Phase One Trichromatic Field Test: A superb image sensor inside a slow and expensive camera system
posted Monday, July 23, 2018 at 1:49 PM EST
Click here to read my Phase One Trichromatic Field Test
Phase One recently approached me with the opportunity to test the IQ3 100MP Trichromatic digital back with their XF camera system. In 2016, my colleague William Brawley tested the XF camera with Phase One's then-flagship 100-megapixel IQ3 100MP digital back. Since then, the company has updated the firmware in the XF camera and released new digital backs, including the Trichromatic.
The Trichromatic digital back also has 100 megapixels of medium-format resolving power but a revised sensor designed to capture more accurate color and cleaner tones. In practice, the differences between the Trichromatic and traditional image sensors is subtle. Nonetheless, the sensor delivers vibrant images with pleasing color, great tonal transitions and a ton of fine detail. Granted, the excellent image quality comes at considerable cost. A kit with the XF camera, Trichromatic digital back and a 50mm-equivalent lens costs around $50,000 USD. There are other costs as well, particularly with respect to versatility and speed.
Overall, the Phase One Trichromatic is a very interesting digital back. It captures incredible amounts of detail with nice color rendition. On the other hand, it is not an easy camera to use, and it lacks the speed and versatility of camera systems with smaller image sensors. To read more about what I liked and disliked about using the XF camera with the IQ3 100MP Trichromatic digital back, head over to my Field Test.