Phase One has announced its new 150-megapixel Phase One XC (buy here). As medium format cameras go, it’s pretty compact, and Phase One says it’s targeted specifically towards travel photographers. With a price tag of $62,490, though, it’s well outside the budgets of most travel photographers.
Obviously, Phase One doesn’t expect to sell this one in huge volumes. But its compact design, which Phase One says is its “most compact digitally integrated camera to date”, does lend itself well to such work.
The Phase One XC, the company says, is “designed to be a companion camera”. And I don’t think they mean this to suggest that it be a secondary camera to another “main” camera. Instead, they want the camera to become your companion, going with you everywhere.
Phase One XC – Small, but not that small
Sure, it’s much smaller than other Phase One cameras, and many Phase One photographers will probably be able to justify squeezing one of these into their bag to take around with them, but it’s still a medium-format camera. So, it’s not going to be super compact.
It doesn’t do too badly, though, when it comes to size. From the front, it’s quite similar to the Hasselblad X2D 100C (buy here). Of course, it has a much greater depth, being a little over twice as thick from front-to-back. And you could get eight of those Hasselblad X2D 100C cameras for the price of just one of these.
At 1.82kg, it’s also quite a hefty camera. Again, it’s more than double both the Hasselblad X2D 100C’s 895g and the 900g of the Fujifilm GFX 100S (buy here). As I mentioned, though, for Phase One shooters, this is still pretty compact when compared to the company’s other camera systems.
You’ve got two different options for backs on this camera, which are the Phase One IQ4 150MP and IQ4 150MP Achromatic. The latter of the two, of course, is if you plan to only ever shoot black and whites.
Built-in fixed 23mm f/5.6 lens
The Phase One XC has a built-in Rodenstock HR Digaron-S 23mm f/5.6 lens. It stops down to f/22 and has a filter diameter of 72mm. As a built-in lens, it can’t be swapped out for others as your needs suit.
This lens is also available separately for use with other cameras, where it’s listed as having a 112° field of view and a massive 70mm image circle. Exactly what field of view this lens offers when built into the Phase One CX is unspecified, but listings for the lens on its own suggest that it’s the equivalent of an 18mm lens on full frame.
Phase One XC Specs
| IQ4 | IQ4 Achromatic | |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution | 151MP | 151MP |
| Long Exposures | 60 Mins | 60 Mins |
| 16-Bit Opticolor+ | Yes | Yes |
| Dynamic Range | 15 Stops | 15 Stops |
| ISO | 50-25,600 | 200-102,400 |
| Sensor Type | BSI CMOS | BSI CMOS |
| Sensor Size | 53.4 x 40mm | 53.4 x 40mm |
| Pixel dimensions | 14,204 x 10,652 | 14,204 x 10,652 |
| Output at 300PPI | 120.26 x 90.19cm | 120.26 x 90.19cm |
| Shooting Speed | 2fps | 2fps |
| LCD | 3.2″ Multi-touch display | 3.2″ Multi-touch display |
| Electronic Shutter | Yes | Yes |
| USB-C | Yes | Yes |
| Gigabit Ethernet | Yes | Yes |
| 802.11 WiFi | Yes | Yes |
| HDMI | Yes | Yes |
Price and Availability
The Phase One XC is available now for the whopping price of $62,490 from the Phase One Website.
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