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Big Hasselblad anouncement on the 22nd.

JohnBrew

Active member
I seem to recall someone stated the sensor would be different. I have zero advance information, but I'm looking for a square sensor, say a 33x33, which would still be enough larger than 35FF to make a difference and the game changer would be composing in the classic Hasselblad manner. Well, that and being mirrorless :). I suppose you could put a viewfinder mask in your existing MF to approximate shooting square, but it wouldn't be the same as importing a square image into your RAW engine developer. Whatever they announce I'm certain it will be exciting and get a lot of buzz-worthy discussion.
 

mbroomfield

New member
I seem to recall someone stated the sensor would be different. I have zero advance information, but I'm looking for a square sensor, say a 33x33, which would still be enough larger than 35FF to make a difference and the game changer would be composing in the classic Hasselblad manner. Well, that and being mirrorless :). I suppose you could put a viewfinder mask in your existing MF to approximate shooting square, but it wouldn't be the same as importing a square image into your RAW engine developer. Whatever they announce I'm certain it will be exciting and get a lot of buzz-worthy discussion.
A new chip is hellishly expensive to design and make. Even minor tweaks to an existing design needs a large # of engineering man-hours, and a full set of reticles is in the $millions. A 33x33 would make no sense given the Sony 33x44 is out there. Much more sensible to create a very good viewing and software implementation for square cropping if that sensor is to be used (ie to make it feel as though the camera really is just a square format), and make the whole sensor available if desired. A bigger square sensor might make more sense, to use existing MF lens fields better, but to me this smacks of a pure pro- type camera/system. Hardly what Hasselblad have said a few times now (ie if you're a pro-sumer, have existing DSLR, enjoy the Leica experience) and a new sensor will come at a cost while I'd guess that the 50MP is now a little less given the newer 100mp release.
 
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cerett

Member
Well the excitement is certainly getting to me now.

Those Canon 5DSr's are PHENOMENAL and at 3k each with the Canon glass those are the ones to pull me away from. I hope Hasselblad haven't created anything that's so niche it will stop people hitting the 'BUY NOW' button.
The 5DSR is an excellent camera and I own one. The main criticism has been the DR (11) compared to the Nikon 810 and Sony A7RII (14). That aside, I hope we will be able to use some of the terrific Canon glass with the new camera.
 

tcdeveau

Well-known member
At least one person stated that the sensor would be different based on images posted on other websites (such as 2:1 pano images on Ming Thein's blog), but a digital X-Pan has been ruled out by Nick. Ming also said in the comments of his blog that no pictures on his site were posted from the new camera (he's also under strict NDA). Most of the stuff Ming posts lately I believe is from the H5D-50c and CFV-50c (and some with the H6D-50c).

The current Sony 33x44 50mp is at least 2.5 years old (based on IQ250, H5D-50C, 645Z release times) and I'm sure production costs have come down since it was first released and implemented. It still produces outstanding images, so if Hasselblad wants to keep costs of the new camera they release tomorrow down and keep it MF, it would make the most sense to simply use that chip. Hasselblad also has existing experience with implementing the existing chip from the H5D-50c, H6D-50c, and CFV-50c, so using this chip would also allow them to free up resources to focus on the camera itself and how the new camera uses and interaces with the chip. If people desire other formats (square, pano, etc), it would make a lot more sense for Hasselblad to do this in software rather than design a new chip as others have stated. Masking via software also allows for flexibility with multiple formats/aspect ratios. For framing, again should be straightforward to mask a crop from output of the sensor with software.

If the new camera is indeed a mirrorless MF, I really really hope Hasselblad keeps it simple. I really enjoy the simplicity of my H4D-40...and even the Nikons I used for years. In comparison, most mirrorless cameras frustrate me to no end and tend to be needlessly complicated, despite their size and image quality. I have an A7R and an X-T1, and also have experience with Olympus. The menu systems of the Sony and Fuji are pretty awful. With the Fuji, almost every time I pull it out of the bag a setting gets changed and it often takes a trip to the manual to figure out how to change it back. I couldn't even set up a friends Olympus out of the box without consulting the manual. I'd love to see IBIS and pixel shifting (like in Olympus ___), but other than that I hope they keep the shooting experience (menus, button layout, etc) more similar to the H-system (or Leica S/traditional MF) than current 35mm mirrorless. I do wonder if they can put True Focus in the new camera...that's a nice feature on Hasselblads that helps distinguish them from the competition. In any event, I'm really looking forward to the announcement tomorrow morning.
 

torger

Active member
Seems like images have leaked now. Hasselblad X1D.... $9k body only, so my guess of $8.5k was not too bad. Looks like a 44x33mm sensor, 45mm/3.5 and 90mm/3.2 lens available for $2.3k and $2.7k. I'm hoping for a wide angle too, but it seems like the start is only two lenses.



The jagged button in the Hasselblad instagram photo seems to be a popup button located behind the shutter button.
 
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M

mjr

Guest
It does look interesting for sure, will be good to see the final specs.

Mat
 

f8orbust

Active member
I sure hope it will accept H lenses!!
The body looks so shallow that (with an adapter) it should pretty much take any lens out there.

Kinda difficult to see how deep the grip is, but from the size of the bayonet, it looks like it will work nicely as a 'digital back' (on something like an Actus) as well.
 

JohnBrew

Active member
It does indeed look like a 4:3 sensor. While I'd love to be the first on the block with the new toy, I'll wait for some hand's on tests and RAW's to play with. The new lenses will have to be evaluated and I believe it will be important to be able to use HC lenses via an adapter. Love the size, though! The images of the new camera presses a lot of the right buttons for me.
 

hcubell

Well-known member
I sure hope it will accept H lenses!!
Note the physical design of those new dedicated lenses for the body. Same form factor as the HC lenses, so they sure look like they were built by Fuji. Why is that significant? Fuji has been rumored to be working on its own medium format camera, so Fuji may very well be in on the project and Fuji has the R&D heft to make a huge difference in the technology behind the camera and the capitla to build out the lens lineup.
I am very interested to hear the full story, but this could very well be the camera that the Leica SL could/should have been. Smaller, lighter body, smaller, lighter lenses, and with a medium format sensor to boot.
 

torger

Active member
I see it as highly unlikely that it's anything different than the Sony 50MP sensor with a digital platform behaving like the H6, and as Hasselblad's policy regarding profiling it will render colors the same as the H6 / CFV-50c too. H-mount adapter is almost 100% certain, maybe not available from start but very soon.

I think that's good, and combined with the price and form factor it's okay to call it a "game changer".
 

BlinkingEye

New member
P1 and Leica just puckered up a little. :)

Just imagine how fantastic it would be if a real T&S lens was coming.......

Oh, and the designers managed to make it look like a Hasselblad. Look at the design cues on the front elevation photo.
 
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torger

Active member
It could be noted that the new mirrorless mount seems limited to the 44x33 size, and the new lenses are designed for that size, eg an "APS-C" of medium format. This should be expected though as it's intended as a prosumer camera, not to cannibalize on their own H line. The mirror box will stay in the pro segment for yet some time...

It think it's almost certain that there will be at least an H-mount adapter.

Measuring on the images I estimate the flange distance being close to 20mm (it's 18mm on the Sony E-mount), so it's good news for Arca/Actus users. Hopefully we'll see third-party adapters, say from metabones, so you could mount say the Canon TS-E lenses.
 

JeRuFo

Active member
Very interesting. Pretty much the camera everyone expected. Let's hope it's as good as it looks, with good AF (not just for landscapes), no need to use Phocus (no wealthy amateur will buy into that, nor will a lot of professionals) and easy use of adapters, not just for Hassie glass. And weather sealing (though that may be too big an ask at this price point, although rubber is not that expensive.)
 

torger

Active member
I wonder if they have crippled tethering and have no USB port so as to protect the H sales?
It's certainly a risk... as it wouldn't hurt their core focus group for this camera. They could have over-simplified it. I hope not, but I would not be surprised.
 

torger

Active member
Very interesting. Pretty much the camera everyone expected. Let's hope it's as good as it looks, with good AF (not just for landscapes), no need to use Phocus (no wealthy amateur will buy into that, nor will a lot of professionals) and easy use of adapters, not just for Hassie glass. And weather sealing (though that may be too big an ask at this price point, although rubber is not that expensive.)
Lightroom has supported Hasselblad (with Hasselblad's help) for a long time. That will probably be the mainstream user's primary choice, but I would expect the color to be better in Phocus.
 
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