The Phase One IQ3 100mp was marketed heavily toward fashion photographers so I hired a makeup artist and gave her the ubiquitous ColorChecker as inspiration.
The inclusion of our business card in frame meant that when the raw file was shared our brand would still be visible.
Comparing 10 cameras requires excellent test hygiene!
I selected household subject matters with a variety of texture, detail, color, and tone and worked with a stylist to make it beautiful.
That stylist is now my wife who works for Apple as an IP lawyer, so don’t reuse these images without permission!
The IQ3 100mp Trichromatic was a nebulous product when announced by Phase One. My testing and articles featuring A/B sliders made the advantages concrete and significantly increased sales worldwide.
Part 1 – the Science
(note: written for a lay audience)
The most challenging test I’ve executed required careful planning, precise execution, and significant post processing. We secured private use of the Morgan Library to make the test both realistic and beautiful, but this meant we had only two hours to conduct the entire test.
This testing characterized the usable movement limits of the IQ250 before generating visual artifacts caused by steep ray angles interacting with the microlenses on the sensor.
The business purpose of the test was to help architectural and landscape shooters decide if the IQ250 was right for them.
My favorite test compared various ultra-fast lenses. This included the Schneider 130mm f/2 Cinelux originally designed to project IMAX film onto a curved screen.
The business purpose of the test was to demonstrate the value of the large image sensor (54x40mm) and the unique range of historical lenses it afforded full use of.
