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Hasselblad H4D-50 and high iso

Bildifokus

Member

I received my Hasselblad H4D-50 yesterday and now I will start to explore how far I can push this camera. I'm new to medium format so I really don´t know what to expect. I've read a lot and looked at lots of images to try to decide what digital back and maybe most of all, what lenses characteristics I like.

I have been shooting with a Nikon D3x for three years now, and I'm comfortable with how it´s handles. From what I have read about the limitations of medium format vs DSLR there where two that I was concerned about, AF speed and high iso. I do not shoot a lot of high iso, and I seldom go over iso 800 on my Nikon and that is the highest iso on the Hasselblad. First test image on iso 800 was this image of my dog Wilma. And I´m amazed, this I did not expect! The Hasselblad handles high iso a lot better than I expected!

Next issue was the AF. Although I missed focus slightly in this image I most say it focus quickly and very exact. Based on this short experience I feel that focus is more accurate on the Hasselblad when I compare it to my Nikon D3x.

I think this is for me the beginning of a very interesting journey! :)
 

bahr

New member
I agree, the hassy focus is crazy accurate. Your image demonstrates a great capture at an ISO setting I tend to avoid. Now it seems like a perfectly reasonable setting for the image quality. What lens was this shot with?

Bahr
 

Jay Emm

Member
Did you use True Focus? (Which I think is amazing voodoo, it's remarkable, I get almost no OOF images when I use this)
 

Bildifokus

Member
bahr, I used HC 80/2,8 @ f2,8 and 1/100, no tripod. It´s the only lens I´ve until monday when my 35/3.5 and 100/2.2 will arrive. :)

Jay, Yes, true focus was used. But that damn dog is faster then me. :)
 

gazwas

Active member
MF digital can be used quite sucsessfully at higher than expected ISO's but I find the problem with climbing up the ISO ladder is MFD loosed most of its advantages over FF 35mm as dynamic range and colour sensitivity get hit heavily.
 

gazwas

Active member
The best method is with Phase One's sensor + technology but that basicslly halves the resolution so always a trade off with current CCD's.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Nice shot of the doggie. :thumbup:

Congratulations, The H4D is a great camera ... my best friend just got a H4D/50 after drooling over the mages I shared with him from my H4D/40, and more recent H4D/60.

A few tips if you don't already know them:

Learn how to adjust the mirror delay using the Grip menu ... it really helps reduce mirror vibrations when shooting hand-held in lower light. I leave mine on 100ms delay because I shoot hand-held a lot.

Assign the True Focus function to the rear thumb button (marked TF). This way you can set the camera to AF and either use TF for off-center subjects, or shoot normally with the shutter button and not wait for TF to lock on ... Or alternatively set focus to manual which allows you to focus on a prearranged spot ... but still preserves the True Focus function using the rear thumb button (I normally have mine set to this configuration).

A few tips regarding color: especially valuable when shooting at higher ISOs.

Be sure that True Color is "on" in the Grip Menu custom functions.

Assign a user button to custom White Balance (I use the stop-down button on the front of the grip). The Hasselblad H camera has one of the fastest methods of setting WB of any camera I've ever used. Once the user button is assigned, you just press it and the camera fires and sets the WB ... no menus, scrolling, nothing ... press button, done. Stays set until you change it.

When shooting higher ISO, try to use the Phocus software. You will find the DR and color sensitivity quite remarkable even at ISO 800 because of the True Color data, and proper WB setting explained above. LightRoom is okay, but most H users agree that Phocus produces better color at all ISO settings.

Have fun!

-Marc
 

Bildifokus

Member
Thanks Marc, a lot of good information! I´m grateful for all tips I can get. It makes it so much easier to find the right configuration. :)
 

malmac

Member
Assign a user button to custom White Balance (I use the stop-down button on the front of the grip). The Hasselblad H camera has one of the fastest methods of setting WB of any camera I've ever used. Once the user button is assigned, you just press it and the camera fires and sets the WB ... no menus, scrolling, nothing ... press button, done. Stays set until you change it.
Marc, that is a function every top end camera should have.

Mal
 

Bildifokus

Member
A few tips regarding color: especially valuable when shooting at higher ISOs.

Be sure that True Color is "on" in the Grip Menu custom functions.

-Marc
I can not find True Color in the Grip Meny, only True Exposure and I´ve set it to "on". Is that correct?
 

fotografz

Well-known member
I can not find True Color in the Grip Meny, only True Exposure and I´ve set it to "on". Is that correct?
Oops, that's what you get when writing something by memory rather than looking :p ...

Yes, that's the one ... True Exposure is set to on when shooting available light ... and set to off when shooting with strobes ... as explained here:

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

The Color aspect of using Phocus, which they call Hasselblad Natural Color Solution, is for consistent color behavior and is explained here:

http://www.hasselblad.com/media/2679871/hncs.pdf

In fact, to get all this information straight from the horse's mouth, here is the page with all the technical articles

Technical articles

Hope this helps,

-Marc
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Marc, that is a function every top end camera should have.

Mal
I agree ... I wish my S2 had it. When setting custom WB is that easy, you actually tend to use it more frequently as the ambient color temp changes.

BTW, I do not buy the whole shoot RAW and fix it in Post when it comes to WB ... at least not when shooting more rapidly where checking the histogram is less likely. Overly warm or yellow shots may look properly exposed on the LCD, but when WBed are often under-exposed.

-Marc
 

Shashin

Well-known member
MFD cameras are just that, cameras. You can use them just like any DSLR, handheld, high ISO.
 
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