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Excited About My New Hasselblad H3D2-31

rollsman44

Well-known member
I always wanted to get a MF Digital camera, I sued to shoot with the Hassy 500CM years ago and went to Nikon and Canon Pro DSLRs. I will start to enjoy a NEW breed of cameras. I don't need Hi ISO just 100-400 max. I now am retired from shooting and this will be my NOW and Forever camera. I shoot with flash and off camera flash. I still do some Portrait and group shots. Thank you, rollsman44
P.S. I would like to use LR 4 which I have and not use Phocus. It seems more involved to learn Phocus. Any suggestions or recommendations is appreciated
 

BANKER1

Member
Congratulations on your new camera. As for this being your "Forever" camera, I doubt it. Medium Format Digital kind of sucks you in. The small learning curve for Phocus is well worth it in the color and overall look you can get from it. Then, you can always export a Tiff for further processing in Lightroom. However, you will find that very few need actual further processing.

Enjoy your new camera. It will be a joy.

Greg
 

rollsman44

Well-known member
Thank you Greg. Due to my age( 67) I don't think I will need anything else, Maybe another lens one day. This will suit my purpose. Thank you
Is it that much better in Phocus than in LR?
 

Giorgio

Member
Thank you Greg. Due to my age( 67) I don't think I will need anything else, Maybe another lens one day. This will suit my purpose. Thank you
Is it that much better in Phocus than in LR?
YES!
You need to use Phocus, to get the color and all of that other proprietary stuff that Hasselblad does so well.
After you export from Phocus, it's up to you...
 

BANKER1

Member
Dive in. You'll find it pretty easy. You will also find that you can hide the features that you do not use that frequently. You may find some help on Youtube that could be useful.

Greg
 

jotloob

Subscriber Member
Thank you Greg. Due to my age( 67) I don't think I will need anything else, Maybe another lens one day. This will suit my purpose. Thank you
Is it that much better in Phocus than in LR?
Your age does not protect you against the highly infectious MFDIGITAL virus .
Once you are familiar with PHOCUS and recognize how comfortable it is , you will be in danger again . :banghead: :ROTFL:
 

rollsman44

Well-known member
OK, I will dive in and see the results. I think you might be right about the infectious thing that can happen. I appreciate your comments and suggestions. Dennis
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Rollsman44, you seem to have your priorities well sorted out, and have picked an excellent tool to use to meet those priorities.

I used the H3D-II/31 for many years, and found it to be a versatile tool that is capable beyond what many think it is. Some of my best work was done with that specific camera, and when I moved to the next model I really didn't gain all that much in real world terms … especially when working with lighting.

Sticking with a camera for some time has many advantages because you come to learn it well enough to make it sing in your hands … much like a musical instrument. The more you use it the better and faster you get at it.

The Hasselblad website has many learning tools to get more out of your camera than the manual can provide. In particular, the HTV section has video tutorials and demonstrations worth exploring.

Hasselblad tv

HTV channels specific to getting the most out of the Phocus software:

Getting Started/Phocus Channel | Hasselblad tv

Phocus Workflow Channel | Hasselblad tv

Phocus is essential to have on your computer even if you only use it for a few things that it does well. At least two things are essential … using it to upgrade firmware for the camera, viewfinder, and lenses … the second essential use is for tethered shooting to a computer via the firewire 800/800 or FW800/400 tether cords that should have come with the camera.

My opinion regarding Phocus verses Lightroom is based on applications … how the camera is being used.

Hasselblad provided Adobe with all the profiles for DAC lens corrections and gave them the camera color profile. So, for many applications LR is just fine … especially ones where the features of LR outweigh some of the more refined color engine tools found in Phocus. If you are already really good with LR, you may find it works well most of the time.

What I like about LR is that it is nondestructive, retaining the RAW file and history of corrections, and LR's cataloging features. I also like that LR allows use of other software without leaving the LR catalog. So, I used LR for most event work like weddings, and larger corporate or commercial jobs with a lot of files to manage.

When working in the studio, I almost always shot tethered to Phocus. Generally this involved less volume shoots where most shots were a progression to the final approved image. Phocus does provide some very innovative color tools to refine images requiring more color correct rendering. I particularly like the Phocus color wheel for isolating a specific hue and adjusting it without altering other colors. I wish LR had such a feature that was this refined and sensitive.

Hope this helps if only a little, and best of luck with your H3D-II/31!

- Marc
 

Udo

Member
Hi Rollsman,

congratulations on your H3D camera. Your excitement is fully understandable.

A lot has been said regarding the Phocus vs LR comparison, especially by Marc. So there is very little to add here. One thing which comes to my mind is Phocus' live view capability which I do use quite often. And after all Phocus is free of charge, so having this software on your computer doesn't hurt. And as one poster already mentioned here, if you manage LR it is a little step to master Phocus as well.

Good luck and kind regards.
 

rollsman44

Well-known member
Great people on this forum !!! Thank you Marc and Udo. I greatly appreciate the info you supplied. I look forward to using my new MFD Hassy.. Thanks again, dennis
 

tcdeveau

Well-known member
Congrats and have fun! I kinda skimmed through the thread a little and regarding Phocus vs. LR, I personally make initial adjustments (noise reduction, exposure, sharpening, clarity, saturation, etc) in Phocus and then export to LR for catalog management and further post-processing. From LR I make small adjustments and export to Photoshop, Nik Collection, etc for additional processing. Workflow is pretty subjective so I'd just play around and figure out what works for you. Phocus is a free download and you can always just delete it if it doesn't suit you or your workflow, just don't be daunted by a learning curve. I'd take some shots, import them into Phocus (and keep a copy elsewhere just in case), and dive in. Happy shooting!
 

rollsman44

Well-known member
Thank you all. I dove into Phocus and was not that bad. I was looking for the Save button but could not find it. It did save the corrections when I exported the images. Thank you again, Great Forum
 

Dustbak

Member
That is if you have turned on that feature (which is by default), in that case Phocus will save adjustments upon exiting the image.

You can also save your adjustments manually by clicking on the little database icon in the top on the right side of the middle.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
I think Hasselblad should still develop Phocus further and not rely on LightRoom to take up the torch.

Obviously, LR has more local adjustments than Phocus, and they are more refined. However, my main complaint about Phocus wasn't that … it was the inability to export the RAW file with the adjustments attached, and subsequent inability to return to the RAW file as shot. Unless I missed something, the original folder with the RAW Hasselblad files doesn't retain the corrections once you close Phocus, and even if it did, you would have a separate folder with the RAWs + corrections and another with the Exported Tiffs that get further work done on them.

In contrast, in LR I can make a virtual copy with or without any LR corrections I've already made, open it in Photoshop to access layers, or a Nik software, make further adjustments, save it back to the LR library where it is next to the original as a Tiff, then export the entire library as DNGs with all images in order, and all corrections intact for storage.

Marc
 
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