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Need help investing into the Hasselblad system.

D

debabrata.ray

Member
Dear All,

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. I need some help. I am a Portrait photographer (my work can be found on on my website and I shoot environmental portraits on location mainly and that too at a shallow depth of field - like f/2.2, f/2.8 etc.
I am exploring a few options which are as follows (All used equipment):
  • Hasselblad H5D-60 with a 110mm f/2.2 lens at about 8500 Euros. The camera has undergone about 2500 exposures, the lens slightly lesser than that.
  • A used H5D-40 with a 80mm f/2.8 lens at about 4500 Euros - I am yet to get info on the total number of exposures on the camera.
  • A used H5D-50c with a 80mm f/2.8 lens (3 years old about 35-40K exposures) - I still have to negotiate the price with the owner


I have a few questions that will help me decide on this and I need your help based on your buying experience:
  • What are your thoughts on the price for the H5D-60?
  • Which camera would you choose for my type of work and why?
  • How many actuations do the shutters last for in the 80mm lens?
  • How many mirror actuations does the H5D body last for? The Nikon D850 for e.g. has a tested shutter life of 250K exposures.
  • What would be a good price for the H5D-50C?


Thanks in advance for your responses.

Best regards,
Ray
 
R

richardman

Well-known member
For environmental portraits, the CMOS sensor in the -50C will give you so much flexibility that nothing else matters.
 
dave.gt

dave.gt

Well-known member
Absolutely great advice!

The last year and a half of shooting environmental portraits on location, indoors and outdoors, for the hospital have been fantastic for us!!!:thumbs:

Don't agonize over the choices, just get the 50c and start shooting! Best wishes for you.:):):).
 
D

debabrata.ray

Member
Thanks for the advice. The 50c has about 35-40K exposures. How many exposures does it usually last before I have to get the body shutter replaced or serviced? I thought I read a figure of 40K somewhere. Also how many exposures do the lenses last for? Finally what would be a good price for this camera? A ballpark estimate will help me negotiate better I guess.

Best Regards
Ray
 
D

DB5

Member
The 60 is a decent price, they go for around £6k. It's a very good camera and has a larger sensor.

Personally I would take the 50c. Much more versatile in a lot more circumstances.

The 50c will hold value much much better too.

You can get a 50c for around £5-6k. About the same as a used X1D.
 
U

Udo

Member
debabrata.ray said:
Thanks for the advice. The 50c has about 35-40K exposures. How many exposures does it usually last before I have to get the body shutter replaced or serviced? I thought I read a figure of 40K somewhere. Also how many exposures do the lenses last for? Finally what would be a good price for this camera? A ballpark estimate will help me negotiate better I guess.

Best Regards
Ray
Click to expand...
Those H-Bodies don't have any shutter, so nothing to worry about... okay there is the mirror mechanism, but I have never experienced any problem here since I started to use H-bodies since their introduction. If you have a look at ProCentre in London, you'll find S/H cameras and lenses with 90000 to 111000 actuations.... that's no guaranty, but it says something. All cameras you mentioned, are fine cameras, the H5... bodies even allow to use film magazines. If you permanently need high ISO (higher than 800) go for the 50c otherwise the 40 (same sensor size) is no slouch either. Just my 2 cents. Regards, Udo
 
D

Detlef_g

New member
Hi Ray,


as some other mention, if higher ISO is not necessary for your work, go with the H5D-40. It is a great camera, I used the H4D-40 (same ) sensor for years.

But finally driven by the ISO limitation of the H4D-40 and some other points I upgraded to the a camera with the MF 50 MP CMOS sensor. (like the H5D-50C)

With the 50c you are more flexible.

As mention, the H has no shutter at the Body. Every lens has his own shutter.--> shutter Count of 35k..40k is not a big deal.

Detlef
 
D

debabrata.ray

Member
Thanks everyone for the great insights. I rarely shoot beyond the base ISO as I usually always use a strobe. The CPO list did give me a good idea of the going price. Thanks. I have another question. Is it possible that while servicing the camera the service team reset the shutter count to 0? I spoke to the guy selling the H5D-40 and he mentioned this. He mentioned that he's not a photographer himself and bought the camera for his company which was supposed to be run by his daughter. But then the daughter went off to college and the camera has been lying around since without use. He says he has the original purchase reciept and that he's willing to give that to me along with the camera should I chose to buy it. He mentioned he got it from PhaseOne? Is that possible? Does PhaseOne sell their trade in MF cameras from other manufacturers?
 
D

dougpeterson

Workshop Member
debabrata.ray said:
He mentioned he got it from PhaseOne? Is that possible? Does PhaseOne sell their trade in MF cameras from other manufacturers?
Click to expand...
No.

However, sometimes people confuse a Phase One Partner (dealer) with Phase One (corporate). Some Phase One Partners may choose to accept trade-in cameras they then sell off. So it's possible he means he bought it from a P1 dealer.
 
Steve Hendrix

Steve Hendrix

Well-known member
debabrata.ray said:
Dear All,

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. I need some help. I am a Portrait photographer (my work can be found on on my website and I shoot environmental portraits on location mainly and that too at a shallow depth of field - like f/2.2, f/2.8 etc.
I am exploring a few options which are as follows (All used equipment):
  • Hasselblad H5D-60 with a 110mm f/2.2 lens at about 8500 Euros. The camera has undergone about 2500 exposures, the lens slightly lesser than that.
  • A used H5D-40 with a 80mm f/2.8 lens at about 4500 Euros - I am yet to get info on the total number of exposures on the camera.
  • A used H5D-50c with a 80mm f/2.8 lens (3 years old about 35-40K exposures) - I still have to negotiate the price with the owner


I have a few questions that will help me decide on this and I need your help based on your buying experience:
  • What are your thoughts on the price for the H5D-60?
  • Which camera would you choose for my type of work and why?
  • How many actuations do the shutters last for in the 80mm lens?
  • How many mirror actuations does the H5D body last for? The Nikon D850 for e.g. has a tested shutter life of 250K exposures.
  • What would be a good price for the H5D-50C?


Thanks in advance for your responses.

Best regards,
Ray
Click to expand...

If, and only if, you can live with shooting through the viewfinder (no live view) at ISO of 50/100, then the H5D-60 could be a strong consideration. You will love the larger sensor. Your viewfinder will be 30% bigger than with the 40mp/50mp options. You will have tons of detail. The color will be fantastic. You will have the best opportunity for shallow depth of field, due to the larger sensor.

While 40,000 - 50,000 actuations is entirely reasonable in a medium format system, the fact it only has 2500 shots is a nice plus.

If you value live view, and/or would like the potential to shoot at higher ISO range, then heed what others have said here regarding the H5D-40 or (especially) the H5D-50c).


Steve Hendrix/CI
 
J

jng

Well-known member
Steve raises a great point about sensor size. And the old Dalsa CCD sensor can give wonderful colors and tonality, although it may not have quite the same dynamic range as the 50c's CMOS sensor which may not be an issue for you judging by the images on your website (very nice, by the way!). I personally lean toward the "bigger is better" school of thought when it comes to film/sensor size, but YMMV of course. If given the choice of the smaller 33x44 mm sensors, I'd definitely go for the 50c (CMOS) over the 40 (CCD) back, for all the reasons enumerated by others above.

Michael Reichmann wrote a nice review of the H5D-60 back in 2014, which is worth reading if you're seriously considering it: https://luminous-landscape.com/hasselblad-h5d-60-review/.

Good luck!

John
 
bab

bab

Active member
Not to mention the CCD's have their own look to the files a little on the flat side but the colors are nice. I've had both currently prefer the CMOS sensor for obvious reasons besides the better ISO, the CCS's are not able to pull out an image with low light situations as well as the CMOS sensors.
 
D

debabrata.ray

Member
Thanks for the great insights. Going back to a question I posted earlier. Is it possible that a service centre would reset the shutter count to 0 during service? If yes, is there a way to find the actual shutter count on the body / lens?

Thanks in advance!
Ray
 
U

Udo

Member
debabrata.ray said:
Thanks for the great insights. Going back to a question I posted earlier. Is it possible that a service centre would reset the shutter count to 0 during service? If yes, is there a way to find the actual shutter count on the body / lens?

Thanks in advance!
Ray
Click to expand...
No idea about the possibility of counter reset during service.

But yes, you can retrieve the actuation number for body and attached lens by the following steps:

1) Press MENU on the grip
2) Turn the front scroll wheel until Settings appears
3) Press ENTER
4) Turn the front scroll wheel to access System Status
5) Press ENTER
6) The display now shows a list of camera component's Info Usage and to the right of each individual component a figure that represents the number of actions taken by that component.

Note: taken from the H5D user manual v15, page 85

Hope this helps. Regards, Udo
 
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