s for two minutes. These images are blended as they're captured so that when two minutes is up, I instantly have a full-resolution RAW image that essentially looks like it was a single two-minute exposure. It's more convenient than a neutral density because I know what my exposure will look like. I don't need to worry about metering through nearly black glass. Plus, it's infinitely customizable.

I used Frame Averaging a lot during my time with the Phase One XT camera and IQ4 150MP digital back. You'll see many images throughout this review that were captured using the feature. It's an incredibly useful feature.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F9, 1/100s, ISO 200. Frame Averaging - 60s This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

The IQ4 digital back is constantly being updated and tweaked. Phase One supports its digital backs for a long time, and the IQ4's 'Infinity Platform' makes updates easier and more frequent. There are new features in the works, including ETTR (expose to the right). It's a 'Lab' feature, so you must enable Lab features to use it, but it has the camera expose as far to the right as possible while preserving highlight detail.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F12, 1/5s, ISO 200. Frame Averaging - 60s This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

Price: The (expensive) elephant in the room

I've had a lot of great things to say about the Phase One XT and IQ4 digital back, and I'd love to own one. However, like many of you, while my passion for photography is essentially limitless, my budget is not.

A Phase One IQ4 150MP digital back costs around $43,000, although the Achromatic back is $48,000. The XT camera is another $7,700 or so. Add a Rodenstock XT lens, another $9,000-13,000. All in, it's at least $60,000 before sales tax. I won't bother with accessory costs because if you're spending that kind of money on a camera and lens, what's another few hundred or even thousands of dollars?

XT - Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm F4.0 lens at F16, 20s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

Suffice it to say, $60,000+ isn't in my budget. But, even if it were, would I want to spend my money on a camera like the Phase One XT? Does it do something that a camera like the Sony A7R IV or Fujifilm GFX 100S cannot? Yes. But that's a two-way street because those cameras, and essentially all other cameras, offer versatility and flexibility that the Phase One XT doesn't.

However, the Phase One XT isn't trying to be like other cameras. Phase One has long done its own thing. Its engineers focus on every detail of imaging performance for its core audience. No detail is too small and no expense too great. You're also paying for client services, customer support, ongoing updates, and opportunities to trade in your gear for the latest and greatest. Of course, the initial investment is the biggest, but it does become significantly less financially demanding once you have gear to trade. Phase One's level of commitment and engineering squeezes every last drop of performance out of its camera and lenses, but it's an exceedingly expensive endeavor.

So yes, the Phase One XT costs a small fortune. It's a sum of money that I can hardly imagine spending on a camera. Phase One cameras live on the cutting edge. It's an expensive place to live.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F11, 2s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

Phase One XT IQ4 150MP Achromatic Hands-on Review Summary

I'm fortunate that I could use the Phase One XT camera and the IQ4 150MP Achromatic digital back. It was a gratifying experience that allowed me to experience places I've photographed many times before in a new and exciting way. I think I captured some nice photos. And if I didn't, it's nobody's fault but my own, as every aspect of using the Phase One XT is purposeful and personal. The decisions that inform my photos are uniquely my own. The sensor is superb, and the lenses have the quality to match, so only user error remains to blame.

XT - Rodenstock HR 90mm F5.6 lens at F9, 1/20s, ISO 200. Frame Averaging - 30s This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. This is a focus stack of two images. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for one of the original RAW files. The other one is located in the Gallery.

Cameras and lenses have always been – and will always be – tools for photographers. They're our paintbrush and canvas, our hammer and nail. However, these photographic tools become more sophisticated and smarter all the time. Sometimes, the complexity and intelligence of cameras can almost feel like a wall between me and my photos. There's a degree of separation. The Phase One XT removes that barrier and photography suddenly feels pure again. That experience is a luxury, an expensive one at that, but it's an experience I'm glad to have had.

XT - Rodenstock HR-Digaron 50mm F4.0 lens at F11, 6s, ISO 200. This image has been converted and processed to taste in Capture One 22 and Adobe Photoshop. Click for the full-size modified image. Click here for the original RAW file.

 

• • •

Press release included below:

Phase One Announces A New Camera System: The ‘XT’ -- The First Of Its Kind

A travel-ready, digitally integrated field camera that brings landscape photography to a whole new level

COPENHAGEN, Sept. 10, 2019 – Phase One has announced the XT Camera System, opening new frontiers of quality for landscape photography. Designed for convenience and engineered for precision, the XT packs a full-frame medium format camera of the highest quality into a travel-friendly design. By pairing the power and performance of Phase One’s IQ4 Infinity Platform with Rodenstock’s renowned optics, the XT is the most compact digitally integrated field camera to date.

The XT Camera System perfectly marries extraordinary image quality and extraordinary photographic technology. It’s versatile, flexible, and remarkably intuitive to use. With components that communicate digitally with each other and the system’s compact size, the XT is crafted for effortless capture, so the photographer can focus on capturing the moment, not on camera settings.

“The XT Camera System is designed to elevate both your creativity and image quality by providing the best possible components, in the smallest possible package with intuitive controls, all of which allows you to focus on the moment.”
- Drew Altdoerffer, Product Manager at Phase One

“I love the XT. The combination of the Phase One IQ4, a compact camera body, and an incredible lens is just what I need. I can easily fit the camera with two lenses in my small shoulder bag, and still barely feel like I am carrying anything.”
- Reuben Wu, fine art landscape photographer

Phase One’s ability to embrace heritage while not weighed down by it makes the blend of sensible Danish design, advanced technology integration, and precision mechanics the natural foundation for this next step in landscape photography. The system will evolve over time with the release of additional lenses, expanding Infinity Platform features, dedicated accessories, and discipline-focused workflows.

Components - Technology in a class of its own

The XT Camera System integrates components of the highest quality:

• The Phase One IQ4 150MP, IQ4 150MP Achromatic, or IQ4 100MP Trichromatic, built on the Infinity Platform -- designed to innovate and support evolving technology.
• The XT Camera Body built exclusively for the Phase One IQ4. It features intuitive ergonomics and straightforward controls, including the dual action shutter button, which is designed to support future expansion and customization.
• Three lenses manufactured by Phase One’s strategic partner Rodenstock. All lenses are fitted with Phase One’s new, digitally integrated, X-Shutter --an intelligently controlled electromagnetic shutter -- born from Phase One’s industrial applications experience:
  • The XT – Rodenstock HR Digaron-S 23mm f/5.6 is the highest quality super wide lens available.
  • The XT – Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 32mm f/4 is an exceptional quality wide-angle lens with a large image circle and almost no distortion.
  • The XT – Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 70mm f/5.6 is a normal focal length lens with impeccable image quality and a large image circle.
• The XT Camera System takes full advantage of Rodenstock lenses with 24mm of shift on both the X and Y axis. The shift movement allows the photographer to correct perspective distortion. It can also be used to create panoramic/stitched images at tremendous scale/resolution. The XT Camera Body intelligently integrates the shift position in the image file for later refer

Availability and Pricing

The XT Camera System is available now through Phase One Partners worldwide: www.phaseone.com/partners.

The Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price for the XT IQ4 150MP Camera System, including a lens of your choice, is $56,990

All camera systems are sold with a 5-year limited warranty, including unlimited lens actuations for the warranty period.