By Betsy Finn, Cr.Photog., CPP

For the past month or so, I’ve been testing out my very own personalized iPhone app. ProPhotoApps is the company that created my app; they specialize in iPhone apps specifically for photographers and photography studios. Once completed and approved for the iTunes store, your studio's app will be available for download at no charge to maximize its distribution to your clients and potential clients.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Sounds cool, but what if I don’t have an iPhone?” No problem. ProPhotoApps has an administrative web interface where you manage all the details; you can customize your app completely without ever having to touch an iPhone.

When the app-creation process begins, you will log into the admin interface, and begin adding your custom data. There are a few fields that you cannot change once you submit your app to iTunes for approval, so make sure to fill out those fields wisely. Most everything else, from images to news blurbs, you will be able to update and change freely over the life of your app (Pics, Social, Contact Us, and Specials).

By Stan Sholik

Since the introduction of the Phase One camera in 2009, the company has promised us leaf shutter lenses so that we can sync our strobes at shutter speeds higher than 1/125 sec. Their follow-up announcement later last year of a strategic alliance with famed optics manufacturer Schneider Kreuznach confirmed that the promised lenses would be soon forthcoming.

The new lenses are now here or on their way and along with them is a new camera body, the Phase One DF. Apparently the Phase One/Mamiya/Schneider group decided that the venerable Mamiya 645 body needed an update to efficiently incorporate the latest technology, and so the Phase One 645DF and its sister camera, the Mamiya 645DF, were born. While the two bodies are identical in nearly every way, the Phase One version is the one to have if you are a Phase One P40+ or P60+ user, as we shall see.

While the Phase One 645DF (DF) offers significant improvements over any previous 645 generation, one major loss is the inability to mount a film back on the camera. It’s always good to have a backup camera around anyway, so that could be any older Mamiya 645 body that would also take a film backs. Unfortunately, you couldn’t use the new leaf shutter lenses with this body.

While compatibility with film backs is lost, compatibility in other areas is improved. Unlike the latest Hasselblad cameras, the Phase One 645DF remains an open platform. This means that should there be a problem with the DF body, you can send it off for service and use your backup body or a rental until it returns. It also means that you can mount any Phase One or Leaf digital back that is compatible with a Mamiya body on the DF. As an aside, because Leaf is now a Phase One company, you can even use Capture One software with the Leaf backs.

At first glance the Phase One 645DF looks identical to the previous Phase One 645 body, but numerous changes have been made, some of them significant for professional photographers. ©Stan Sholik