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Rumormill: Hasselbald H4X
- Thread starter dougpeterson
- Start date
David Grover / Phase One
New member
Hey Tom,been reading all the comments on this new body with a lot of interest thought id chime in with my own thoughts,
been looking into getting a h4d-40 this year but having to hang on to my 500mm's an fast bodies due to getting some high speed work for next year but still very interested in adding a hassy to the kit for my other work
must admit I really do like this body a step in the right direction still being able to shoot film (who knows what way the industry could turn with it being so viollat at the moment and a open system with true focus and I'd definatly be going for it but...
Its a shame that its not going on open release, can just see this driving costs of h2/h1's right up second hand wise.
Also that you can't use any of the older hass backs like the ones of the h3d's would have been a terrific way of getting on the Hassy' ladder with say a h3d then upgrading just the body to the h4x in a cost effective manner If the back on the h3d fitted your needs. Even if you lost some of the perfect calibration between back and body.
Great to see hassy going in a brilliant direction but such a shame to see they are shooting themselve's in the foot for those of us not vat registered its £4314.00 inc vat plus a h1/h2 body which is £1,500 ish
If you have a great one second hand from the pro centre. Thats a total cost of £5,814 which means 4000 ish and you have the h4d-31 with the 80mm and a 31mp back pricing just seems a lil off as that would mean the back is only 2,800 ish? once you take the lens out of the equation.
not bad really in comparison to the h4x although you would loose the film and the ability to use phase backs think Ill be watching with alot of interest over the next gen of Hasselblad bodies when they eventually show there heads lets hope they are open system and backwards compatible with hxD backs or phase thatd be a dream camera.
With the ability to upgrade back body and lens where you need it rather than the entire body and back as we are vastly approaching the point in this recession where every penny counts to just being able to keep in the industry so being able to do it section by section would really soften the blow to the bank manager haha
Like you can with phase or if they bring something out around the 5-6 grand mark with a back now that would be interesting
Rock on hasselblad and keep bringing these brill cameras out times on my side so Ill be waiting to see what happens next
all the best,
Tom
Thanks for your interest!
It is probably worth noting that there was never a product as an "H3 Back" or an "H3 Body". H3D's and H4D's are sold as complete individual camera, custom calibrated for focus accuracy.
When customers upgrade them or sell them on the second hand market, there is no question of splitting back's and bodies etc etc. They are complete individual cameras.
Yes, you can remove the back for cleaning or placing on a technical camera.
This way you get an optimised system. Every H3/4D is individual to get the best out of the AF system and H system lenses.
Also the H4x body is a different configuration to one of the bodies matched with an H3/4D. The beauty of our D systems is that majority of all camera controls can be handled from the grip. For example, changing ISO/WB, formatting a card, controlling the menu on the rear LCD etc etc. Functions that would normally have to be made switching to the rear menu or perhaps a Phase One or Leaf back.
Pick up and H4D in the Pro Centre and you will see what I mean. The H4D functions as a camera, not as a digital back on a camera body. Before I get leapt on, this is not an attack on Phase One etc etc... but the experience of using an H4D is more like using one product as opposed to two. Its different.
In my opinion an H4x and a Phase back is still a lesser product than an H4D regardless of MegaPixels.
If you talk to the Pro Centre about our upgrade plans then you will see that having to upgrade the the camera as opposed to just as digital back does not necessarily mean a bigger financial hit. Plus you get a nice new camera each time you upgrade.
Hopefully that makes sense!
David
Landscapelover
Senior Subscriber Member
Thanks very much, David!
TomSteele
New member
Hey Tom,
Thanks for your interest!
It is probably worth noting that there was never a product as an "H3 Back" or an "H3 Body". H3D's and H4D's are sold as complete individual camera, custom calibrated for focus accuracy.
When customers upgrade them or sell them on the second hand market, there is no question of splitting back's and bodies etc etc. They are complete individual cameras.
Yes, you can remove the back for cleaning or placing on a technical camera.
This way you get an optimised system. Every H3/4D is individual to get the best out of the AF system and H system lenses.
Also the H4x body is a different configuration to one of the bodies matched with an H3/4D. The beauty of our D systems is that majority of all camera controls can be handled from the grip. For example, changing ISO/WB, formatting a card, controlling the menu on the rear LCD etc etc. Functions that would normally have to be made switching to the rear menu or perhaps a Phase One or Leaf back.
Pick up and H4D in the Pro Centre and you will see what I mean. The H4D functions as a camera, not as a digital back on a camera body. Before I get leapt on, this is not an attack on Phase One etc etc... but the experience of using an H4D is more like using one product as opposed to two. Its different.
In my opinion an H4x and a Phase back is still a lesser product than an H4D regardless of MegaPixels.
If you talk to the Pro Centre about our upgrade plans then you will see that having to upgrade the the camera as opposed to just as digital back does not necessarily mean a bigger financial hit. Plus you get a nice new camera each time you upgrade.
Hopefully that makes sense!
David
Thanks David
I shall keep an eye out for one sh at a good price after the new year 
Stefan Steib
Active member
I welcome the move of Hasselblad, though I also think the choice should be freely available, this combination with an upgrade is....suboptimal....well but that´s kind of symptomatic.
Further I still think as nice as it is,if there are backs of other brands supported, it still needs to have a Hasselblad H mount, which needs to be made specifically.
As it showed during the last time that more or less any of the back mounts have their specific glitches(specifically if you need to mount them to tech cameras!) and digital tolerances go narrower with every resolution improvement I think it would be the day now to speak about a unified digital back mount, something like the 4/5 , 5/7 , 8/10 international standard for film cassettes that was perfectly working for all makers.
I cannot remember anybody complaining in the past that the standardization was taking away business from a single brand.
The only thing that has happened with this nonsense of digital proprietary systems is a loss of user convenience - at raised prices.
With today´s knowledge of the last 15 years of development a much better and reliable mount could be standardized. The old film cassettes are history now. Its overdue !
A mount that is public domain in it´s dimensions, has perfect sealing for dust, water and stray light, clicks in securely with one hand and can only be removed with either 2 hands or a special
one hand usable locked button that cannot unlock incidentally. This could also be made for better flatness and to prevent shimming.
Also the electronic contacts need to be unified so that this back will work on all bodies and tech cameras without cabling.
This is what I am asking for and what I think is needed for a 21st century professional camera that fulfills the needs of working Pros !
Too much asked ? I don´t think so. the back makers need their homeworks done, otherwise the Japanese will show how this is done.
Please sit down and talk ! There are only 2 parties left Phase/Leaf/Mamiya and Hasselblad ,so this should be possible.
Forget about for a second securing your sales and think about your customers interests !!!!
Greetings from Munich
Stefan
Further I still think as nice as it is,if there are backs of other brands supported, it still needs to have a Hasselblad H mount, which needs to be made specifically.
As it showed during the last time that more or less any of the back mounts have their specific glitches(specifically if you need to mount them to tech cameras!) and digital tolerances go narrower with every resolution improvement I think it would be the day now to speak about a unified digital back mount, something like the 4/5 , 5/7 , 8/10 international standard for film cassettes that was perfectly working for all makers.
I cannot remember anybody complaining in the past that the standardization was taking away business from a single brand.
The only thing that has happened with this nonsense of digital proprietary systems is a loss of user convenience - at raised prices.
With today´s knowledge of the last 15 years of development a much better and reliable mount could be standardized. The old film cassettes are history now. Its overdue !
A mount that is public domain in it´s dimensions, has perfect sealing for dust, water and stray light, clicks in securely with one hand and can only be removed with either 2 hands or a special
one hand usable locked button that cannot unlock incidentally. This could also be made for better flatness and to prevent shimming.
Also the electronic contacts need to be unified so that this back will work on all bodies and tech cameras without cabling.
This is what I am asking for and what I think is needed for a 21st century professional camera that fulfills the needs of working Pros !
Too much asked ? I don´t think so. the back makers need their homeworks done, otherwise the Japanese will show how this is done.
Please sit down and talk ! There are only 2 parties left Phase/Leaf/Mamiya and Hasselblad ,so this should be possible.
Forget about for a second securing your sales and think about your customers interests !!!!
Greetings from Munich
Stefan
D
davidthescot
Guest
Hi guys
Don't normally visit this forum but comments on LuLa and the Hasselblad Digital Forum prompted me to log in.
There have been quite a few posts lamenting the absence of an upgrade path for H3 owners to move to H4. I think that Haselblad is now aware of this and hopefully will do something.
But here's the thing. Buy a backup H4D camera body (not too expensive) and put your H3D-39 back on it and guess what it works. There is an issue with calibration but this doesn't seem to bother H1/H2/H4X/CFH?CFV owners. They just put the back on and start taking pictures.
We have tried 39MP backs from series 3 cameras on H4 bodies in the UK and it does actually work right away. The icing on the cake would be if Hasselblad were to offer H3 owners a calibration service too.
Don't normally visit this forum but comments on LuLa and the Hasselblad Digital Forum prompted me to log in.
There have been quite a few posts lamenting the absence of an upgrade path for H3 owners to move to H4. I think that Haselblad is now aware of this and hopefully will do something.
But here's the thing. Buy a backup H4D camera body (not too expensive) and put your H3D-39 back on it and guess what it works. There is an issue with calibration but this doesn't seem to bother H1/H2/H4X/CFH?CFV owners. They just put the back on and start taking pictures.
We have tried 39MP backs from series 3 cameras on H4 bodies in the UK and it does actually work right away. The icing on the cake would be if Hasselblad were to offer H3 owners a calibration service too.