Buying a rental H3D-39?

[John Camp]

A catalog from Calumet just came in the mail, offering to sell rental H3D-39s for $21,499. The ad says they've been "gently" used for three months as rental equipment, and then retired, had been maintained by the Calumet staff, still have the remainder of the one-year warranty and that the warranty can be extended.

But I wonder how beat up these things "really" get with three months of use from people who (almost by definition) don't know how to use them? Is the Hassy warranty good enough that if there were any use-related problems, they could be restored to like-new condition? Is it possible to damage them in ways that are not readily checkable (say, by plugging in some strange lighting combination?) That's a pretty interesting price, but one misguided attempt at cleaning the sensor could pretty much obviate the advantage...

JC

[Bruce MacNeil]

A catalog from Calumet just came in the mail, offering to sell rental H3D-39s for $21,499. [a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=150715\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

If you want one and the price is appealing I can not think of a tertiary reason for not buying.

[Steve Kerman]

I wonder why they are turning them over after only three months?  That seems like an oddly short period of time.

[mattlap2]

I wonder why they are turning them over after only three months?  That seems like an oddly short period of time.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=150752\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

My personal guess would be that Hasselblad is giving them a great price to upgrade to the H3D-39 II's and that is what their customers are going to demand.

[Morgan_Moore]

I wonder why they are turning them over after only three months?  That seems like an oddly short period of time.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=150752\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Fast turnover can be good business for rental.

Buy 20+ at a huge discount

Rent out for a couple of months only - get rid fast of it as 'nearly new'

Sell it for what you paid for it

(the end customer percives 'good value' compared to the list price for one)

Nice business

You will see stickers in rental cars - DO NOT DRIVE OVER 10000KM by the odometer - the renal company is going to be disposing of cars as 'less than 10k'

percieved as nearly new but theyve had 10/20 idiots grinding the gears


--


In terms of cameras I dont think it matters - it it the rental customer who is prividing profit for the rental company  in the scheme of things not the end purchaser


Go for it

S

[jimgolden]

WOW - they're pimping these - full page ad in their flyer...

[Dustbak]

Of course they are. They need to get rid of them, everyday they are longer on the shelf it costs them money. With everyday the things depreciate further.

There is a big incentive to get rid of them as quickly as possible.

As Morgan stated they probably still make some money on them or sell them at or near cost price. Good chance the buyers will turn to Calumet next time they want to buy a newer back. They might even buy it new instead of used.

Good thinking on the part of Calumet I would say.

[John_Black]

Also try contacting Steve Hendrix at PPR - he had some very, very, very attractive prices on refurbished H3D-39's --- with a full year warranty.

[Bernd B.]

A week ago I bought my H3D39 from Calumet for USD 20.988,-

1.600 actuations. As new condition. Pretty nice deal.

BUT: Two days after I had done the purchase I got a message from Micchal Ulsaker (michael_ulsaker@ulsaker.com): he offered me one in the same condition for 19.000,- Contact him. Maybe it´s still available. Good luck and greetings from me.

Bernd

[jimgolden]

True - Steve @ PPR has some good deals going, I reviewed his email w/ the list, the
BIG PLUS here is you have PPR for support, not Calumet

[jimgolden]

can anyone comment on the H3D viewfinder? the H2 is distortion++

[Bernd B.]

can anyone comment on the H3D viewfinder? the H2 is distortion++
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=151034\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

The HDX90 viewfinder has much less distortion. But no prism finder is perfect in this regard.

[Dustbak]

Yeah, distortion. It also varies per lens. The first time I used it with the 35 it was like looking through a glass ball.

You do get used to it though but I wonder whether this amount of distortion was really necessary.

The HVX90D (or something like that but meant for the 36x48 size) has less? Can it be used on a H2?

[Bernd B.]

Yeah, distortion. It also varies per lens. The first time I used it with the 35 it was like looking through a glass ball.

You do get used to it though but I wonder whether this amount of distortion was really necessary.

The HVX90D (or something like that but meant for the 36x48 size) has less? Can it be used on a H2?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=151062\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I only have an 80 and a 150 at the moment, but 28, 35 & 50 on order.

As far as I know the "digital" prism finder can be used on any H-camera. It has slightly higher magnification (3,1 compared to 2,7). I´m quite happy with it so far.

Did you get a 100mm/2,2? I´m also looking for one.

Bernd

[Dustbak]

Not yet. I have the 35, 80 & 150. I am still looking for the 100 or the 120 but not in a hurry. I also want a 50. I find I use the 50 most often regardless of format, strange but true.

I just bought all the small stuff, things you don't think of very often but come in handy, like; extention rings, WLF, extra battery grip, wireless remote release,etc...

[Nick-T]

As far as I know the "digital" prism finder can be used on any H-camera.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=151063\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Nope..

The "digital" prism finder is H3D only.

Nick-T

[John Camp]

My perception of the costs of MF have changed significantly in the past couple of days -- first was the Calumet offer, then, after posting, I got notes from a couple of people on this forum offering a line of MF back/camera combinations for sale at pretty good prices. I'm not going for one right now (I'm still digesting the cost of a full Leica system) but I will eventually, I think.

However, for those who don't know -- You can get a pretty damn good MF system for ~$20,000 (not counting lenses), which is less than I paid for my M8 and a series of lenses. I'd thought of the costs as being more like $45,000 for a back, camera and one or two lenses. It's not. And the systems on offer (Hassy HD3-39), if not exactly at the cutting edge at the moment, would give you photos (I think) that would be virtually indistinguishable from those of the most advanced backs available.

I wonder if this is as far as it goes, in terms of cost - or, if we'll see further reductions once the used market really gets going. Given these prices, I'd say that Hasselblad is already somewhat competing with itself, and if they're forced to knock down the new top-end price, the used market will also drop.

It'll be interesting to see where we reach equilibrium.

JC

[ixpressraf]

The digital finder is H3 only but can be used on the H2. In studio where i don't need metering with the prism, i simply put some thin plastic foil on the contacts of the H2 to prevent them making contact with the prism finder. i also installed the new viewing screen from the H3 into my H2. This works perfect and gives me the full frame finder, however without light metering from the prism.
Be carefull to use plastic foil and not some tape that leaves glue on the gold contacts of the camera and certainely do not use any metal foil!!