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Advice needed: Why would I buy a 50 MP back instead if 39 MP?

BlasR

New member
I have a bias towards BMW's since i just spent 35k on one last week , it better last 5 years or I will be pissed.:ROTFL::ROTFL::ROTFL::ROTFL::ROTFL::ROTFL:

Other than that when it comes to cams i owned them all or shot them all and really they are just a means to a end for me. If it had Shirley on the name plate I could care less. I'm happy with what I have right now and that is what counts as many folks are happy with there purchases.

What really makes me mad right now is my freaking DVD burner is NOT working and i need to deliver DVD's monday. Might just be Toast as in the software
are you bias with dvd , toshiba, sony or panasonic?:deadhorse:
 

fotografz

Well-known member
I don't think anyone meant personal bias Jack ... more that there are tons of Phase users here on this specific forum, and the bias is toward more info on one verses the other.

The difference between a Hassey 39 and 50 isn't the same as Guy's example because there aren't micro lenses with either Hassey back ... so the difference isn't as great in terms of application on a tech camera.

Personally, I skipped the 50 upgrade as it didn't offer a substantial enough difference from the H3D-II/39 I have now. Like Jack, the upgrade to the newer H4D body and 60 meg sensor is a different story ... made more attractive because of the Hassey trade in promotion that ended Dec. 31st.

BTW Mark, the promo wasn't get a 50 and they'll just give you a 60 ... as far as I understood it, the difference was $8,000. more, and the H4D body upgrade was part of that. But I admit that it's hard to keep track of the promotions, so I may be wrong here.

-Marc
 

fotografz

Well-known member
I have a bias towards BMW's since i just spent 35k on one last week , it better last 5 years or I will be pissed.:ROTFL::ROTFL::ROTFL::ROTFL::ROTFL::ROTFL:

Other than that when it comes to cams i owned them all or shot them all and really they are just a means to a end for me. If it had Shirley on the name plate I could care less. I'm happy with what I have right now and that is what counts as many folks are happy with there purchases.

What really makes me mad right now is my freaking DVD burner is NOT working and i need to deliver DVD's monday. Might just be Toast as in the software
My DVD burner didn't work either after moving to Snow Leopard and I had to upgrade Toast.

Then I discovered that my Epson 3800 wouldn't print properly either and had to order a new DVD from them which takes 5 days ... meanwhile you can use a 15 day demo download that only has 5 or 6 paper profiles ... so you have to load those separately ... all while I've got a deadline looming ... big PITA. :wtf:

-Marc
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Thanks Marc it was working before LA fine but maybe in transit it got messed up. I will order a new one I guess although I really want to get away from DVD's all together. i will just give the client a 16gb thumb drive Monday. The job I had to do was pretty funny. It was all about flooding and a disaster relieve program here in Phoenix. What is funny is we get 14 inches a year of rain. But the recent storm that just hit was about 8 inches in 4 days and we flooded like crazy. Got some interesting stuff but the whole project just makes me laugh since we live in a DESERT. LOL

Sorry I went OT

BTW If you think we are gear sluts trust me we are nothing compared to the car collectors at Barrett Jackson. Been watching it for the last couple hours. How is this for ya, a 1968 Mustang Bose 429 for a mere 260,000.00

People spent 11 million today only on cars.
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
Just to put some relevance on why not upgrading from 39MP to 50 BUT rather to 60MP:

The upgrade price for both H4D50 and H4D60 from a H3D39 or H3DII39 is €13.000.- here in Europe. So there is absolutely no eason to "just" upgrade to 50MP.

Not sure why Hasselblad makes these upgrade decisions, but this is the way it is. Obviously they want to start selling 60MP versions for the high end.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Thanks Marc it was working before LA fine but maybe in transit it got messed up. I will order a new one I guess although I really want to get away from DVD's all together. i will just give the client a 16gb thumb drive Monday. T

Sorry I went OT
Keeping it OT : -) ... yeah Guy, I've also been giving Wedding clients Thumb Drives as a promo item, along with the DVDs which are those Gold Archival type. Most of my commercial ad agency clients now have their own FTP sites or the art director brings a HD which are cheap as dirt these days.

On-T:

If the OP has the money then it's his decision to move up. However, the advice to stick with what he has is not all bad since there will be so many unknowns as he starts his photo career. Quite frankly, not a lot of assignments require more than a P30. Yet, without specifics as to the OPs photographic intent and actual applications, we can all speculate until the cows come home.

I agree that the Hassey upgrade paths are odd and sometimes confusing ...like the similar trade differences between getting a H4D/50 and H4D/60 mentioned. Just as odd is that a H3D and H3D-II trade value is the same. I have a very low count H3D-II/39 which yields the same trade value as an older H3D/39 with 100,000 shots on it :wtf:

Side note: anyone with a H3D-II/50 can have the body upgraded to a H4D in Denmark for $1,500. If they offered that on my 39 I might have given it serious consideration.

In the end, the only other competition (other than the H4D/60) for my upgrade path from my H3D-II/39 ... is to a H4D/50 Multi-Shot. Not much difference in trade price. The Multi-Shot 50 would be quite a studio camera, and can still be used as a single shot.

Have to go ... my GSA (Gear Sluts Anonymous) supporting sponsor is calling with a threat of enacting a full blown intervention :ROTFL:

-Marc
 
R

Rafa

Guest
I agree that the leap from the previous bodies to the 645DF is significant. My 645AFD decided to die this past week so I took the plunge on Fri and got a 645DF. Lag and autofocus speed and accuracy are very much improved. This is the camera Mamiya should have had years ago but I guess it's better late than never.
One problem I ran into was my 105-210mm AF ULD lens was not recognized by the body though it works well on all Mamiya AFD (I, II, III) and PhaseOne AF bodies. It seems the firmware in my lens was 33 and the newer lenses have firmware 34. My dealer is looking into it. Any of you have experienced something like this?
 

Nick-T

New member
Hi Guys
Posting between shots so I'll be brief. To answer the original question there is certainly a difference between the 39 and 50MP BEYOND the 11MP gain. I was just talking to a user of the 39 and the 50 and he is super pleased with the improvements in colour and tonal rendition of the 50.
Nick-T
 
Wow, Jack, you must be a scientist from the way you break it down! Where nice. Thank you. Then, if I may ask, what was your primary motivation to upgrade?

With regard to technical aspects: Are there any documented improvements in sensor quality? From what I know the 50MP sensor in the h4d-50 is just the same technology as the 39 MP sensor but with a smaller pixel pitch. Both are Kodak sensors. Phase One at least incorporated new technologies in every new sensor generation. First there were the +backs with longer exposure capabilities and then the sensor plus technology.

But Hasselblad is only innovating with the True Focus technology considering their previous product, the H3d-39, am I right?

...

Regards
Hi Paul,

The 50MP sensor is a totally different design to the 39MP. Briefly..

- It delivers the data faster, so shooting to a CF card is a little quicker and much improved tethered to a computer.

- The Color filters on the sensor have been improved and users who have taken 39 -> 50 upgrades always comment that they prefer the tonality, colour rendition and general look of the 50.

- Also on the H4D we have added not only the True Focus system, but also a some other body features... which I can't mention yet! ;-)

So even though it is only 11MP difference, that is not really the difference! True if you held up a couple of large prints, could you tell? But as I say above everyone who I have come across who has upgraded is extremely pleased with the result of the 50.

David
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Might add here you are also going to a 6 micron sensor over a 6.8 which i did myself and there is less Moire on the 6 micron. I can only go by my Phase switch but i do have more DR better tonal range and more pleasing color. Sounds like Hassy has maybe that same effect as well in the 50.

I would suspect here also and I don't know as fact on the Hassy 50 but I would think like the Phase you maybe getting better higher ISO's as well. Someone from Hassy needs to confirm that
 
E

ethranet

Guest
Paul,

MFD is for working professionals who need the resolution and for perfectionists with money. If you don't fit that description you are always going to be second guessing yourself and feeling like your never going to be as good as the forum people you look up to. All the romance with MFD that gets posted is posted at web resolutions which is a real waste of the format. Your falling in love with a Bugatti Veyron that can only do its top speed for 30 minutes then it runs out of fuel.
Actually, at top speed the Veyron runs out of fuel in just 12 minutes. :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti_Veyron#Fuel_consumption
 

Paratom

Well-known member
Paul,
I am impressed that you do have/had the money to buy a P30 system as a student and I am even more impressed that you seem to have the money to eventually upgrade to another sensor/back for 12-22k $ just since you are " a little annoyed by the crop factor"
Anyways, my opinion is the following: Do you see the smaller sensor as a real limitation in any way (like lets say the widest available lens is not wide enough, or do you find the (cropped) area in the viewfinder much to small, or any other reason?
If it is more mental than I would say save the money, make clear to yourself what your sensor and gear can do, and shoot right away.
If your hear says I just want more MP and less crop and you can afford it (and you dont miss the money for other things) just do it-but then you dont need a technical justification, you could just do it because you want it.
I recently upgraded from a Sinar 22mp back to a 33mp back (with some other slight improvements as larger display and newer generation) but the main reason/advantage for me has been a 1 step higher ISO. However the upgrade costed me much much less money than what you are talking about.
Personally I wouldnt want to spend that amount of money for gear which looses its value so fast as long as I didnt strongly feel I need it or I want it badly.





Hi there!

My name is Paul and I'm a student interested in all kinds of photography. I live in Switzerland. I stumbled upon your website because of the wealth of medium format information here ... which is amazing to read!

I've been lurking around here for a long time ... and I am humbled by all the great photos shown around here!

I decided to finally post something because I'm in dire need of advice! I'm considering getting a new Hasselblad camera (I've been saving for ages) and saw that there are some amazing deals around specifically those pre-owned CPO cams. Here too, in Europe.

On the other hand I already got a P30 system and am annoyed a little by the crop factor.

So I have two options now: a) trade in for a h4d-50 which will cost me about 22k $ or get a pre-owned 39MP for about 12k $ and still sell my p30. I guess there's a 15k $ difference in money here. I could use some of it to get a few lenses. On the other hand I would like to own new gear that is cutting edge.

So, from functional point of view ... do you think it is worth it going for the h3d-50?

Is this a huge difference between these two systems (excepting the h4d body improvements such as true focus) ?

Phase one is even more crazy, it have to lay down about 24k for a p45+ set.

To me something seems terribly chaotic about the price landscape in MF world ...

Regards and thanks for your thoughts!

Paul
 
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