You know what's a shame about F&H's collapse?

[Stuart Richardson]

They never finished the damn 6x6 back for the Hy6. It is the only 6x6 camera I know that cannot shoot 6x6! I have the 645 back from my Rollei days, and it works very well, but it is still 645. The Hy6 is a great body to shoot film with, but not having a full 6x6 back is a real let down. I never sold my 6008af for this very reason, so I still have that to shoot film with, but it makes for a lot of needless overlap and excess bulk -- and the batteries...man, they are a drag. So if I want to shoot film and digital at the same time, I have to bring both the Hy6 and the 6008AF, which is not exactly a petite camera. If only they had released the 6x6 back, I could have sold the 6008AF and I would happily shoot the Hy6 with film and my 54LV until someone decides to sell their AFi 10 for 10% of original retail when Phase One discontinues it.

Also annoying? They never finished the 35mm flektogon, so the widest lens is 40mm (other than a mythical 30mm fish eye that no one has ever seen in real life).

 

[Graham Mitchell]

The 35mm would be a great loss if that were never produced.

 

[Paratom]

So these are 2 good reasons that the Hy6 system cant die (yet)

 

[David K]

Don't give up yet Stuart... hope springs eternal

 

[Stuart Richardson]

Hmmm, so I contacted Sinar yesterday about the 6060 back, and they said that it was available and that I should contact my dealer to order it and for the price. This seems odd to me, as I have never seen mention of it anywhere. Does anyone know good Sinar dealers (I don't think there are any in the US that actually keep stock of anything or know much about the products) in Europe? Iceland does not have a distributor, so I think I can look anywhere...

 

[Stuart Richardson]

I am worried on the pricing though. So much of Sinar's pricing is insultingly ridiculous. I was just looking at SinarBron's price list, and it is shocking. For example, the 4560 back is 800 dollars or so. Ok, fine, that's a lot, but it is not more than Hasselblad charges for full retail, and it is actually a self-contained motorized film back with a display, does 120/220, integrated dark slide, pops out to do horizontal and vertical etc. The piece of plastic and metal that they use to attach it to the Hy6? 600 dollars. I would assume they make 590 dollars of profit on each one they sell. I have it, all it is is four spikes to fit into the back of the Hy6, a strip of gold contacts and a frame that allows the back to be properly spaced from the camera. For 600 dollars? After you payed 5000 for the camera, 25,000 for the back and 5000 dollars for a lens (assuming you buy new)? And they wonder why they are going out of business.

 

[Geoff]

The 30 mm lens does exist for the 6008 series.

Also, the battery issue on the 6008AF can be changed by updating the cells of the battery (thanks to Graham). I was struggling mightily with the short battery life, and then, post-upgrade - this became a non issue. It goes for hundreds of shots without running out of charge - like it used to back with the earlier 6003. The new ones are that good.

 

[fotografz]

I am worried on the pricing though. So much of Sinar's pricing is insultingly ridiculous. I was just looking at SinarBron's price list, and it is shocking. For example, the 4560 back is 800 dollars or so. Ok, fine, that's a lot, but it is not more than Hasselblad charges for full retail, and it is actually a self-contained motorized film back with a display, does 120/220, integrated dark slide, pops out to do horizontal and vertical etc. The piece of plastic and metal that they use to attach it to the Hy6? 600 dollars. I would assume they make 590 dollars of profit on each one they sell. I have it, all it is is four spikes to fit into the back of the Hy6, a strip of gold contacts and a frame that allows the back to be properly spaced from the camera. For 600 dollars? After you payed 5000 for the camera, 25,000 for the back and 5000 dollars for a lens (assuming you buy new)? And they wonder why they are going out of business.

That's exactly what stopped me from going into the Hy6 system ... that is, when I could actually afford one. Interestingly, a new Hassey H film back is more retail than all that stuff for your Sinar film back combined ... but I picked up 3 used/mint Hassey H film backs for about $180 each! Go figure.