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H4D-40 Does not Power-Up

Laurent

New member
Today I was shooting with my H4D-40 tethered. I had to unplug the camera from the computer while it camera was on. I must say that I have done that in the past and nothing wrong happened. Today for some reason unknown to me the camera started to malfunction and it gave me a message “Exposure not possible check magazine”. I don’t know what this is and the Hasselblad user manual does not give any explanation regarding this issue. I decided to remove the battery for 30 seconds and install it again. Now it does not power up! :angry: The Hasselblad technical support department is closed today and I was wondering if any of you would have suggestions so I may finish my work today?
 

Dustbak

Member
Exposure not possible check magazine is like the camera thinking there is no back attached.

There might be a bad contact between the back and body.

Does the back bootup but not the camera (does the back get juice)? Try tethering with the back separate from the body. Have Phocus boot up the back, start the body (if possible) and attach the 2.

Are you on Mac?
 

Dustbak

Member
So if the back boots up and Phocus can start it it means the problem is probably not in the part of the back.

If the camera body boots without the back you should be able to join the 2 together to continue your shoot. If it doesn't work it is likely there is a problem with the contacts. Try cleaning them.

If the camera body does not boot. Try a different battery (charged) first. If it still not boots the problem is in the body. Now that is a bummer but apparently you can put another H4 or H3 body on your back too (you only miss ultrafocus but what do you care if you can continue for the moment). I have not been forced ever to try this and have only heard from others that this is working, furthermore I don't know if you have access to another H3/H4 body.

I just hope you get it to start up again.
 

Laurent

New member
I tried it and it does not work. I am able to boot the body and the back separately but when I attach them it still does not work
 

Dustbak

Member
Which Mac are you using? By any chance a MBP i5/i7?

You might be affected by the firewire issue. Have you installed the latest firmware? Do you use a powered firewire repeater? You might want to try one, certainly if you are not on the latest firmware.

If you have not installed the latest firmware that solves a firewire instability you might want to try this too.

http://www.hasselblad.com/service--support/technical-support/firmware-downloads.aspx

"An important modification in the firewire protocol has been implemented to improve stability"
 

Dustbak

Member
It is the newer Mac. Apple has changed its firewire protocol somewhat causing the Hasselblad backs to go offline on occassion. Actually kind of in the way you are describing. It doesn't matter whether you use front or back firewire ports.

What firmware are you on? If it is not R359, try this first. This firmware is supposed to fix this.

I am always searching for where the firmware is (somewhere in the menu 4 I recall) but you can apply it anyway. If it is already on Phocus will warn you.

A powered firewire hub will also work. Apparently is smooths out the power on the firewire line enough to keep the back online.

Actually my 39MP backs worked on and off. After rebooting it would work for a while etc.. I am really glad that Hasselblad released new firmware for the 39MP products about a month ago.
 

Laurent

New member
I was able to upload the firmware but it still does not work. I appreciate your help very much.
Hasselblad will get a call from a very unhappy customer on Monday. I bought this camera right before Christmas. Let me tell you that I am not impressed!
 

Dustbak

Member
Have you rebooted your Mac & camera after the firmware update? Does it work on CF cards?

I know how frustrating a malfunctioning piece of equipment can be, especially in weekends this seems to happen.
 

Laurent

New member
I have now done it and tried the procedure several times but it still does not work. Again thank you for your time.
 

Dustbak

Member
If it doesn't work tethered, latest firmware doesn't work, doesn't work on CF cards, etc..

it sounds you have a failing camera. Indeed give your dealer a ring on monday and have them sort it out. Bummer. I feel for you, this is everyone's nightmare.

Don't worry, it was my pleasure trying to help you out. Goodluck and keep us posted.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
First clue is that it happened when the live camera was unplugged. It would seem that the odds of it being a contact issue would be an astronomical coincidence. More likely a protocol issue or corruption when the system tried to switch over from tethered power to battery power ... especially if it was in the middle of doing something.

BTW, how did you update/reload the body firmware if the camera doesn't recognize back ... firmware updates for the body are done through the back via Phocus aren't they?

Try this set of fixes: No guarantee ... it's just the first thing my dealer taught me to do if I had any tethered issues ... which I haven't.

1) Remove the CF card, lens, prism, back and battery from the body. Press the shutter release button for a while to discharge any residual power. Charge a fresh battery to 100%.

2) In Applications, go to the Utilities Folder and open Disk Utility and run Permissions repair ... once done, run it again.

3) Make sure Phocus is closed, go to your user account then to Library, then to Preferences, alphabetically look for dk.hasselblad.phocus.plist and trash it. Empty the trash, and restart your computer.

4) Open Phocus.

5) Reassemble the camera including the fresh battery. No CF card. Use a different tether cable if you have one ... use the FW800 to 400 cord that came with the H4D/40, which will eliminate any FW800 issue on your computer as a cause. It should be noted that all of these digital backs require more power than most other firewire devices, and the H4D/40 draws more power than the H3D-II/39 backs did ... as others on GetDpi have mentioned, laptops and iMacs aren't all that great at providing power through the firewire ports, and a powered hub does help.

6) Start the camera, plug in the tether cord to the digital back and see if Phocus recognizes it. If not, try closing Phocus, and reopen it. If not, close Phocus, restart your computer, and reopen Phocus. Do not turn off or unplug the camera while doing this. Do not get impatient ... give it time to think.

Good luck,

-Marc
 

johnnygoesdigital

New member
You can't use another H3 or H4 DB or body unless they're sent to Hasselblad for calibration. Both must be calibrated together. Another wonderful convenience of the closed system!
 

jlm

Workshop Member
johnny that is short sighted.

the alternative is a system where there is no such close synchronization possible between bodies and backs
 

jlm

Workshop Member
read about the alpa and how concerned they are, providing very thin shims to the end user to set the back plane to the lens plane, both for planarity and exact distance
 

johnnygoesdigital

New member
Jim, it seems you have more of an issue with Alpa, this thread was about an H4D/40, which by the way, you can't or shouldn't use with an Alpa, shims or no shims. Not quite sure what your original synchronization comment was in reference to.
 

Dustbak

Member
You can't use another H3 or H4 DB or body unless they're sent to Hasselblad for calibration. Both must be calibrated together. Another wonderful convenience of the closed system!
This is not true, apparently you can but indeed it is not calibrated (not documented nor adviced). Read my text in its entirety. I understand you are disgruntled about your misfortune with Hasselblad equipment but maybe you can contain it in your own thread so we can try to keep this one for trying to help someone else with his issue?
 

johnnygoesdigital

New member
Dustbak, Here's an actual quote you made from another thread regarding manuals and documentation:

"If it is not in a manual I usually assume it doesn't work or get very cautious about it."

So, i'm not sure what good it does to advise someone to use a procedure that is not documented or advised. Perhaps, you should read your own comment.
 
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