Mamiya, Leaf ally for medium-format cameras

原文如下：

Mamiya Digital Imaging and Leaf Imaging, two Phase One-controlled brands in the medium-format photography market, have become one.

With the new Mamiya Leaf brand, the two camera specialists will join product development and support activities, the companies said today.

Medium-format photography has been reshaped dramatically through the transition from film to digital. Using larger frames of film let photographers capture higher-quality imagery, but correspondingly large image sensors come at a much higher price.

Medium-format cameras traditionally came with removable camera backs, and Copenhagen-based Phase One and Tel Aviv-based Leaf make digital versions that would attach to camera bodies. Tokyo-based Mamiya makes camera bodies and lenses.

Competitors, most notably Hasselblad and now Pentax, make integrated designs without removable image sensors. The bigger competition, though, comes from more mainstream SLR designs from Nikon and Canon, whose 35mm-format cameras offer steady improvements in image quality and performance at prices considerably lower than those in the medium-format realm.

Nikon's new D4, for example, costs a mere $6,000 compared to more than $40,000 for an 80-megapixel Phase One-Mamiya combination. The D4 has a much lower resolution, with 16.2 megapixels, but Nikon also sells the 24-megapixel D3S and seems poised to offer a rumored D800 with 36 megapixels. Higher megapixel counts are useful for large, high-quality printing, though it should be noted not all pixels are created equal.

The Mamiya Leaf partnership should help the medium-format cameras compete better.

"We are aligning our resources to ensure that customers will benefit from the extensive expertise residing in both Tokyo and Tel Aviv," said Mamiya President Toshio Midorikawa in a statement. "We are confident that the synergy created and the efficiency gained by simplifying our operations will enable us to serve our customers faster and better."

Dov Kalinksi, Leaf's general manager, promised that customers will "be able to enjoy powerful new products emerging from a unified R&D effort."

The consolidation also should help with customer support worldwide, the companies said.

举例来说，尼康的D4，价格6000美元。而非思80MP的后背加上玛米亚的机身要40000美元。当然，尼康的D4的分辨率要低很多，只有16.2MP。不过尼康也生产24MP的D3s（疑为D3x之误）。而传说中的D800会有36MP的分辨率。高像素对于大尺寸的印刷出图很有好处，虽然需要指出的是，并不是每个像素都是天生一样的。

玛米亚利图的合并将为中幅市场带来更好的竞争。

“我们正在整合资源，使得我们的用户能够从东京和特拉维夫的专业积累中整整获得好处”，玛米亚总裁Toshio Midorikawa在一份声明中说。“我们非常有信心，通过简化我们的运营，双方的互补和效率的提高能让我们为用户提供更快和更好的服务。”

利图的总经理Dov Kalinksi承诺用户将“会看到合并的研发而产生的更强大的新产品。”

合并也将改进双方的全球客户支持，双方公司说。

除了价格高，在商业用途中没啥不好的，胶片品控环节多，时间成本高，生命不息，操心不止。

俺大致翻译一下吧：

玛米亚和利图，中幅市场中由菲思控制的两个品牌，已经合并。

两个公司说，在新的玛米亚利图的品牌下，双方的相机专家们将合并研发和支持的运作。

中幅摄影市场目前的变化很快，正从胶片向数码转换。虽然大幅面的胶片让摄影师们扑捉更好的画质，但是大幅面的数码传感器的成本非常高。

传统中幅相机使用可拆卸的后背。哥本哈根的非思公司和特拉维夫的利图公司为中幅相机生产数码后背。东京的玛米亚公司生产中幅机身和镜头。

而竞争对手们，最著名的是哈苏，而现在是宾得，生产不能更换后背的一体式中幅相机。而更大的竞争，来自于主流的135单反厂商佳能和尼康，他们的135mm单反相机一直在改善画质和性能，但是价格要比中幅数码便宜很多。

。。。

不是早就归顺了菲斯！？