Unfortunately, Hasselblad does not allow their employees to post on public or private forums. I've always felt this caution is ultimately to their detriment. Certainly posting to forums can be a dicey proposition, the wrong guy can say the wrong things, give out the wrong information, or just come off inappropriately. That said, Hasselblad certainly has some qualified individuals who are knowledgeable and know how to conduct themselves. It's their decision.
But I do feel Leaf and Sinar have benefitted from the participation from Yair and Thierry. Phase also does not seem to have a frequent representative who posts on forums, but Capture Integration does participate regularly, which helps to make up for it because they are knowledgeable about what they're talking about with regard to that product.
I have not posted a lot here yet on Get DPI regarding Hasselblad, mostly because there has not been a lot of misinformation posted (so far
). I have been a regular poster on Luminous Landscape, but there are frequent posts regarding Hasselblad products and their capabilities which are often not accurate at all. And so, with no rep to defend them, I have taken it upon myself to clarify what the system can and cannot do. I also do this with Sinar and Leaf, since I sell all 3 brands, but much of the time, Thierry or Yair beat me to the punch!
All that said, I believe a (good) dealer who sells multiple systems is an important information asset. The reason is because that dealer knows how 3 different systems compare with their strengths and weaknesses and - most importantly - he knows the history of their evolution and what the capability is as of right now! Many times I have read someone's opinion, and the reason for the misinformed opinion is that they're discussing a previous hardware or software generation. I only deal with where a product has been, how it has evolved, and most importantly, how it is
now for a prospective buyer.
All of the 4 primary medium format players are constantly improving their product, and they pass each other frequently, only to get passed back again on the next go round. So, accurately knowing where they stand in the present is critical to a buying decision. My customers don't buy based on any repuation of past glories, they buy based on current, reproducable performance.
As for files, I have plenty of em. Here's my classic Tifa shot from an H3DII-31. The capture was made at ISO 800, 1/30th of a second (hand held) with the 28mm. No noise removal tool has been used at all. Notice the cleanliness of the details in her fur that is in focus, and in the blurred background - super clean. I have different versions of this file, but you can see in the current version, the adjustment history in the Phocus screenshot shows no sharpening, no curves, no noise reduction. It had a saturation boost, a white balance and levels tweak, and was even pushed a stop.
Steve Hendrix
www.ppratlanta.com/digital.php