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Hasselblad Lunar : they go defensive

jlm

Workshop Member
all they had to do to make a winner was to cut off that cruddy handgrip end, move the LCD to the rear, move the electronics a bit into the space created, make it black and voila! a mini V ;)

why wide, not deep, that was always the Blad persona?
 

jduncan

Active member
So I get maybe 42 for being 55. LOL

Oh wait, what where we talking about. :D


Seriously they are stepping on there on **** pile when you go on the defensive. Just let it die out, and frankly none of us are going to buy it anyway. So we really dont count, where all upset more about diluting the name and I think thats really is the bottom line for us and the thought we may never see another nickel go into MF R&D. I know almost every Hassy owner is thinking about there future in the H product line.
Could not agree more. People like me ( in the technology business) where not expecting something breath taking at Photokina. They simple had no time
to develop a trully new system.

The issue is that they did not added the now old 80 mega pixel sensor, nor they changes the price structure. They continue to miss manage communication, continue to give the impression that they are chasing quick money, with no medium or long term strategy.

They also seem not to notice the D800, nor the D600 or the canon and sony equivalent bodies.

I see not synergy between the lunar and the H5D. Nikon can sale a arguably sub par mirrorless camera because of the link between the Nikon 1 and the SLR line. People that buy the Nikon 1 are more likely to but a nikon DSLR for those special occasions, and people that have a DSLR from Nikon will less tempted to drop it for a mirrorless camera. It just invites to have both.

This camera is not going to open a new big market for Hasselblad. A market that could finance the creation of the chipsets for future medium format cameras (sharing chipsets a la Pentax or Nikon DSLR / N1).

At that price is unlikely the line will become a mass market item.

Maybe they have a solid plan and it just the already known communication problem, but at this moment no clarity.

Best regards,

James
*****
It could be that Phase One still have exclusive writes to the 80 mega pixels sensor. But that will not justify the price of the H5D-40, nor in light of the Pentax P645
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Consider this:

On Victor Hasselblad:

His famed career started in 1940, when a German military aeroplane was shot down over Swedish terrotory. The army found an aerial camera inside the plane, and the Royal Swedish Air Force asked Victor Hasselblad if he could ”make a camera like this?” He replied: ”No, I can make one better.”

Here is my editorial reply to both the Lunar Camera and the defense of it:

Click Pic to enlarge.

-Marc
 

jotloob

Subscriber Member
Consider this:

On Victor Hasselblad:

His famed career started in 1940, when a German military aeroplane was shot down over Swedish terrotory. The army found an aerial camera inside the plane, and the Royal Swedish Air Force asked Victor Hasselblad if he could ”make a camera like this?” He replied: ”No, I can make one better.”

Here is my editorial reply to both the Lunar Camera and the defense of it:

Click Pic to enlarge.

-Marc
I can only agree to this .
I believe VICTOR would roll over in his grave .

"In the end, Hasselblad, with this new initiative, is hoping to attract a larger, younger audience to its range of cameras, says Peter Stig-Nielsen, Hasselblad's director of professional camera products. "I've been longing to talk to a younger audience of potential professionals, and I really believe the Sony name is familiar to this audience. Sony is in the gaming industry, the music industry – things that relate to a young generation. I think the Sony brand and the Lunar product is going to help spread the message about what Hasselblad is."

Young people want fun and shoot with smart phones and P&S cameras .
They don't have much money anyway , but if , they would surely not spend it for LUNAR .
Young photographers don't have much money either and would rather buy a second hand MFD or lens instead of LUNAR .

Give us tools , NOT toys .
 

IsakBergwall

New member
Consider this:

On Victor Hasselblad:

His famed career started in 1940, when a German military aeroplane was shot down over Swedish terrotory. The army found an aerial camera inside the plane, and the Royal Swedish Air Force asked Victor Hasselblad if he could ”make a camera like this?” He replied: ”No, I can make one better.”

Here is my editorial reply to both the Lunar Camera and the defense of it:

Click Pic to enlarge.

-Marc
so what you are saying is we should find a zombie version of Victor, shoot down an alien spaceship over Swedish territory, hopefully they are having some cool alien MF camera onboard and we just ask zombie victor to make one and he says, I will make a better one, and voila the H6D is born!

Looking on the bright side though that must have sounded more realistic than whatever was brainstormed for the lunar camera I guess..
 

Swissblad

Well-known member
That is probably what the HB execs think.
I think they are dead wrong on this.

The Chinese may have $, but they are not stupid.

Hey, maybe some will even develop a Lunatic look-a-like set, and sell it to Nex users at $30.- a shot.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
so what you are saying is we should find a zombie version of Victor, shoot down an alien spaceship over Swedish territory, hopefully they are having some cool alien MF camera onboard and we just ask zombie victor to make one and he says, I will make a better one, and voila the H6D is born!

Looking on the bright side though that must have sounded more realistic than whatever was brainstormed for the lunar camera I guess..
Consider this without being so literal:

The key legacy phrase is "I can make a better one" ... as in, not a worse one.

What if, just what if ...

Hasselblad had pulled back the curtain and there sat a 35mm styled camera with Sony engineered components, with a smaller then MFD, but larger than 35mm, sensor, using a focal plane shutter so one could use the AF HC lenses or the Zeiss MF lenses with focus confirmation ... and perhaps an adapter to use current Zeiss/Sony A mount lenses by selecting the 35mm crop in the menu? Priced at $7,900.

This would have provided Pros with a back-up to their H while expanding use of the H lenses beyond 1/800th shutter, given the enthusiasts an entry level camera with familiar handling characteristics, provide Sony users an expansion upwards and the ability to use some of their existing optics on a camera somewhat familiar to their previous Alpha.

Personally, I would have pre-ordered such a camera when I put in my H5 order.

Now, I'm inclined to skip the H5 for fear of the company's future, slap my H4D/60 back on my studio view-camera and upgrade a few view lenses, and stick to the S system for mobile work ... or if not a S then a D800.

Haven't made my mind up yet, but this mis-step and the stubborn defense of it in the face of withering criticism is quite disconcerting.

-Marc
 

fotografz

Well-known member
I can only agree to this .
I believe VICTOR would roll over in his grave .

"In the end, Hasselblad, with this new initiative, is hoping to attract a larger, younger audience to its range of cameras, says Peter Stig-Nielsen, Hasselblad's director of professional camera products. "I've been longing to talk to a younger audience of potential professionals, and I really believe the Sony name is familiar to this audience. Sony is in the gaming industry, the music industry – things that relate to a young generation. I think the Sony brand and the Lunar product is going to help spread the message about what Hasselblad is."

Young people want fun and shoot with smart phones and P&S cameras .
They don't have much money anyway , but if , they would surely not spend it for LUNAR .
Young photographers don't have much money either and would rather buy a second hand MFD or lens instead of LUNAR .

Give us tools , NOT toys .
You make a key observation here. Hasselblad is saying they want to recapture their non-pro user base ... but when was that ever with a Hasselblad of some incredibly diminished image making ability, coated with trashy bling at a price that would make anyone think twice ?

Fact is, those of modest means aspiring to Hasselblad did so buy buying older Vs.

If Hasselblad wanted to re-capture the up-coming student, entry level pro, or advanced enthusiasts ... they could have used the all the trade-ins as the established pros moved on to the latest H.

Right now no one knows where those cameras go. Imagine a re-furbed H3D/31 with standard lens for less than the new Lunar ... how many folks even on this forum have sincerely wanted a MFD camera but just couldn't afford one?

Their whole premiss is flawed and senseless ... if they were making this thing for the taste challenged newly rich, then don't say it's for the aspiring photograper pro or not ... which is an insult.

-Marc
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
I am also baffled by the "younger generation" comments. I am 34, and while that is a stretch for the younger generation, a lot of my friends and photographers I know are in their 20s. Two of my best friends are artists and photographers in their early twenties. One uses a Hasselblad 500C and 80/2.8CT*. That is all he uses, other than occasionally the iPhone 4 when he needs a digital shot. But for all his art, it is the Hasselblad. He loves it. I know that he would find the new Lunar repulsive, and if the management wants to talk to a young photographer shooting Hasselblad, with a love for the brand, I can put them in touch. The other is a student at the Academy of the Arts in Berlin, also 24. She has a Rolleiflex 3.5E and a compact Canon DSLR that she does not really use because it is too big. A NEX camera might work for her, but the gaudy Lunar is way out of her style realm. Also, if you want to target young people, why are you pricing the camera for people who make 100,000 euro plus a year? Both of the friends I mention have to think extremely hard about money...to the extent that they will skip going to events that cost 10 euros because it is too much for them. They have precious little disposable income, and so when they save up for a new computer, camera or something like that, they research a lot before they make a move. Value is a key component for the youth market, probably even more so than fancy new technology. Technology is not something new and exciting for this generation, it's just a given. It can even be a negative. A good 75% of all the young photographers I know shoot film, some exclusively. They also listen to vinyl records (that uptake is even higher...I don't think I know anyone under 30 who is really into music who does not either have a record player, or at least find one much cooler and desirable than MP3...which they still all use!)

If you are trying to target the already wealthy, believe me, they are not going to be fooled by taking an older Sony camera and dressing it up in gold and snakeskin. The true luxury brands start out by giving you something extremely well made and unique, and then have a brand markup. If you grew up with money, you are likely used to high quality objects, but you are also used to people trying to part you with your money, and you get good at spotting who is full of ****, as it were. And boy, is this camera full of ****. This is the biggest turkey since the Aston Martin Cygnet, and their excuse was that they need to create a fuel efficient car to comply with regulations, what's Hasselblad's excuse?
 
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