PDNOnline.com has an early preview of the new The Mamiya ZD titled "Hands-on with the most interesting digital ever." . The ZD is a 22-megapixel digital medium-format camera with a huge 36mm x 48mm sensor. If the price comes under $10,000 as rumored, the ZD will be a class-leading product:
The Mamiya ZD, even in its current iteration is a powerful camera. Engineers in Japan will need to ensure that the image processing time is short enough to make the camera a viable option in the studio or in the field, but aside from the buffering times and the image-quality quirks of the early version firmware, the Mamiya ZD is already good to go.When it ships, the ZD will be lighter than the Canon 1Ds Mark II, with nearly twice the resolution of the Nikon D2X, and vastly more lenses than the Olympus E system. If the company can bring the price in line (a few thousand more than a Canon 1Ds Mark II, but less than a AFD plus back) will make this a very powerful addition to Mamiya%u2019s lineup.
Gizmodo.com has some photographs of the Mamiya ZD camera and the ZD digital back. LetGoDigital.org has some more photographs in its Photokina preview article. I can't wait to see sample images, but apparently the camera is still in beta and Mamiya is not allowing their release.
This is a make-it or break-it product for Mamiya. If the ZD succeeds (and there is every reason to believe that it will) then Mamiya will instantly become one of the leading high-end digital SLR providers. If the ZD does not ship on time or falters on the market, I predict that Mamiya will withdraw from camera manufacturing.
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