Phase One 645 Camera Review

In September 2006, at Photokina in Cologne, Germany, a number of important announcements were made in the medium format industry that are still reverberating. Hasselblad announced that their H3 series cameras would no longer allow digital backs from other manufacturers to be used. Leaf and Sinar announced their adoption of the newHy6 cameraplatform, and Phase One announced that they were forming a strategic alliance with Mamiya.
Much has been written on this site about each of these topics during the past almost two years. Hasselblad's decision, which I denounced then and still do (in part because I personally own a Hasselblad system consisting of two H bodies and five lenses) has probably not had the positive effects that the company had hoped it would, and in all likelihood, as reported by many Hasselblad dealers, has apparently had the opposite effect. The Hy6 came on the market earlier this year from both Sinar and Leaf. Availability of some AF lenses appears to be a concern thou...