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Hasselblad H3DII-39MP Best Camera/Raw Settings help for new user from Portugal

pedro39photo

pedro39photo

New member
Hello everyone,

I am a Industrial/Stock Photographer from Portugal and after a short 2 months experimentation with a H3D 22MP, i made the jump to the DMF and bought a H3DII - 39MP and a 50-110mm lenses.
Now i have a lots of questions and i will try to resume all in one post, but first i have to say thanks to Paul Gould in Hasselblad UK for the dedication, attention for customer in the deal. I think that close relation its what make a great brand like Hasselblad.

Now for the questions, i like to listen from Hasselblad H users some advices/tips for:

1 - the best Cameras settings / Custom options in this system

2 - After 2 days in the field i have a general underexposure in the pics and i have to give always +2/3 or full stop compensation, its this normal?

3 - I was using a monopod for the inicial first days in the exterior of testing with sunny days (1/125 - 1/250 speeds at F8 and iso 50) at this speeds the tripod give me superior sharp results?

4 - RAW software, its Phocus still given you the best conversions files ? or the new Lightroom 4 its now fully optimize for the Lens and the Hasselblad sensor system?

5 - Best/Optimal settings for 39MP digital back ( Lightroom 4.1 ) for the Sharpening + Noise Reduction + Presence

6 - I have the 50-110mm zoom, but i am not satisfied with the optics performance in the left corner of the photos that are less sharp that the right one with the same f5.6 or f8, have anyone send your lens to hasselblad service for optical calibration ? what was the results? Much better results after service? or we have to try find another copy?

7 - Open to listen comments, suggestion or tips from other users to this remarkable medium format sys.

Thanks so much, and congratulations to this forum administrators and users for the great sharing knowledge put in here in a daily basis !
Sorry my bad English, and please any DMF users from Portugal please contact me, i am trying to join a group in this country for some friendly photo meetings.

PedroNunes
Photography
 
Miller

Miller

Member
Boa noite, Pedro!

You have a great camera. I have been using my H3dII-39 for landscapes mainly. My workflow is to use Phocus for general adjustments and Photoshop together with Nik plugins for local adjustments and printing, so I can not help you with your questions regarding Lightroom.
I have created a number of profiles for use in different circumstances. When shooting landscapes for instance, I always use a tripod. I use aperture priority, spot metering (zone system) and manual focus, with focus drive set to one of the user programmable buttons. Set up the tripod, then lock exposure, choose where to focus and hit the focus drive button, and mount the camera. Frame the composition and shoot. Look at the histogram and the blinkies, manually adjust shutter speed if necessary and shoot again. I find the light meter accurate enough. When the scene allows, I sometimes use average metering with good results. I aim to expose without highlight warning or only minor warnings. If that means underexposure, I prefer lifting the shadows to heavy highlight recovery in Phocus.
Regarding corner sharpness, is it possible to test with another lens? Or could you test the lens on the H3d-22 that you have used prior? Is the back element of the lens completely clean?
I prefer to shoot from a tripod because I often use filters, but I have used the camera handheld with good results. Obtaining good results when shooting from a monopod depends on good technique, I would imagine.
I would encourage you to take time to test different settings and techniques, it really helps to get to grips with the possibilities of the system. And save settings that you like to a profile, so that you can reload them.

Good luck!
Frans Rutten
 
David Schneider

David Schneider

New member
Pedro,

I do not believe there are universal best setting.

I use my H3DII-39 in manual exposure all the time I'm the studio; outdoors it depends on what and why I'm using that camera.

I convert my files in Phocus to DNG and medium jpg's ( for viewing) and after that everything is done in Photoshop.

As for checking a lens, I suggest doing it with a continuous steady light source, tripod or camera stand, mirror locked up, manual focus on stock market page of a newspaper so as few variables as possible are present.
 
Douglas Fairbank

Douglas Fairbank

New member
2 - After 2 days in the field i have a general underexposure in the pics and i have to give always +2/3 or full stop compensation, its this normal?
No, it's not normal but as the other writer suggests perhaps try spot metering to control the influence of sky light.

4 - RAW software, its Phocus still given you the best conversions files ? or the new Lightroom 4 its now fully optimize for the Lens and the Hasselblad sensor system?
Phocus will still give the best conversion!

6 - I have the 50-110mm zoom, but i am not satisfied with the optics performance in the left corner of the photos that are less sharp that the right one with the same f5.6 or f8, have anyone send your lens to hasselblad service for optical calibration ? what was the results? Much better results after service? or we have to try find another copy?
I guess you have bought this camera used? I recommend that the whole camera, not just the lens is checked.

The rest is your personal preference. :salute:
 
F

fotografz

Well-known member
Welcome Pedro.

The Hasselblad H system is more remarkable than you may know. Let me see if I can be of some help.

1) Best Settings: The Hasselblad H camera is highly customizable, so the best camera settings and custom options are entirely dependent on what you shoot, where you shoot, and how you shoot ... and whether you work with studio strobes or available light. Once you determine different groups of camera settings for different applications, you can save each one as a "User Profile" to instantly recall them when shooting in similar conditions. How to do that can be seen here:

H System Channel Page 4 | Hasselblad tv

2) Exposure: It is difficult to advise on exposure since no one is there to actually see how you are working, or what metering area you have selected compared to what you are shooting.

Hasselblad uses what they call "True Exposure" technology ... which can be turned on-or-off by accessing Custom Option #13. Used incorrectly, it can cause under-exposure ... so it is worth checking ... but read this first to better understand how it actually works:

http://www.hasselblad.com/media/2509514/true_exposure_mode.pdf

3) Mono-Pod verse Tripod: No matter what, the use of a good Tripod will assure better results when working with any high resolution camera such as the H3D/39. For optimal image quality, a Tripod allows use of the Mirror Up function to eliminate any nano-mirror vibrations. I also recommend sand bagging the Tripod when possible, and use of the Hasselblad Electronic remote release.

Monopod use is most certainly effective compared to hand-holding, but eliminates the ability to lock up the mirror to reduce any possible vibrations. To counter this, Hasselblad has included a Custom Option to delay the mirror slap effect. Since I shoot people mostly, I use this feature all the time ... with a Monopod or when hand holding the H camera. It is VERY effective. How to set it can be seen here:

Hasselbladbulletin.com

4) Best RAW Software: This actually depends on final applications, final size, and level of Image Quality required. For Tethered work, there is no option except Phocus as of now. For best color/finest control: Phocus. For fastest work-flow and cataloging of non-distructive RAW adjustments : Adobe Light-Room.

When I shoot product, or lower image volume assignments I always process in Phocus. For larger volume, less demanding jobs like wedding portraits/candids, I tend to process in Lightroom because I may be using 2 other cameras and all files are dumped together into one folder along with the Hasselblad RAW files, then sorted by time shot to keep them all in order.

Note on Phocus: This software requires a good graphics card installed in your computer. Slow or troublesome Phocus performance is almost always because the Graphics card is not up to par.

5) Software settings for 39 meg back: This is totally subjective.

6) 50-110 Performance: This lens is actually quite good optically and is a mainstay zoom for many Hasselblad shooters both pro and enthusiast ... but there have been reports of problems with the front lens elements lose/ or even falling out on earlier versions which may be the source of your issue ... once you have tested it completely to assure there is a problem, then it may need a trip to Hasselblad for checking or repair. Ask your local Hasselblad representative if they have a version of the "Check To Spec" program in your area.

7) My main suggestion is to make sure you have all the latest Phocus software version, and the corresponding firmware for the a) camera, B) back and c) prism viewfinder ... all available on the Hasselblad website. Take your time to explore all the options and use the Hasselblad instruction videos I linked to in #1 answer above.

Best of luck, and happy shooting! :thumbs:

-Marc
 
P

Professional

Active member
Well, i started with MF in my life with H3DII-39, i was blown away with its image quality because i was shooting only with 35mm DSLRs, so that was a big big jump for me, never used any MF before it, and later on i traded my H3DII to get H4D.

I don't know why you have few issues, i don't have that lens, but from what i hear this lens is remarkable, maybe the corners are not that great for some lenses including this one, but i may be wrong, as recommended from Douglas, maybe you should send the body too and not just the lens, but, if you are not sure then the only way to be sure is using another lenses such as 35-90 or 80 and such, or test another 50-110 copies and compare it with your copy and see if you see same issue, then it is not the lens, in all cases you have to send something for service.

About the exposure, i never had this problem first time using my H3DII, and yes, i checked all the settings but not the whole settings, but even though when i was new to this camera i didn't have problems with exposure, i think you know the controls or can read the manual, nothing much we can help you there for exposure with settings rather than what you know about it by yourself, i keep using Phocus too, but i started to learn using Photoshop CS6 with my Hassy files, very close quality and didn't do much pixel peeping to compare Phocus with Photoshop CS6, but most of the time i don't need big prints or high quality samples so i just use PCS6 directly and no need to use Phocus first, sometimes i need to use Photoshop for some more or final adjustments after Phocus, so i was lazy to work on 2 programs, skipped Phocus sometimes, never used LR4 yet.

To my eyes, i liked the color from H3D-22 a bit more than H3DII-39, but the sharpness is no match, H3DII is the winner, but i think you may prefer that natural colors, but it seems for me like it is dull with H3DII and way saturated with H3D22.

Welcome to Hasselblad H club!!! :thumbs:
 
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