Hasselblad H3D2-39 / Calibration Error

[BlueLemon]

This too happened to me yesterday on a, for me, important photosession - luckily I had my truthfull workhorse Canon 1Ds2 with me - saved my butt.

I adress this to Hasselblad :

This camera, H3D2-39, which has just passed just 4.000 exposures comes out with a calibration error.... .... you can´t be serious ??? I have had this camera for less than 1 year, bought directly from a Hasselblad representative, and not sure if I have a warranty on this purchase...

If not, I´m going Phase One or Leaf directly and don´t look back. Really like the feel the Hasselblad lenses provide, but this camera - I just don´t trust it. Have been with me on 3 weddings, and everytime i had to rely on my Canon.

I have been using Hasselblad for over 20 years, but for the first time, I don´t trust Hasselblad.

Tell me what to do Hasselblad

Pictures where taken on 50 Iso, with a 100mm/2.2@F8 and with a sync cable connected to Elinchrome RX1200 system - and after just 20 pictures, my exposures started show up in display correct for 2 seconds, and then goes into black, with 2 purple stripes and later it turned black and with a green random area. After this, all the other pictures on card where destroyed too.

I cannot firmware upgrade from Phocus 2.5 - the menu for upgrade is greyed out.

Tried remove the prism, battery and lens - still no function to upgrade.

If i have to throw any kind of money after this - in case of repair, you just lost a Hasselblad user for good. So much money spend on .... what.... a camera you cannot trust.

Claus Stensgaard

 

[BlueLemon]

Info : I have the 259 firmware installed

Claus

 

[PeterL]

Could this be a memory card problem? Just a thought.

Cheers, -Peter

 

[MartinE]

I had the problem earlier this year and I got this from Hasselblad "Invalid Calibration" error is in the digital back. It may require only a re-calibration , which if it is ? would be 295 € Worse case scenario would be DSP board or other? starting with DSP @ 950 €."
For me it was the worst case and had to go back to Denmark. Total cost was over 3k NZ. Back had only 4k actuations. I just hope it never happens again.

 

[David Grover / Phase One]

This too happened to me yesterday on a, for me, important photosession - luckily I had my truthfull workhorse Canon 1Ds2 with me - saved my butt.

I adress this to Hasselblad :

This camera, H3D2-39, which has just passed just 4.000 exposures comes out with a calibration error.... .... you can´t be serious ??? I have had this camera for less than 1 year, bought directly from a Hasselblad representative, and not sure if I have a warranty on this purchase...

If not, I´m going Phase One or Leaf directly and don´t look back. Really like the feel the Hasselblad lenses provide, but this camera - I just don´t trust it. Have been with me on 3 weddings, and everytime i had to rely on my Canon.

I have been using Hasselblad for over 20 years, but for the first time, I don´t trust Hasselblad.

Tell me what to do Hasselblad

Pictures where taken on 50 Iso, with a 100mm/2.2@F8 and with a sync cable connected to Elinchrome RX1200 system - and after just 20 pictures, my exposures started show up in display correct for 2 seconds, and then goes into black, with 2 purple stripes and later it turned black and with a green random area. After this, all the other pictures on card where destroyed too.

I cannot firmware upgrade from Phocus 2.5 - the menu for upgrade is greyed out.

Tried remove the prism, battery and lens - still no function to upgrade.

If i have to throw any kind of money after this - in case of repair, you just lost a Hasselblad user for good. So much money spend on .... what.... a camera you cannot trust.

Claus Stensgaard

Hi Claus,

If your H3D is within 12 months and didn't go for any extra warranty cover, you are still covered regardless. Problem solved.

Any breakdown is unfortunate, absolutely, and I can only apologise that it has happened to your particular camera. But you are covered, it can be fixed.

In any case, the fastest way to resolve this problem is to talk to Hasselblad directly. You already have this line of communication established as you mention you purchased it direct from Hasselblad.

Therefore, posting on Getdpi will only lengthen this process and by now you could already be on the way to having your camera fixed quickly?

I can't offer any additional help via this forum as I don't know which country you are based in and who you spoke to in particular. So please give them a call today.

Best Regards,



David

 

[Nad54]

In my 25 years of working with photographic equipment I have found that nothing is 100% reliable regardless of the price paid. Just look at how many factory recalls are being made by luxury car makers. Something will fail at sometime. It can be the cheapest component ie space shuttle and a defective heat tile!

I had a terrible experience with sync cables when I had a Phase One P25. On location would work in landscape but not reliably portrait format.

The key is to always have some sort of backup. With a modular system like the H series at least the shutter is in the lens so a spare lens helps out.

In the 'good old days' we always carried a spare body and film was the capture unit. Working with a digital back (or complete camera ie Canon, Nikon etc) it is going to be hard to carry a spare. Though given the price of used H3Ds not unrealistic.

What I have learnt is that nothing in life is 100% reliable - not even my VW!

Hasselblad do a an extended warranty which considering the replacement costs of the components is well worth looking at.

 

[fotografz]

This too happened to me yesterday on a, for me, important photosession - luckily I had my truthfull workhorse Canon 1Ds2 with me - saved my butt.

I adress this to Hasselblad :

This camera, H3D2-39, which has just passed just 4.000 exposures comes out with a calibration error.... .... you can´t be serious ??? I have had this camera for less than 1 year, bought directly from a Hasselblad representative, and not sure if I have a warranty on this purchase...

If not, I´m going Phase One or Leaf directly and don´t look back. Really like the feel the Hasselblad lenses provide, but this camera - I just don´t trust it. Have been with me on 3 weddings, and everytime i had to rely on my Canon.

I have been using Hasselblad for over 20 years, but for the first time, I don´t trust Hasselblad.


Pictures where taken on 50 Iso, with a 100mm/2.2@F8 and with a sync cable connected to Elinchrome RX1200 system - and after just 20 pictures, my exposures started show up in display correct for 2 seconds, and then goes into black, with 2 purple stripes and later it turned black and with a green random area. After this, all the other pictures on card where destroyed too.

I cannot firmware upgrade from Phocus 2.5 - the menu for upgrade is greyed out.

Tried remove the prism, battery and lens - still no function to upgrade.

If i have to throw any kind of money after this - in case of repair, you just lost a Hasselblad user for good. So much money spend on .... what.... a camera you cannot trust.

Claus Stensgaard

Claus, frustrating I'm sure. However, I find it odd that you don't know if you have a warranty or not. Didn't you cover this important detail when you bought the equipment?

New equipment has a basic 1 year "depot" warranty (everything is covered, but there is no replacement camera while yours is being fixed), and refurbished gear from Hasselblad usually has a 6 month "depot" warranty. I bought a refurb CF39/MS back and extended the warranty by one year for 1.5 years coverage, which was relatively inexpensive.

Plus, shouldn't you have contacted the "Hasselblad Representative" where you bought the camera to deal with the issue rather than asking "Tell me what to do Hasselblad" here where no one can really do anything about it?

When I had a crippling issue with my Leaf Aptus 75 digital back right in the middle of a portrait session, I didn't vent on the internet, I immediately called the authorized Leaf seller where I bought it, and he was on the problem immediately.

Another lesson on being careful who you buy from, and making sure your bum is covered in case of issues ... be it Phase One, Leaf, Leica, Pentax or Hasselblad ... or Canon, Nikon or Sony for that matter. Cameras are a little like modern cars, you can't fix a lot of the issues yourself anymore ... they're all computerized, and require special repair equipment and knowledge. Best to get it to an expert as fast as possible.

Frankly, I don't 100% trust any digital gear ... I've had failures with Leica, Canon and Nikon in the past ... It's just the way it is now.

Best of luck on getting the issue taken care of.

-Marc

 

[tjv]

Every piece of electronic equipment has the potential to be unreliable, especially something so precision as a digital camera. We're talking almost imperceivable measurements to get correct alignments of sensors etc. I very much doubt Phase, Leaf or Hasselblad are worse than each other in terms of reliability. They simply couldn't afford to be considering the market in which they exist. Having said all of that, I'd definitely buy extended warranty and replacement cover if investing in such an expensive system. At the prices of MF backs, I certainly couldn't afford to carry my own backup.

Good luck.

 

[BlueLemon]

I appologize to those who think going on the internet with this, is farfetched - but being a very poor photographer, trying to get everything to work out on a budget - this is a set back that can be felt.

I tried however to call both Hasselblad and local dealer yesterday on the shoot - lines busy both places. And having limited time available on set, I had to pick up the Canon

Bought it secondhand from a guy employed as consultant by Hasselblad Denmark - he had it directly from Hasselblad Denmark, and sold it to me.

I just spoke with him, and we have arranged a later phonecall this evening - maybe he can help me out, since he did not provide me a receipt when i bought it from him.

Crossing my fingers - my stomach aches over this..... since I am really on a budget, and cannot afford my camera goes dead after just 4000 exposures.

 

[dougpeterson]

Absolutely - we sell the competing brand and I would still tell you the same thing. Judge not based on one failure - anything can break/fail once. Judge based on how quick and responsive the support is. And give your dealer (or in this case the manufacturer since you bought direct) a chance to make things right for you before you vent too much on a public forum.

That said I sympathize with your issue.

 

[BlueLemon]

Point taken !

Will contact local dealer first - thank you for your replies and help

Sincerely
Claus Stensgaard

 

[fotografz]

I appologize to those who think going on the internet with this, is farfetched - but being a very poor photographer, trying to get everything to work out on a budget - this is a set back that can be felt.

I tried however to call both Hasselblad and local dealer yesterday on the shoot - lines busy both places. And having limited time available on set, I had to pick up the Canon

Bought it secondhand from a guy employed as consultant by Hasselblad Denmark - he had it directly from Hasselblad Denmark, and sold it to me.

I just spoke with him, and we have arranged a later phonecall this evening - maybe he can help me out, since he did not provide me a receipt when i bought it from him.

Crossing my fingers - my stomach aches over this..... since I am really on a budget, and cannot afford my camera goes dead after just 4000 exposures.

I don't think buying from a "consultant" is the same as authorized reseller representatives who are trained by the manufacturer. It sounds like a second hand camera ... but for your sake I hope I'm wrong on that ... because as far as I know, Hasselblad doesn't warranty second hand cameras unless they first check it over. Who knows how the camera was treated by the original owner.

No receipt from the seller sounds fishy, especially if it's an "official" camera.

Buyer Beware.

 

[BlueLemon]

Nothing fishy - in this case

 

[BlueLemon]

Talked to local dealer today, and he tried to figure out what went wrong. Nice guy and really helpful.

While talking with him, i put the latest firmware onto a CF card (the latest v262) and at some point the camera started and asked me if I wanted to upgrade firmware. I accepted and camera says it´s upgraded. However the screen display still showed Error : Invalid Calibration

I had to put my mind on something else, and went for a walk with the dogs ;-)

Came back and tried to reset a fully charged battery with the FLASH/MENU button, and then recharged battery. Put it on after a short recycle time, and for now the error has vanished.

I will check and test the camera tomorrow evening - else it is going back to dealer.

 

[Cezär Motta]

Hi guys...
My Hasselblad H3D just showed up this "FUC@#$@# ING" error on the screen...
I red this post and doing the battery reset just let the camera work again... but suddenly today on a new campaign it started to appear again and let the camera out of use...
So, does any of you are having or had any problem like this? Could you solve it? How!?
I'm researching a lot and, found that this error "code" can be many different things...
So I would like to share with you guys to know if any of you found a new solution to this case...

Thanks a lot!
Cezär Motta.