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New Hasselblad H lenses being sold for

bab

Active member
Has anyone noticed lately that some brand new H lenses in box never opened (not the orange dot ver) are selling on EBay for 1/5 the original price. It seems some dealers must know what’s about to happen with Hasselblad.
 

Thyl

Member
Has anyone noticed lately that some brand new H lenses in box never opened (not the orange dot ver) are selling on EBay for 1/5 the original price. It seems some dealers must know what’s about to happen with Hasselblad.
Haven't noticed that in the EU. Are you in the USA? Anyway, the non-orange dot versions are now what? Five years old at least, and obsolete. I wonder why there are any left in stock at dealers. Five years old inventory doesn't sound healthy to me.
 

bab

Active member
HMM!
Haven't noticed that in the EU. Are you in the USA? Anyway, the non-orange dot versions are now what? Five years old at least, and obsolete. I wonder why there are any left in stock at dealers. Five years old inventory doesn't sound healthy to me.
 

Thyl

Member
HMM!

ok. But still, this is the old (not very sharp) version of the 120 mm macro, and according to the German offering, it is a demo unit. So, not really new, and at least about 12 years old, since the version II was announced in 2010.
 

robmac

Well-known member
Older V1 copies of the 120mm, which that lens is, routinely go for less than that. Maybe app. US$1000. The fact it's new, old stock, makes no difference. According to the serial number and it's 'VS' code, it was manufactured in 2010, so one of the last Mod 1 lenses.


It's an older film-era lens that is surpassed by the sharper Mod II with less CA, and then the Mod II Orange 'Dot' with the same optics, but 1/2000 shutter.
 
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steveash

Member
Hasselblad kit always comes in batches. They quite often run out of things for a while and then get new stock in.

Many of the components of the H system are contractually made by Fuji. Who knows how that works out financially but I imagine that moving to their own system where they are in full control of design, production and profit margins might be quite attractive.
 

TechTalk

Well-known member
Many of the components of the H system are contractually made by Fuji. Who knows how that works out financially but I imagine that moving to their own system where they are in full control of design, production and profit margins might be quite attractive.
Hasselblad has never made optical components. With the V system, Zeiss was a principle contracted lens manufacturer, but there were other lens manufacturers as well. Other optical components, like prisms, were also outsourced.

For the H system, Fuji was chosen as a contract manufacturer. Fuji manufactures H lenses (with shutters designed and manufactured by Hasselblad in Sweden) and prism viewfinders. Fuji also made the film magazines. Hasselblad manufactures: camera bodies, digital backs, HTS 1.5 Tilt-Shift Adapter, and a variety of accessories in Sweden. Individual components are sourced from a variety of suppliers as is normally the case with high tech products these days.

With the H system, Hasselblad took on an active role in the optical designs. Their optical designers have worked closely with their counterparts in Japan to develop the H system lenses. The design and development of the H system, including lens design, is controlled by Hasselblad and always has been. Production usually depends on multiple suppliers, so that is rarely fully under the control of one company.
 

TechTalk

Well-known member
Hasselblad licensed Fuji to sell a co-branded version of the H1 and H lenses in Japan. However, the Fuji GX645AF version of the H1 and all of the lenses carried the Hasselblad brand name with the Fuji branding being added. The license agreement did not extend beyond the H1. So, there were no later models authorized or licensed by Hasselblad to Fuji. The cameras were made in Sweden and shipped to Fuji in Japan.

Hasselblad spent several million dollars developing the H system over a number of years prior to its launch. Hasselblad did contract with outside sources that contributed to the development like Teleca Systems AB in Sweden who was contracted for electronics and firmware engineering. Fujinon in Japan was contracted for optical development and manufacturing. So, in that sense Hasselblad had development partners that were paid for their services. Full control of the H and X systems and the associated intellectual property are retained by Hasselblad and not its contractors. Hasselblad has in recent years worked with another Swedish engineering firm in Gothenburg, Qamcom.

The Fujinon division of Fujifilm offers optical contract manufacturing services as does Nittoh who manufactures the Hasselblad XCD lenses. Nittoh was also the manufacturer of the lenses for the XPan. The XPan was an actual partnership between Fuji and Hasselblad and I suspect that fact, along with the previously mentioned H1 version licensed to Fuji and their lens manufacturing, have contributed to the belief and perception that Fuji has more of a connection to the Hasselblad H system than they actually do.
 
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steveash

Member
Thanks for clearing that one up. So you don’t think Hasselblad have any contractual obligation to use Fuji to make these components? Probably a moot point anyway as it doesn’t look like there will be any more new additions to the H line.
 

TechTalk

Well-known member
Thanks for clearing that one up.
I'm happy to talk with you and share some light where I'm able.
So you don’t think Hasselblad have any contractual obligation to use Fuji to make these components?
I don't have any knowledge beyond what is publicly available, so I wouldn't speculate as to what manufacturing obligations Fuji has or what purchase obligations Hasselblad may have in a manufacturing contract. Based on general knowledge, I think that it's fairly typical that a contract manufacturer will have some obligations with regard to production volume, scheduling, and quality standards and fairly typical that the purchaser be obligated to some minimum order quantity and pricing schedule. I wouldn't engage in speculation based on any assumptions, however.
 

TechTalk

Well-known member
Probably a moot point anyway as it doesn’t look like there will be any more new additions to the H line.
I'm no better at predicting the future. Based on my past experience, the future will likely bring with it surprises and arrive sooner than I am ready for it.

It doesn't require any gift of prophecy, however, to see that consumer demand has been rapidly increasing for mirrorless products and just as rapidly disappearing for DSLRs. Consumer demand will generally determine the course of product development in the long run.
 

TechTalk

Well-known member
Since we're on the topic of Hasselblad lenses...

Below is a link to a nearly hour long interview with Per Nordlund. He has been with Hasselblad a little over 30 years and is their lead optical designer. This is the first time I've ever seen him interviewed.

The first 30 minutes covers the history of "V" and "H" lens designs. Of note in the "V" lens history portion are a couple of special designs from Zeiss: the 60mm f/5.6 Biogon which was made for the moon landing and the CFE 250mm f/5.6 Superachromat Sonnar.

The second half of the video discusses some of the design challenges that an optical engineer encounters. He uses the XCD 30mm lens as an example and shows various iterations of the lens design as it progressed over several months of development.

It's a little dry, as these remote conference videos tend to be, but I found it worth watching. Perhaps you'll find something of interest...

https://www.youtube.com/Webinar: Hasselblad Lens Design
 

TechTalk

Well-known member
...no guarantees when your management sells out to DJI
What guarantees do you get from other companies? My experience has always been that the only guarantees are the warranties on the equipment that I buy.

Everything else is under the control of someone other than myself and comes with no guarantees. That fact has always served to guide my expectations.
 
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