H
Howard Cubell
Guest
Tom:Good evening everyone!
As some people might know I've not had a happy ride with my Phase One gear and after several rocky road episodes that I won't re-hash here, my dealer has sensibly offered me a refund (I asked for either that or a swap with cash adjustment for a Hassy HD39 plus 28mm + TS adaptor) on the basis that the hassy TS adaptor is still a horizon rather than an event.
Firstly let me make my needs clear: I mostly 'do' fine art work with a landscsape or 'architectural landscape' bent. Anyone with the time or inclination can see specific examples at
http://tashley1.zenfolio.com/p203936640
What I need is:
* The ability to do tilt AND shift
(hopefully for long night exposures sometimes too)
* Lots of large pixels for large prints with fantastic quality
* A setup which is as light as possible given the aim of the exercise. In other words hopefully avoiding carrying a digibody alongside a tech/field body.
* A setup which avoids, if at all possible, dark cloths, sliding adaptors, upside down composition using loupes on ground glass, central graduated ND filters etc.
It seems to me that Phase have been quoted here as agreeing that their new TS lens, on which most of my hopes were pinned, is kinda blurry at the edges. Now this is a huge shame because the images from my P45+ back are amazing. And it does incredible night shots. Really amazing. But it's the glass that's troublesome.
So should I wait for the Hassy TS, buy an HDII 39 or 50 now and then strap on the adaptor? Or should I stick with the Phase for its night ability and bear the (back) pain of adding a Silvestri Flexicam and putting up with the general grief of the extra body, weight and fiddle?
I want to make images printed to the largest exhibition sizes in fantastic detail with corrected verticals and enhanced DOF. I'll lug light-meters and tripods and so on uphill and dale if I have to, but what do people think of the potential difference in quality of let's say a 60" x 45" print taken on a hassy with their 28mm F4 and the T/S adaptor, versus the Sivlestri/Phase combo, in a sort of 'I'm willing to trade of a little bit of ultimate image quality at the furthest margins in exchange for a lot more convenience, but only a little for a lot' kind of a way...
Tim
ps my dealer suggested Horseman or Cambo with the Phase - but they're all tilt and no shift! And I do realise that few people have seen the Hassy TS results in action in the field rather than a studio...
Based upon your needs and lack of comfort with the logistics and workflow of working with a technical camera in the field as a second camera to your "main" camera, the preferred solution seems clear. The Hasselblad H3D with the HTS. However, that presupposes that the image quality with the HTS is first rate and it is not a dog like the Phase T/S lens appears to be. The initial reports are "promising" from those that have played with it, but until it ships and you have your own opportunity to try it out in the field with your type of work, who knows? So, take the cash refund on your system and wait and see whether the HTS delivers. Of course, if the technical camera option is just not a desirable option for you(as it is not for me), then the proper comparison is not between the HTS and a technical camera but between the Hasselblad with the HTS and the Phamiya with no tilt/shift capability to extend depth of field. Put differently, even if the use of the HTS entails "some" loss of performance in the HC lenses at the same lens aperture, are you still better off because of the extended depth of field it offers(and perhaps the ability to use a larger aperture)?