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The medium format digital back market is a small niche but one of intense competition. There are currently just four companies producing these backs –Phase One,Leaf,Sinar / EyelikeandHasselblad / Imacon. Between them they likely sell less than 10,000 backs annually. By way of comparison, Canon makes far more than that many digital cameras in a single day.
And because these backs sell for between $15,000 and $30,000, and are purchased by astute and knowledgeable pros, as well as occasionally those with Platinum Amex cards, the purchase cycle is never quick or easy. Most pros request that a dealer visit their studio and provide an in-depth demonstration, allowing the photographer to take a controlled test drive as well.
Andtest driveis an apt description, because no one would buy a car without one, and these backs cost considerably more than most people's vehicles.
But, even with the ability to test these backs out for oneself by those that actually are able to buy them, there is...

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Michael Reichmann is the founder of the Luminous Landscape. Michael passed away in May 2016. Since its inception in 1999 LuLa has become the world's largest site devoted to the art, craft, and technology of photography. Each month more than one million people from every country on the globe visit LuLa.
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