Phase One P40 Plus

The P40 Plus is a medium format digital camera released in 2009, built around a 40 megapixel CCD sensor. That resolution marks it out as a stills tool for work that demands fine detail and cropping room.

It uses the Mamiya 645 AF lens mount, so lenses come from that medium format system.

Day to day it is a substantial body at 1030g, and images land on a single CompactFlash card with no second slot. Built-in WiFi is the one wireless feature.

Resolution is the headline here. The 40 megapixel medium format CCD sensor produces large files with the detail and cropping room that big prints, product work and fine-art projects call for.

Lenses come through the Mamiya 645 AF mount, so your optics draw on that medium format system. It is a sensible pairing for a body built around slow, high-resolution capture.

The shooting pace is slow: two frames per second maximum, with three autofocus points. That suits static subjects and careful composition more than fast action.

Sensitivity runs from ISO 50 to 3200, and a Phase-One image processor handles the files. There is no in-body stabilisation, so slow shutter speeds depend on steady technique or a tripod. A 1/10000s top speed is available to stop motion or cut ambient light.

The P40 Plus does not record video in any mode, and there is no built-in timelapse. Every file the card holds is a still photograph, so the camera's controls serve stills shooting alone.

That absence simplifies planning in a few specific ways. There are no codecs to manage, no video-capable editing software to buy for anything this camera produces, and no card space reserved for clips.

Anyone combining motion with these high-resolution stills will need a second camera for the video side of the job. The same applies to timelapse, which is not among this camera's own built-in options. Battery life, too, is quoted in shots rather than recording hours.

Round the back is a 2.2-inch LCD with 230,400 dots. It is fixed and not touch-sensitive, and with no live view it handles menus and image review rather than framing. Composition happens through the optical pentaprism viewfinder.

The features score of 14 out of 100 reflects the missing touch screen, live view, Bluetooth and weather sealing, along with the small display. The P40 Plus sits in the bottom 2% of cameras in our database for Features.

There is no GPS, so locations need logging some other way. Two things soften the picture: built-in WiFi is present, and while there is no built-in flash, external flash units are supported, which fits controlled lighting setups.

Images go onto a single CompactFlash card. With no second slot, a long shoot means carrying spares and downloading when you can, because once that card fills, shooting stops until you swap it.

Battery life is the strong point. The BP-915 battery is rated at 2500 shots, though the rating is not a promise of real-world endurance.

Charging is less convenient. There is no USB charging, so the battery cannot be topped up over a USB cable. The modest storage and battery score of 51 out of 100 reflects the single card slot and the missing USB option more than the battery, which scored well.