ptomsu
Workshop Member
All,
thought I give a short update on my first impressions about handling of my new H3D and what I feel about the integrated solution - so far no images, as it is only heavily raining here in Austria, but they will follow asap - promised!
1) It took me some 3-4 hours playing with the camera and going through all (most) settings to be on a level that I have trust in really riding this beast. Once you get used to the logics behind, the operations become VERY logical and intuitive! This is also the reason I spent as much time upfront, just to be able to use this equipment in a perfect way. BTW the Hasselblad partner in Austria did a great job and took plenty of time to help and get me up to speed, which is another important argument for a purchase.
2) General feeling - ergonomics: it is often discussed in this forum and also in others, that the S2 is such a great ergonomic camera and easy to handle and operate. While I have no doubt in that I must say that after this short time I own now the H3D it is obvious to me that its ergonomics and handling and operation is absolutely perfect. Hasselblad did a great job when designing the whole system from the scratch in meanwhile 10 years ago and the result is really perfect. Sure it is larger than the S2, but hey, it is a true MF camera and uses a larger sensor and allows all the advantages of this sensor size as well as the modular design.
3) Weight - I feel the camera has just the right weight - I use it with 100 and 28 lenses and the combination is just perfectly balanced, everything is large enough so I can touch it with my rather big hands and I seem not to get tired even after some hours holding the camera and operating it, as this was the case during my initial setup and startup procedure. So all arguments that you cannot handle such a system for long time and you are just dead and tired after one or several shoots are just hot air - at least WRT my experiences!
5) Silent and discrete - well I did NOT expect a MF camera to be really discrete, but I must say that the grey of the camera helps for camouflage a lot and that it is also remarkably silent for the masses which are accelerated and moved during shooting. The Leica S2 might be more quiet, but I am not measuring this in dB and during my normal operation I do not care about this minimal difference.
6) SW - Phocus - Also new to this SW I am already handling most of the operations I need and will use in my daily workflow very nicely. The results are exceptional in terms of color and depth and tonal range, also the interiors I shot under really bad light in my office. Also if you look at the ISO 400 and 800 they are remarkably clear, of course something really different from 35mm DSLRs (no wonder of course) and the whole package seems to integrate perfectly in my workflow. And as I already said in some other post, this SW has some features, which C1 just got implemented in its V5 - but please I am not going into comparison fight here, just stating I am happy with what is in Phocus already today. And this was my biggest concern BTW. But to make it even better, there is Phocus 2.0 to be released every day now and not only will it bring a number of further improvements, but also mucgh tighter integration with the Graphics Engines on Apple computers and this brings real speed improvements if you change parameters on the fly. Very good and I love already the speed of Phocus 1.2.1
Bottom line - very happy so far and do not see that this might change. And knowing there is now an upgrade path makes me even more happy, although I am not sure if I really will need the H4D60 already next year
Allow me one final conclusion: We all discuss a lot about these systems and we argue about the features and capabilities, but end of the day it is important we make a decision and move on. I have maybe taken too long to decide, you all know the phases I went through, but I am so happy I came out with a decision and the decision seems the right one for me, as my main concerns were always handling and system integration which work perfectly in the H3D system for me - I never had any doubts on IQ as all the systems are on a VERY HIGH level in that area today.
thought I give a short update on my first impressions about handling of my new H3D and what I feel about the integrated solution - so far no images, as it is only heavily raining here in Austria, but they will follow asap - promised!
1) It took me some 3-4 hours playing with the camera and going through all (most) settings to be on a level that I have trust in really riding this beast. Once you get used to the logics behind, the operations become VERY logical and intuitive! This is also the reason I spent as much time upfront, just to be able to use this equipment in a perfect way. BTW the Hasselblad partner in Austria did a great job and took plenty of time to help and get me up to speed, which is another important argument for a purchase.
2) General feeling - ergonomics: it is often discussed in this forum and also in others, that the S2 is such a great ergonomic camera and easy to handle and operate. While I have no doubt in that I must say that after this short time I own now the H3D it is obvious to me that its ergonomics and handling and operation is absolutely perfect. Hasselblad did a great job when designing the whole system from the scratch in meanwhile 10 years ago and the result is really perfect. Sure it is larger than the S2, but hey, it is a true MF camera and uses a larger sensor and allows all the advantages of this sensor size as well as the modular design.
3) Weight - I feel the camera has just the right weight - I use it with 100 and 28 lenses and the combination is just perfectly balanced, everything is large enough so I can touch it with my rather big hands and I seem not to get tired even after some hours holding the camera and operating it, as this was the case during my initial setup and startup procedure. So all arguments that you cannot handle such a system for long time and you are just dead and tired after one or several shoots are just hot air - at least WRT my experiences!
5) Silent and discrete - well I did NOT expect a MF camera to be really discrete, but I must say that the grey of the camera helps for camouflage a lot and that it is also remarkably silent for the masses which are accelerated and moved during shooting. The Leica S2 might be more quiet, but I am not measuring this in dB and during my normal operation I do not care about this minimal difference.
6) SW - Phocus - Also new to this SW I am already handling most of the operations I need and will use in my daily workflow very nicely. The results are exceptional in terms of color and depth and tonal range, also the interiors I shot under really bad light in my office. Also if you look at the ISO 400 and 800 they are remarkably clear, of course something really different from 35mm DSLRs (no wonder of course) and the whole package seems to integrate perfectly in my workflow. And as I already said in some other post, this SW has some features, which C1 just got implemented in its V5 - but please I am not going into comparison fight here, just stating I am happy with what is in Phocus already today. And this was my biggest concern BTW. But to make it even better, there is Phocus 2.0 to be released every day now and not only will it bring a number of further improvements, but also mucgh tighter integration with the Graphics Engines on Apple computers and this brings real speed improvements if you change parameters on the fly. Very good and I love already the speed of Phocus 1.2.1
Bottom line - very happy so far and do not see that this might change. And knowing there is now an upgrade path makes me even more happy, although I am not sure if I really will need the H4D60 already next year
Allow me one final conclusion: We all discuss a lot about these systems and we argue about the features and capabilities, but end of the day it is important we make a decision and move on. I have maybe taken too long to decide, you all know the phases I went through, but I am so happy I came out with a decision and the decision seems the right one for me, as my main concerns were always handling and system integration which work perfectly in the H3D system for me - I never had any doubts on IQ as all the systems are on a VERY HIGH level in that area today.
