Fun with the Hasselblad 907x

[FloatingLens]

Since I don't have this finder and likely won't in the future, this is just a theoretical conjecture ... Do you think there's enough material in the PME90 housing to be able to file or mill it out for a little more clearance so that it will not contact the back's release lever?

Yes, quite possibly a solution, Godfrey. But I'd recommend anybody to check on their particular setup that the back sits flush before using it. It for sure works by design and the dimensions are all compatible, just be aware that tolerances on the ejection mechanism are small.

 

[bythewei]

Need some help. Is it me, or the CFVii50C seems to clip highlights rather prematurely? Below is a shot of my wall at the correct exposure. I adjusted to over-expose by one stop, and the wall is completely washed out. I mean, it's within my expectation that the wall get over-exposed, but compared to other cameras I have, the CFVii results are rather extreme.

ISO1600 1/250 f/5.6 45P


ISO1600 1/125 f/5.6 45P

 

[Godfrey]

Not enough information.

-Raw exposure?
-JPEG exposure?
-If raw, processed at the default?
-How was the metering done?
-How is the metering calibrated?
-If raw and processed, how?

Et cetera. There's little I can say with any credibility without knowing more. Proper exposure theory for a digital sensor says to give as much exposure as possible without oversaturating the high exposure limits, and then using correction curves to bring all the values into the correct perceptual range: this gives you the most data and the most versatile editing capabilities. Without knowing the rest of the test calibration and methodolog, no statement is any better than a conjecture.

I expect the CFVII 50c is simply calibrated a little differently from whatever other sensor you're comparing it to. I've certainly had no difficulties pulling very nice images from pathologically contrasty scenes!

G

 

[spb]

Need some help. Is it me, or the CFVii50C seems to clip highlights rather prematurely? Below is a shot of my wall at the correct exposure. I adjusted to over-expose by one stop, and the wall is completely washed out. I mean, it's within my expectation that the wall get over-exposed, but compared to other cameras I have, the CFVii results are rather extreme.

ISO1600 1/250 f/5.6 45P
View attachment 179123

ISO1600 1/125 f/5.6 45P
View attachment 179124

My guess it is your settings and not the camera. As Godfrey says we need more info to be more accurate.

 

[bythewei]

Raw exposure processed into JPGs at default settings. Metered for the brick wall portion.

Happy to share the raw files too: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1YPNjTy6IA9un09SVRlUpoZKe_rR7NfhQ?usp=sharing

 

[bythewei]

But how did you meter, handheld incident or reflective in camera?

I'm going to second what Godfrey said above and that is this sensor has amazing pliability in post, it's one of the reasons I am going back to it. For example, my Nikon Z7 at ISO 64 has really good dynamic range, I use it on most jobs that require some wiggle room. But it has nothing on the utter smoothness and real-world range of the larger Sony sensor used in these backs.

It's good you are asking and expecting better, if metered and exposed correctly, that image should be well within range of full tonal scale representation.

Reflective in-camera using centre-weighted mode.

 

[muller]

Well, someone has to start this thread...

Battery 1 is charged. Battery 2 is almost charged. I've done a trivial poke and prod of the various controls and menus. Gods, this is a beautiful piece of equipment!

Hasselblad 907x Special Edition + XCD 21mm f/4​

With the 21mm lens, it's a bit bulky, not overly heavy, and feels just right in my hands on balance and control organization.

Photos from the 907x to follow soon.

G

Superb, control organization is top-notch

 

[muller]

Looks like it did well metering with the heavy black at the left and major white in the center.

I just worked up your +1 stop shot in Adobe CC and it looks fine to me, more range than I was expecting, look at the slider positions:View attachment 179143

sprb

 

[Godfrey]

Lovely interplay of sunlight and shade on the Fall colors of these leaves.

Sunlight on the Leaves - Santa Clara 2020
Hasselblad 907x + Leitz Elmarit-R 135mm f/2.8
ISO 800 @ f/5.6 @ 1/750​

Enjoy!
G

 

[phOtOny teXas]

XCD 120mm
Godfrey, Thanks for recommending renting the XCD 120mm Macro. My first test
I am about 50 shots in and like all XCD's, performance has been so far Amazing. More to come...



Ionized Hot Plasma by tOny endieveri, on Flickr

 

[Godfrey]

I'm glad that's working out for you, tOny! And a lovely abstract that is!

I suspect that I'll eventually have to acquire one of the XCD 120 Macros ... I seem to be a macro lens collector, given the number of different ones I always have kicking around.

G

 

[FloatingLens]

I looked at the mechanism on the finder, it might have to be taken apart to retool it, I won’t know until I try it all out. I am also thinking I could order a spare part and rework that and keep the stock one for resale reasons.

Had my PME90 officially repaired recently, because the mechanism was broken. So my sample should be well within factory specs now. Don't take the gap issue too seriously though. I noticed that it can also arise when the viewfinder is not fully pushed to the front of the viewfinder socket.

With respect to clearance on the CFV II 50c, find the following real world example attached. This is certainly a workable setup.

You could get a feeling of what I am talking about, if you focus on the spacing between body and back on the image. If you pay close attention, there is the slightest hint of the gap increasing towards the top. Take it with a grain of salt. Hope this helps.

 

[Godfrey]

Honestly I bet it is the same design as the previous back and Hasselblad lists the finder on their site as compatible so I am not really concerned.

I also think that the rear EVF is so good that I may not put the PME90 on as much when doing things like ski area scenics which I used the other back for quite a bit. I can see shading it and using a loupe to check final composition and focus and then getting on with it.

By the way, I have searched quite a bit and have not found much but what are people using for a screen protector for this back? I work in some pretty harsh mountain environments and like to use loupes on my screens so that makes the protectors mandatory.

I've never used a screen protector. I believe all the modern high-end cameras use "gorilla" glass covers (same stuff as the iPhone) on their LCDs, which resist scratching as a matter of the material design. The loupes that I use on my screens all have a bead of rubberized edge on them to prevent scratching surfaces ... That said, with the 100% focus assist on the Hassy screen, I haven't needed a loupe with it at all.

It's hard to fit a decent screen protector to a hinge-mounted screen that is also the touch screen control surface without giving up some of the precision of its operation. Same for a shade.

G

 

[Godfrey]

I'd only suggest testing to see if you need the loupe before worrying about it. The LCD on the CFVII 50c is far, far better (higher resolution, etc) than the one on the CFV 50c. I just shade it with my hat when I'm in the field and I can see the focus point critically with ease, using focus magnification.

 

[docholliday]

I've never used a screen protector. I believe all the modern high-end cameras use "gorilla" glass covers (same stuff as the iPhone) on their LCDs, which resist scratching as a matter of the material design. The loupes that I use on my screens all have a bead of rubberized edge on them to prevent scratching surfaces ... That said, with the 100% focus assist on the Hassy screen, I haven't needed a loupe with it at all.

Oh, I am not worried about it, the light and glare is such at 12,000 feet in a blinding snowfield that I find loupes are near mandatory so I will be using it. I don’t wear hats in alpine Winter environments, I wear beanies, balaclavas and helmets.

Anyone else know of a good screen protector?

Actually, "Gorilla Glass" (the Corning brand name) and it's equivalents (like Asahi DragonTrail) are *easier* to scratch than many other glasses. The glass is designed to resist cracking and allow flexing, which allows it to seem like it resists scratching and is effective against large objects. However, a simple grain of sand will do more damage to it than taking a large metal object to it. Keys, scalpel edges, metal shavings and milling dust, and definitely sand will destroy these glass surfaces. Their reason for usage on a phone is due to the flexing of the phone and typical large object abrasion. Put an iPhone in a pocket that has sand particles or a Jetbeam/Nitecore (or equiv) light in it, especially if it has the titanium clip, and watch the screen scratch like a finger in icing.

For that reason alone, all my H and IQ backs have glass protectors on them. The problem is that the only company that makes them is out of Germany and if you're in the US, you're waiting for 30-60 days to get one. For the CFV II, this is the glass protector: https://www.protectionfilms24.com/a...-protector-hasselblad-cfv-ii-50c-3838888.html . I have the same "Brotect" protectors on my H5, H6, and IQ backs, which all take a ton of abuse. I usually buy a few of the protectors as I expect them to get scratched in the course of daily use. Luckily, they are cheap, fit extremely well, feel great to the touch, work well with touch, and don't yellow with age/dirt/face grease.

They do flex a bit like film protectors (unlike the "tempered glass" phone slabs), but are actual glass. There used to be this ad for them where they recommend that you see how far you can bend the little extra piece that comes with it. It does spiderweb like real glass!

And they do last a long time. I routinely draw all over my camera screens with grease pencils or dry-erase markers to line up shots. Don't try that with the film protectors - they'll either just come off, keep your drawing permanently, or bleed through. The Brotect glass wipes off fine and I usually end up changing them out every 6 months or so from hard use. Mostly because they get scratched while out in the field rubbing against dirt-loaded clothing.

 

[Godfrey]

Actually, "Gorilla Glass" (the Corning brand name) and it's equivalents (like Asahi DragonTrail) are *easier* to scratch than many other glasses. The glass is designed to resist cracking and allow flexing, which allows it to seem like it resists scratching and is effective against large objects. However, a simple grain of sand will do more damage to it than taking a large metal object to it. Keys, scalpel edges, metal shavings and milling dust, and definitely sand will destroy these glass surfaces. Their reason for usage on a phone is due to the flexing of the phone and typical large object abrasion. Put an iPhone in a pocket that has sand particles or a Jetbeam/Nitecore (or equiv) light in it, especially if it has the titanium clip, and watch the screen scratch like a finger in icing....

Hmm. I've never scratched an iPhone or iPad screen, never scratched any of my camera LCD cover glasses either. Not once in, what, about 13 years of using iPhones or 20 years of using cameras with LCDs. So I'm personally not going to worry about it one wit.

Technically, I don't think what you're alleging is correct. I recall seeing a presentation by Corning (at Apple) of the gorilla glass which included tests and numbers indicating that it had three times the scratch resistance of other treated glasses. Of course, there are different versions of gorilla glass with different properties. I think #3 is the most scratch resistant where #5 is the most resistant to damage from drops and bending. There's a new #6 version available, but I haven't seen the specs on it yet.

Regardless: do whatever you feel is important and that makes you happy. I repeat, I've never used a screen protector and I've never once damaged an LCD cover glass. I also do not write on my LCD screen ... LOL!

G

 

[JAB]

Thank you docholiday! I've been thinking it would be good to have a protector. I asked Hasselblad support a couple of months ago what the screen material was and the US support group didn't know at that time. I didn't pursue it any more. Both you and Ai_Print shoot in difficult environments, I really don't but have had issues shooting in the mountains and desert. I'll be ordering a 3 pack.

 

[docholliday]

I'm not always in the harshest environments, but if my task at hand requires me to be, I don't think twice. If my client needs me in a desert, I'm there. I've never babied any gear and never plan on it. I'll replace the broken parts, clean out units, and rebuild them if necessary after I get done. You'l be surprised how much industrial coolants and solvents will frost and dissolve Gorilla glass! Just normal blowing wind in sandy environments will turn a shiny Gorilla glass screen into a piece of frosted glass and just carrying a phone in my pockets will leave nasty scratches all over the screens. I've cracked the top magnesium casting on my Canon 1Dx bodies mutiple times in the field, broken a 70-200 Canon in half, had an Otus 55 come apart in my hand, and had multiple Hasselblad 120/4 lenses (both of the CF/e and HC variety) get trashed during a shoot. It's all just a tool and can be fixed... One of the funniest sights is removing one of the glass protectors from the back of a 1Dx where the powder coat was almost gone on the back of the body, seeing a shiny screen in the middle of the chaotically abraded casting.

As far as Gorilla glass goes, each generation of the glass "gets better", but usually not for hardness. It's usually to make it thinner, more flexible, and to handle drops from a higher distance. The tradeoff for the flexibility of the glass is that it's not as scratch resistant as plate glass. The harder the glass, the easier it is to break. If you watch the Corning engineering videos (not the marketing ones), take note of the large objects which they test the glass with, which is how the glass is designed: it can take a lot to scratch it if it's big. The finer the point and sharper the edging, the more likely it is to scratch or destroy the glass. Tungsten and titanium milling dust treats any of the Gorilla or Dragontrail glasses like it's Plexiglass and leaves thousands of microscratches all over the surface. Even the act of blowing off the dust from a piece of the glass is a sandblasting act to the surface.

I've watched may times as film protectors get scraped off Gorilla screens of all varieties from phones to laptops. If the user was smart and used a screwdriver, large point tweezers, or a spatula to pick up the film edge, the film comes off and leaves no trace on the glass. Those who used razor blade corners, picks, or sharp pointed tweezers to lift the film instantly left a gouge in the glass.

I don't use any apple products and I don't allow them in my studios. But I've had my share of Lenovo screens that I've used in the field for tethering get eroded by the atmosphere to the point where I had to replace them when I get back in. I actually keep spare screens, chassis, and fans for all the portable computers on hand in my lab. I'm that rough on them. I've used my cameras in some crazy environments too and the powder coating shows it. The screen protectors clearly show how much damage would've occurred if they weren't on the displays. It's a cheap price to pay to keep the gear working as long as possible!

 

[Godfrey]

Yes, you are certainly not me. No problem with that. And they certainly make protectors and such for conditions of abuse, so enjoy them

My gear gets used. I don't let it get abused; I don't need or want to any more.

G

 

[docholliday]

Yes, you are certainly not me. No problem with that. And they certainly make protectors and such for conditions of abuse, so enjoy them

My gear gets used. I don't let it get abused; I don't need or want to any more.

G

This stuff doesn't get abused...it gets well used. There's a huge difference there! I'm on a site to get a job done, not baby my gear and show it off. Now, if it doesn't do the expected task, gets in the way, actually makes the task slower, or breaks down...then it gets abused, often repeatedly (I'm looking at you Sony A7R).