PhaseOne P+ Series User manual

Phase One A/S
Roskildevej 39
DK-2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
e-mail: [email protected]
www.phaseone.com
Phase One U.S.
200 Broadhollow Road, (Suite 312)
Melville, NY 11747-0983
USA
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
P+SERIES
REFERENCE MANUAL

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P+ Series reference manual
1. INTRODUCTION
Thank you for choosing a Phase One P+ Series digital camera
back solution.
The Phase One P+ Series, provides you with the advantage
of having the most powerful digital camera solution whether
you are working portable in the field or tethered in a studio.
When shooting portrait, landscape, fashion, wedding, product
or architectural photography you will always be able to find a
Phase One digital back that fits your needs.
The Phase One P+ Series system gives you the absolute best
solution when it comes to image quality and workflow.
Capture One is the P+ Series RAW file processing software, and
is available for either Mac OS X or Windows. The Capture One
online user guide is the general manual for this software.
This manual“P+ Series - Reference Manual”covers specific
P+ Series features and functionality.
The P+ Series comes in a suitcase and is ready to be used right
out of the box.
At Phase One we are always committed to provide you with the
best solution for the professional photographer.
We sincerely hope you will enjoy working with this new and
innovative product.

12 P+ Series reference manual
CCD Cleaning kit
FireWire cable Charger and two
batteries
Charger
power
module
12 V power
adaptor
International outlet
adaptors
CF-card and card reader
Camera
viewfinder masks
Camera
interface
cables
Software Grey cards LCC calibration plate Reference manual
2. UNPACKING THE SYSTEM

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P+ Series reference manual
3. INTRODUCTION TO THE
P+ BACK
System overview
The Phase One P+ back is designed specifically to fit on one of
several brands or models of medium format cameras.
This overview section will deal with generic features, available
in all these different models: Tethered or untethered operation,
preview display functions, menu system controls (the P+ backs
have four buttons controlling the settings in the back), etc.
Certain camera specific explanations are placed in sections
later in this manual. These can be instructions on how to attach
the P+ back on a the camera, how to install the focusing mask
provided, special cable connections and other considerations.
You might want to look into the camera specific section
before returning to the overview to learn about your specific
configuration needs.
Now lets take a look at the generic parts of the P+ back.
Tethered or untethered operations
Untethered: The P+ back can be operated as a fully portable
unit powered by the embedded battery and shooting to a
compact flash card or microdrive which is inserted in the CF-
card slot on the left side of the camera back.
The advantages of using it as a fully portable device are
obvious, but operating tethered has advantages too.

18 P+ Series reference manual
Tethered: When operating in a studio, connected to a
computer via FireWire you are not dependent on battery power
or storage media. You can capture directly to the Phase One
Capture One Raw workflow software on either Mac or PC,
providing power to the P+ back via FireWire without the battery
or CF-card inserted.
The FireWire specification specifies 4,5 meter cable lenghts
as maximum, longer cables might require a third party power
solution or FireWire hub.
When operating tethered you have the option of capturing
the images to the CF-card or transferring captures directly
to the currently assigned capture folder in the Capture One
application on the computer hard disk.
The display on the P+ back can either be turned off while
shooting tethered or set to display the images while they are
shot, just as if shooting untethered.
When unplugging the P+ back from the FireWire, the P+
back will default to untethered mode, capturing to CF-card or
microdrive, and using the battery for power.
Also when capturing tethered to a laptop with 4 pin mini 1394/
FireWire without power it will require a battery in the P+ back.
Using the four menu buttons you can setup the preferences for
all these operational features.
I.e. the display time of the images, time before backlight is
dimmed, ISO, file format and white balance.
ISO
WB
Play
Menu
3. INTRODUCTION TO THE P+ BACK

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P+ Series reference manual
3. INTRODUCTION TO THE P+ BACK
For more information on capturing tethered with the Phase One
Capture One application please consult the online user guide
available in the Capture One Help menu.
General Hardware Setup
The P+ back is designed to be used with the new“electronic”or
“digital”medium format cameras which are amade with digital
camera backs in mind. Using your P+ back on these cameras
is possible without any cables attached between the P+ back
and the camera body or lens. All timing and communication is
handled in the electrical interface beween the P+ back and the
camera body.
Capturing images with the FlexAdaptor on large format camera
or a camera body without the digital interface is supported by
connecting the special lens sync cable that comes with the P+
back. For a guide to a specific camera body, please consult the
corresponding chapters later in this manual.
Powering up the P+ back
When the P+ back is connected to the body, and a battery is inserted
or the IEEE1394/FireWire cable is connected. The Camera back
can be switched on by shortly pressing the "Power" button just
below the P+ back display.
Indicator lights
Upon powering up the P+ back the green and red LED’s on the
right will flash shortly and you will hear a beep, which indicates
that the P+ back is ready to capture. In general, if the LEDs are not
illuminated the camera is ready.

20 P+ Series reference manual
Green LED
When capturing an image the green LED is flashing rapidly to
indicate that the P+ back is busy storing the data to either CF
card or the computer hard disk.
A steady green light indicates that the backlight of the LCD
display is dimmed but that the camera is still ready to shoot.
(The timing before the LCD backlight is dimmed can be set in the
P+ back and is described later under "Menu mode")
Red LED
If the red LED is on this indicates that the P+ back is writing to the
storage media.
The same red LED indicator is located just beside the CF-cardslot
under the cover on the left hand side.
NB! When the red light is on please do not remove the card
from the card slot! This will damage the formatting of the card,
resulting in corrupted data or lost images.
ISO Settings
The film speed of the P+ back is per default set to ISO 50 or
ISO 100 (depending on which P+ model you are working with).
However, this setting can be changed using the menu system
(when untethered) or in the Capture panel of the Capture One
application (When tethered).
Depending on which P+ model is used the ISO range is between
50 to 1600.
Power management and shutter latency
The CCD on the P+ back constantly needs to be cleared from
previous data before an exposure. This requires some power
consumption. On electronically controlled camera bodies the
3. INTRODUCTION TO THE P+ BACK

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P+ Series reference manual
3. INTRODUCTION TO THE P+ BACK
power consumption can be drastically reduced by setting the
shutter latency to long latency in the P+ back or inside the
Capture One Application (Please see the section specific for
your camera body for more information on what latency setting
to select).
Double exposure protection
It is not possible to accidentally double expose the image by
capturing one image quickly after another when the P+ back
is used on i.e. Mamiya 645 AFD / AFD II, Hasselblad 555
ELD (DIG mode), Hasselblad H or Contax 645. The electronic
communication with the body ensures that the P+ back is ready
before allowing release of the next shot. On other camera
bodies not using the electronic interface from the P+ back, the
user has to wait for the ready beep signal before releasing the
next shot.
IR lter on the CCD
The IR filter (Infrared reduction filter) is permanently mounted on
top of the CCD.
The filter may not be removed for several reasons:
The focusing of the P+ back camera back will be damaged.
It is only possible to remount the filter without dust in
between the filter and the CCD if you have access to special
clean room facilities.
The Phase One Product Warranty is terminated.
•
•
•

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P+ Series reference manual
4. QUICK START
This is what it takes to get started real quick
Charge the batteries (Described earlier)
Install the focusing Screen (Described in camera
specific section later)
Consult the Camera specific section for special
cabling requirements for your solution.
Insert Battery or connect IEEE1394/FireWire (for
power)
Insert CF-Card or connect IEEE1394/FireWire (To
shoot tethered directly to the computer)
If shooting tethered Launch the Capture One
Application
Otherwise Shoot the images to CF-card, import
them using the Capture One Application
and a card-reader.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

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Setting up time and date
The camera back’s date and time is set according to European
time (since Phase One’s production facility in located in
Denmark).
If the digital back has been without power for a longer period of
time, it will automatically ask you to setup time and date when it
is powered up.
In the "Time & Date" menu you can set the time
and date using the four buttons on the P+ back.
Left side buttons will step through the hours,
minutes and seconds fields, while the right up
and down buttons can be used to set the value
of the fields. The time and date is applied to all
files captured with the P+ back.
4. QUICK START

6. NAVIGATING THE MENU
SYSTEM
When the P+ back is turned on, the screen will always be in its
home display position or "Main screen".
Pressing and holding down the upper left button on the back will
also bring you to the Main screen, regardless of where you are
in the menu system.
The Main screen has an indicator in the top showing remaining
captures, and a battery indicator at the bottom showing the
remaining battery capacity.
When either indicator reaches zero, it will start
blinking, to indicate that either storage or
battery needs replacement before capturing any
more images.
The main screen also shows the current ISO
setting, white balance setting and IIQ Raw file
format selected.
Menu buttons
The Phase One P+ back has four menu buttons to control the
menu system on the display.
When the P+ back is in its initial state (just after power up) or
at the menu systems "home" position (Main screen), the four
buttons each has a shortcut assigned. Play, Menu, ISO and WB.
P+ Series reference manual 31

32 P+ Series reference manual
Inside the menu system arrows will indicate the function of the four
buttons, the two buttons to the left are used to enter and exit the
selected menus. The two buttons to the right are used to go up and
down in the menu system.
From the home position, pressing the "Play"
button will bring up the image browser, where
you can go up and down with the right hand
buttons, to browse through images.
Pressing the "Menu"" button will bring you to
the menu system where you can scroll up and
down in the menu system with the right hand
buttons to select the menu options to set.
When the desired option is highlighted it can be selected by
pressing the "Enter" button.
Exiting the menus is done with the "Exit" button.
Home shortcut
Holding down the "Exit" button for a few seconds will always bring
you to the home position or main screen immediately.
ISO
WB
Play
Menu
Up
Down
Exit
Enter
6. NAVIGATING THE MENU SYSTEM

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P+ Series reference manual
When a FireWire cable is inserted and the P+
Back draws the power from FireWire this is
shown with an icon in the bottom of the main
menu.
When Capture One is started on the computer
this is indicated with a FireWire Icon in place of
the cable icon.
When the P+ back is forced to get power from
the battery, this is indicated with an additional
battery icon.
Force battery power is invoked from the
“Configuration > Power Source”menu.
Button Lock shortcut
Holding down the "Play" button while in Home
position colors the word "Play" in yellow, and at
the same time reveals a shortcut with the word
"Lock" in the place where WB was.
Pressing the lock button twice when holding
down the "Play" will lock operation of the
four menu buttons. This is usefull to avoid
unintended button operation while carrying
around the camera or shooting.
To Unlock the buttons hold down the "Play"
button again and press the "Lock" button twice.
When the buttons are locked, the key icon is
displayed just below“WB”.
6. NAVIGATING THE MENU SYSTEM

36 P+ Series reference manual
Long exposure time indicator
If the camera is set to expose for more than 2 sec. the exposure time
indicator will show up in the top of the display.
While the
shutter is open
this indicator
will keep
counting the
seconds.
This indicator is very usefull for timing long bulb exposures.
Long exposure black reference
In order to capture noise free long exposures Phase One digital
backs needs to capture a black reference after each capture. This
black reference requires the same amount of time as the exposure
itself.
While the black reference is being captured
this is indicated with a night symbol and a
counter counting down the time left for black
reference capture to complete.

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P+ Series reference manual
7. PLAY MODE
"Play mode" can be used to review, zoom and delete images.
From the "Main screen", press the top left button of the the P+ back
to enter Play mode.
In Play mode the top of the screen will show
a menu bar. In the right side of the menu bar
the current image number and the number of
images captured on the media is displayed.
In this example it shows number 13 out of 19
images.
Pressing the Up and Down buttons on the P+
back (right hand side) it is possible to browse through the images.
Holding down the "Enter" button while pressing the up and down
icon will bring you to the first and last image accordingly.
Battery life and number of captures left are also shown in the menu
bar.
Pressing the Play button on the P+ back (top left hand button) will
step through the options available in the menu bar.
From left to right these are: Review, Zoom and Delete.
Pressing the "Enter" button on the P+ back (bottom left hand
button) selects the option.
If the image was shot in portrait with the
camera it will be automatically rotated.
To view such an image in full view rotate
the cameraback, and the image will be
automatically rotated.

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View modes
Play mode has four view modes, or review modes; Normal image
display, Exposure warning overlay, Histogram overlay or File Info
overlay.
After entering the Play mode, press the "Enter" button to shift to the
view mode you want.
Exposure warning overlay will display the
highlight areas as a flashing color, to warn about
over exposed areas in the image.
Histogram overlay will show a transparent
Histogram over the image.
File Info overlay will show detailed capture
information like capture number, capture time,
date, ISO, WB, file format and shutter speed, etc.
The view that Play mode is left in will be
the setting used for review of images while
shooting.
This means, that if the Play mode is set to show
images with a histogram, and you then exit to
the Main screen, all subsequent captures will be
shown on the display with a histogram over the
image.
7. PLAY MODE

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P+ Series reference manual
7. PLAY MODE
Zoom
After entering Play mode, advance to the
eyeglass icon by pressing the button again and
press the "Enter" button to select it.
It is now possible to zoom in the image with the
"Enter" button.
The zoom has four steps, Normal, enlargement
1, enlargement 2 and enlargement 3.
When zoomed into enlargement 1, 2 or 3 the
insert view in the lower left corner can be used
to navigate around in the image.
A small rectangle will show the current position
and the up and down buttons can be used to
scroll up and down.
An icon just beside the Play button (top left
hand button) will show the direction of scroll as
either vertical or horizontal.
Pressing the "Play" button once will change this
from horizontal to vertical scroll when using the
up and down buttons. (Left side)
To exit the zoom function use the enter key to
navigate to the eyeglass icon in the pan view and press the Play
button to step to the next icon in the menu bar. Or hold down the
"Exit" button for more than 1 second.