I took the plunge, I purchased a H3D-39

[kuau]

I am now an official member of the MF world.
After trying a Phase one Body with a Leaf Aptus II 5
I came across a used H3D-39 body only with 2 batteries, 12000 actuations for $6500.00 I couldn't resist so I went for it.

Now comes the hard choices on which hc lenses to start with..
Landscape stuff only btw.

I am for sure getting the 28mm
Now I can't figure out whether to go with the 50-110 zoom and a 210mm or..
go primes
50mm, 100mm, 150mm 1.7tc


thanks everyone

 

[rmueller]

Hi,
congratulations to your new purchase. The lens choice zoom vs. primes
is a question of personal preferences. All i can say is that the HC 2.2/100
is a must have IMO. Before making a decision, have you seen and hold
the 50-110 ? It feels like a bucket full of glass, so far heard only good things
about its quality though.
Anyway, just some thoughts, i would contact a local Hasselblad dealer and
try some of those lenses before buying.
Regards,
Ralf

 

[kuau]

Thanks Ralf,
So I guess for me it's whether to go with the 50mm prime and the 100mm prime or just go for the 50-110.
Im always going to be on a tripod so weight is really not a concern, and for traveling purposes the 50mm prime weighs 975G and the 100mm weight is 780G so together they weigh 1755G the 50-110mm weighs 1650G so basically for traveling and backpacking the 50-110 lighter. I understand though forget hand holding the 50-110 all together.

Steven

 

[DougDolde]

There were a few threads on Luminous Landscape about the zoom's poor quality. Reichmann had one fall apart in his hands.

 

[Dustbak]

I use the zoom really often and I use it hand held. Yes, it is heavy but it is excellent. It is better than the 50,80 but less than the 100. I also use the 100/2.2 which is my most used lens.

The quality of the zoom is debatable. There have been people that had the front element fall off and some believe this problem is still there. My zoom needs to be repaired after the season (mid April). Something broke off inside and is now hindering the functionality (read getting stuck so I cannot zoom sometimes from 80 to 110 unless I shake the lens to get it loose. It sometimes prevents me from infinity focus as well until I shake it loose).

The IQ of this lens is superb though!

But... so is the 100 and the 210.

 

[Jack]

Congrats on the new camera Steve, and welcome to MF land!!!
:clap::clap::clap:

 

[Jeffg53]

Well, wouldn't you know that the Reichmann one would fall apart. There was an issue with early ones that is well publicised but mine has been faultless. By the time I bought mine a few years back, they came with a handling info sheet which advised against standing it on the front etc.

As a landscape shooter, I am a fairly gentle and low volume user. It is a superb lense, which is on most of the time. In fact, it is so good that I get lazy and don't bother changing it when I probably should. I also have the 28, 100, 150 and 210, which are all excellent.

The 39 is a wonderful camera. Congratulations on your purchase.

 

[P. Chong]

Hi Ralf,

Why do you say the HC 2.2/100 is a must buy? From the MTF specs, from my reading, it looks poorer than the HC 2.8/80. Though this is not the first time I heard a recommendation for the 100 vs 80.

Hi,
congratulations to your new purchase. The lens choice zoom vs. primes
is a question of personal preferences. All i can say is that the HC 2.2/100
is a must have IMO. Before making a decision, have you seen and hold
the 50-110 ? It feels like a bucket full of glass, so far heard only good things
about its quality though.
Anyway, just some thoughts, i would contact a local Hasselblad dealer and
try some of those lenses before buying.
Regards,
Ralf

 

[rmueller]

Hi Ralf,

Why do you say the HC 2.2/100 is a must buy? From the MTF specs, from my reading, it looks poorer than the HC 2.8/80. Though this is not the first time I heard a recommendation for the 100 vs 80.

Hi P. Chong,

What i like about the 100 is it's behavior wide open and in close distance
to the subject. It has that nice short DOF with a smooth transition into
unsharpness. Since i use it with the H3DII-31 it is almost a portrait lens
while the 80 is too short for most of the cases. Nevertheless, you're right
that the 80 is a very fine lens too, although it has different bokeh.

Attached image straight out of Phocus, ISO400, f2.2 at 1/200

Best Regards,
Ralf

 

[PeterA]

Congratulations on the new camera and the price especially!!

The price equates to an mint used HC lens less than what we pay for a D3x down here in Australia. All the HC lenses deliver what they were designed to deliver so it is up to you to choose the focal lengths you prefer in landscape - don't forget:

Using the CF adaptor you can use any C/CF/CFe/Cfi series V mount lens in stop down form - with focus confirm and aperture priority mode.

this means that for non auto focus / non studio lighting high sync speed related work - you can over pretty much any focal length via ( now) cheaper Zeiss glass.

Which also means that buying a 500 series camera body and a film back gives you 6x6 format film capability as well with dual purpose lenses shooting the way they were designed to be used in 6X6 guise..

Phocus 2 is a fantastic piece of software with inbuilt lens corrections now also covering a lot of the high quality Zeiss formulations as well.

makes sure you a have a lot of ram and a recommended graphics card to get the most out of the software.

Happy Shooting.

 

[P. Chong]

Thanks Ralf. I am about to close on a H3D-39 as well, but not at that fantastic price that Kuau snagged it at. (What a great price!)

Hijacking this thread: Any one think it worthwhile to pay about 30% more for the ii series? I know that except for the lcd size, IR filter and fan, they are virtually the same. And picture IQ is indistinguishable.

 

[kuau]

Thanks everyone, Yeah I am really excited. I am now an official member of the medium format forum.

I found a great deal on a HCD28 and a 50-110mm zoom so I think I will start with that and maybe pickup a used 150 or a 210 then add the 1.7 tc
Hope to start posting some pics in the near future.

I just started listing my Nikon stuff if anyone is interested....

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Congrats Steve glad to see you jump in. Let's see some images soon.

 

[kuau]

Guy,
Copy that!!

Steve

 

[Dale Allyn]

Late to the party, but Congrats, Steve. MF is a wonderful (and slippery) slope.

 

[ptomsu]

Congrats!

I bought mine 3 months ago and I never had any regrets!

great camera, great system, great SW (Phocus 2.0)

Enjoy!

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Peter you need to change your Avatar. LOL

Your shooting a Phase there bud. Actually that image is from one of the workshops where Steve and Peter attended.

 

[ptomsu]

Peter you need to change your Avatar. LOL

Your shooting a Phase there bud. Actually that image is from one of the workshops where Steve and Peter attended.

Well,

never say never again

Sure, you are right I need to change, so I need to attend another workshop to get a decent avatar picture

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Exactly

 

[jlm]

if anyone is looking for a very nice H3D-39 with 80mm lens, let me know

jm-at-milich-dot-com