Hasselblad HTS and architecture.

[NickT]

I can't imagine

Have you used an HTS?

[Gandalf]

Have you used an HTS?

Yes, and I am now looking into buying a H5D-50 because of it.

[landscapephoto]

Yes, and I am now looking into buying a H5D-50 because of it.

Then, maybe, you should not have written: "I can't imagine a HTS can hold a candle to the image quality of a tech cam and lens." but something like I believe that the HTS image quality is not as high as the one of a technical cam, but it compensates by ease of use.

When you write "can't hold a candle", the casual reader believes that the difference is so high that nothing could possibly compensate for it.

This being said, I still would appreciate some samples of the quality.

[landscapephoto]

Phocus corrects distortion even when the lens is shifted or tilted?

Yes.

I found that thread where members argue whether Phocus can correct distortion or not when the lens is tilted:
http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=94245.20

I am not really sure who to believe any more...

[landscapephoto]

As usual on a forum you have the choice between the opinion of folk who have never used the equipment under discussion and those that have.

Yes, you are probably right. Thank you.

[Chris Livsey]

I found that thread where members argue whether Phocus can correct distortion or not when the lens is tilted:
http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=94245.20

I am not really sure who to believe any more...

You should note that the Phocus corrections do not apply if you use a third party back, this may be part of the confusion?

[BAB]

The HTS works best with
HCD24mm
HCD28mm
HC35mm
HC50mm II
HC80mm
HC100
Extension Tube 13, 26 & 52mm
Macro Converter

I have used it to stich with the HCD 28mm and to tilt and stich, as I'm looking back through my images after a shoot it's impossible for me to tell what corrections were made and really I need to make notes as I'm shooting because I forget even which images I used it on after a three day shoot!

Hasselblad give me integrated step focusing!!!

Regards

[torger]

Question:

with my Linhof Techno I can combine tilt and swings and rise/fall and side shifts. With my Canon TS-E 24 II I can do the same as the tilt and shift mechanism operate independently and you can tilt and shift diagonally (stepless direction with clickstops).

Have I understood correctly that the HTS cannot do this, it's just tilt + rise/fall or you orient it as swing + left/right? It's not that big loss in landscape (although I use combinations sometimes), but I imagine that for macro and architecture it can be a quite noticeable limitation.

I have a Hasselblad H4D-50 camera and I've thought about the HTS as an alternative in the future as for each new sensor generation the tech cam wide angle supports seems to get worse. However I think that now when we're getting 100MP you could start cropping instead of using HTS, unless you need tilt.

[torger]

torger,

Yes, you are correct about the tilt shift orientations. The HTS does have stepless rotation but the tilt and shift are not  independent - where the shift goes, the tilt follows.

Generally, there is not much tilting going on in architectural photography. If DoF is the issue you can stop down to at least f22, no problem.

I didn't know about stepless rotation, it's a big plus as you then can combine rise/fall + left/right by shifting diagonally. I agree that tilt is not a big loss in architecture.

[Geods]

I own and have used the HTS for many years and it is still a viable tool for single shot images. That said, I no longer do still life, landscape, or architectural imaging with a single shot - software technology has passed the single shot imaging by, IMHO, and yes, there are some exceptions.

Most of my imaging involves travel, often by air which has an effect on the weight and volume I can carry. Specifically, I use a 36MP Nikon and the stitching/wide angle lens correction functionality in Photoshop. Stitching is not just for pano work but for other aspect ratio images as well where resolution and smoothness of tone are required. The quality of images done this way easily exceed 8x10 (which I have owned and shot) with all the needed perspective controls and no distortion. Here is but one example...