"upgrade" of existing Hassy H lenses to 1/2000 s specs...

[BernardLanguillier]

Dear Hassy specialists,

I have contacted, through a dealer, Hasselblad Japan to confirm whether it would be possible to "upgrade" existing H lenses to the new 1/2000s synchro specs.

Their answer was that this is NOT going to be possible.

Even for "repair", they will first repair existing lenses with the existing stock of 1/800 shutter mechanims. Once the stock runs out, they will repace "broken" lens shutter by new 1/2000s specced shutters, but ensure by firmware that synchro is only possible up to 1/800s...

I had explicitely mentioned that I had information from Germany/US that it would become possible to synchro up to 1/2000 after "repair", and they explicitely confirmed that this would not be possbile anywhere in the world...

If this is confirmed, this would IMHO be a real pity and un-elegant business practise at best if they are taking explicit steps to prevent fast synchro to force users to buy new lenses at a higher price point.

Could our resident Hasselblad embassadors double check this quickly?

Thanks!

Cheers,
Bernard

[Joe Towner]

I may be alone in this but I'm actually in favor of this decision by Hasselblad.  My understanding is that with existing shutters, the HC/HCD lenses on the H6 will do 1/1000th of a second.  I'm actively pushing my local dealer & rental shop to not reshutter their lenses, just get 3-4 new, higher shutter speed lenses and charge $10/day more for them.  They've got literally 1 of each (shy the 300 which they don't carry) but 2 of the 50-110mm and 150mm.  I've had times when the lens I want is out with the other shooter, so this works in my favor.  With the X1D, I think there'll be more folks looking at the H glass as things like the 24 & 28mm aren't going to be done as new primes.

My technical reason for not reshuttering is that if I'm putting this lens in front of the 100mp chip, I want to be damn sure it's accurate and sharp, having been qualified by Hasselblad to showcase their latest back.  We all know that Sony will do a higher MP chip (Phase says as much with their 'beyond 100mp' resolution qualification on the latest glass).  From the rental/dealer perspective, I wouldn't want to have a customer coming back to me with issues in their shoot that could be blamed on the lens shutter - if you need to go faster, get the new version of the lens.

Personally, I'd love to pick up a lens or two that are perfect, but limited to 1/800th.  Lenses I think the 1/2000th would be helpful in are the 35-90, 80, 100 for standard users, and maybe the 150/210 for folks like me who shoot sports with their Hass.

-Joe

[BernardLanguillier]

I don't believe that is correct, old lenses on the H6D will only do 1/800.

It's new lenses on old bodies that will do 1/1000.

Cheers,
Bernard

[Joe Towner]

I blame lack of coffee...

[BernardLanguillier]

I blame lack of coffee...

Cheers,
Bernard

[jvpictures]

Dear Hassy specialists,

I have contacted, through a dealer, Hasselblad Japan to confirm whether it would be possible to "upgrade" existing H lenses to the new 1/2000s synchro specs.

Their answer was that this is NOT going to be possible.

Even for "repair", they will first repair existing lenses with the existing stock of 1/800 shutter mechanims. Once the stock runs out, they will repace "broken" lens shutter by new 1/2000s specced shutters, but ensure by firmware that synchro is only possible up to 1/800s...

I had explicitely mentioned that I had information from Germany/US that it would become possible to synchro up to 1/2000 after "repair", and they explicitely confirmed that this would not be possbile anywhere in the world...

If this is confirmed, this would IMHO be a real pity and un-elegant business practise at best if they are taking explicit steps to prevent fast synchro to force users to buy new lenses at a higher price point.

Could our resident Hasselblad embassadors double check this quickly?

Thanks!

Cheers,
Bernard

this is the exact same information I got from my dealer here in Switzerland, after they have seriously investigated about the shutter upgrade on existing HC/HCD lenses at Hasselblad HQ in Sweden. The upgrade option is not available, at least not at this time. And interestingly, I see a quite larger number of HC lenses on a used foto market to be on sales.

[BernardLanguillier]

OK, so let's call a cat a cat for once... it will never be possible to synchronize at speeds faster than 1/800s with legacy Hassy lenses not featuring an orange square (that including new yet un-sold pre-accouncement lenses sitting on the shelves of dealers).

I find it a real pity and I believe that Hasselblad is shooting themselves in the foot by not supporting their existing users more/leveraging the large fleet of second hand lenses to attract photographers to their system at a competitive price. But I guess they think it is the right business decison at this point in time.

Cheers,
Bernard

[Joe Towner]

Hasselblad did just up the price on lenses, so there is a trade off.

[BobShaw]

I don't know how many people would be prepared to pay maybe $700 per lens to gain one stop of shutter speed. With my luck I'd then have the focus fail or something.

[BernardLanguillier]

I don't know how many people would be prepared to pay maybe $700 per lens to gain one stop of shutter speed. With my luck I'd then have the focus fail or something.

I guess that it depends on the lens. Probably none among 28mm users, but probably many among 100mm f2.2 users.

Cheers,
Bernard

[mi-fu]

Dear Hassy specialists,

I have contacted, through a dealer, Hasselblad Japan to confirm whether it would be possible to "upgrade" existing H lenses to the new 1/2000s synchro specs.

Their answer was that this is NOT going to be possible.

Even for "repair", they will first repair existing lenses with the existing stock of 1/800 shutter mechanims. Once the stock runs out, they will repace "broken" lens shutter by new 1/2000s specced shutters, but ensure by firmware that synchro is only possible up to 1/800s...

I had explicitely mentioned that I had information from Germany/US that it would become possible to synchro up to 1/2000 after "repair", and they explicitely confirmed that this would not be possbile anywhere in the world...

If this is confirmed, this would IMHO be a real pity and un-elegant business practise at best if they are taking explicit steps to prevent fast synchro to force users to buy new lenses at a higher price point.

Could our resident Hasselblad embassadors double check this quickly?

Thanks!

Cheers,
Bernard

I agree with you on this, Bernard. It is un-elegant business practice. Even with all these exciting new products this year, it is still so disappointing to see that this company still can't get away from all its bad business habits.....

[NickT]

Changing out the shutters is a complex business, my guess is that Hasselblad just do not have the resources to do it at the moment, especially considering the huge success of the H6D and X1D.I agree that they haven't communicated weldon the issue and have told them as much.

[BernardLanguillier]

Changing out the shutters is a complex business, my guess is that Hasselblad just do not have the resources to do it at the moment, especially considering the huge success of the H6D and X1D.I agree that they haven't communicated weldon the issue and have told them as much.

That is understandable, but why prevent native 1/2000s performance after a change of shutter is performed?

Cheers,
Bernard

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

Just a question…

From the writing on the X1D, I got the impression that the 1/2000 s is coordinated action between the sensor and the leaf shutter. Leaf shutter opens, or is open and the sensor does a global reset, starting the exposure. The leaf shutter terminates the exposure. So the firing of the shutter needs to be very closely coordinated with the back. Correct?

Best regards
Erik

Changing out the shutters is a complex business, my guess is that Hasselblad just do not have the resources to do it at the moment, especially considering the huge success of the H6D and X1D.I agree that they haven't communicated weldon the issue and have told them as much.

[BernardLanguillier]

From the writing on the X1D, I got the impression that the 1/2000 s is coordinated action between the sensor and the leaf shutter. Leaf shutter opens, or is open and the sensor does a global reset, starting the exposure. The leaf shutter terminates the exposure. So the firing of the shutter needs to be very closely coordinated with the back. Correct?

Correct. this is the reason why 1/2000 is only availbale with the H6D/X1D that have the required sensor equipped with FCS and controlling electronics.

Cheers,
Bernard

[NickT]

That is understandable, but why prevent native 1/2000s performance after a change of shutter is performed?

Cheers,
Bernard

I can't believe this is that case, there is a lot of confusion around the shutter upgrade question, and I have already queried this, sounds like garbled communications to me.

[BernardLanguillier]

I can't believe this is that case, there is a lot of confusion around the shutter upgrade question, and I have already queried this, sounds like garbled communications to me.

I would sure hope so, but Hasselblad Japan was very clear that this is their understanding.

Cheers,
Bernard

[NickT]

Yeah I know, Trust me I'm working on it.

[tcdeveau]

FWIW I was told by my dealer back in May that changing out the shutters in the old lenses also will not be possible.  They said something to the effect of it didn't work as well as Hasselblad thought it would, but take that with a huge grain of salt.  Regardless, I don't think we can expect shutter changes in the older lenses but this already seems to be the general consensus.  While this would be unfortunate for those that need 1/2000th and have a stable of 1/800th "legacy" lenses, I personally don't need the faster shutter/flash sync speeds for my work, and am hoping to see more "legacy" glass on the used market as a result so I can fill out my own lineup.