Hasselblad Zeiss DAC corrections

[Nick_T]

Thought I'd make a separate thread for this as I think it's quite important

Somewhat buried in the literature on the CFV39 is the following:

Digital lens correction for Carl Zeiss lenses
With the introduction of the CFV-39, Phocus adds digital lens correction for the V system lenses providing a new level of image quality.

Now isn't that interesting  I do wonder what all those people who have attacked Hasselblad for supposedly producing "crappy" HC lenses and "fixing" them in software will have to say about the fact that their beloved Zeiss glass can be improved with corrections...

Nick-T

[georgl]

Nearly all "V-series" Zeiss-lenses are several decades old designs - of course they show visible CA, vignetting and distortion which can be handled with software to a certain degree.
What upsets people with DAC and the HCD-lenses is a) the agressive marketing ("digital APO") and b ) bloody expensive, entirely new designs which are not even usable on film or any other converter because they rely on software correction too much.
Have you ever got the chance to see what recent Zeiss-designs are capable of (there are only a few: 300SA, 350SA, 40IF...) how well corrected and what sophisticated technologies their Master Primes incorporate (with f1.2 from 14mm-150mm with 18x24mm) - WITHOUT software? Software correction can reduce the visibility of certain optical imperfections, but it's only the last choice AFTER lens design & manufacturing did their job as good as possible (we're talking about >>10k$-systems) and not as an excuse to save money on lens design.

[David Grover / Capture One]

Nearly all "V-series" Zeiss-lenses are several decades old designs - of course they show visible CA, vignetting and distortion which can be handled with software to a certain degree.
What upsets people with DAC and the HCD-lenses is a) the agressive marketing ("digital APO") and b ) bloody expensive, entirely new designs which are not even usable on film or any other converter because they rely on software correction too much.
Have you ever got the chance to see what recent Zeiss-designs are capable of (there are only a few: 300SA, 350SA, 40IF...) how well corrected and what sophisticated technologies their Master Primes incorporate (with f1.2 from 14mm-150mm with 18x24mm) - WITHOUT software? Software correction can reduce the visibility of certain optical imperfections, but it's only the last choice AFTER lens design & manufacturing did their job as good as possible (we're talking about >>10k$-systems) and not as an excuse to save money on lens design.

I haven't run out of energy yet georgl....

Firstly I would never describe Zeiss lenses as cheap furthermore they did not have internal AF motors or electronic shutters.

Think about the customers we service, most of them shoot digitally.  Therefore to service them it makes sense to produce a lens which is optimised for this medium.  The H lenses were produced always with the intention to use film... well that was pretty much the only choice when the H first came out.

Nowadays its a very different story and supply fits demand.  There are only two 'D' type lenses so your comment..

entirely new designs which are not even usable on film or any other converter because they rely on software correction too much.


..is absolutely incorrect.

DAC is not about saving money on lens design as I have explained to you time and time again but it seems to be falling on deaf ears.  Take the HCD28, smaller, lighter than the HC35 with excellent performance.  Not possible without DAC and any 'saving' being passed onto the customer making it viable for more.

As for the 40IF this is one of the lenses party to the new DAC correction.

David

[Dick Roadnight]

The relevant questions here are:

Can I use DAC in Phocus 1.2 on my 40, 80, 120 macro and 240 V lenses on my H3D11-50 with CF adaptor?
How much difference will it make?
How will these lenses then compare to my H 50-110 zoom, or my Apo-digitars?
Does this new back have live view?

[Paul_Claesson_HasselbladUS]

Hi Dick

Can I use DAC in Phocus 1.2 on my 40, 80, 120 macro and 240 V lenses on my H3D11-50 with CF adaptor?

The DAC support for select V system lenses will be available shortly in a new version of Phocus 1.2.x
The advantage of using a CFE lens with CF adapter on an H3DII is the aperture data is embedded in the metadata of the file.

How much difference will it make?

The distortion and vignetting correction will have more impact with your 40mm lens then with your 80mm, 120mm etc.
In short, will there be a difference -- Yes

How will these lenses then compare to my H 50-110 zoom, or my Apo-digitars?

Hasselblad has the Lens MTF data available on our website for you review.

H System lenses
V system lenses

Does this new back have live view?

I do not have this information available at this time and hesitate to speculate. I will post yeah or nay when I have the answer.

Paul Claesson
Hasselblad USA

[SeanFS]

Thought I'd make a separate thread for this as I think it's quite important

Somewhat buried in the literature on the CFV39 is the following:

Digital lens correction for Carl Zeiss lenses
With the introduction of the CFV-39, Phocus adds digital lens correction for the V system lenses providing a new level of image quality.

Now isn't that interesting  I do wonder what all those people who have attacked Hasselblad for supposedly producing "crappy" HC lenses and "fixing" them in software will have to say about the fact that their beloved Zeiss glass can be improved with corrections...

Nick-T

This is great news, I have been testing my older V series lenses with a H3D 39 and CF converter and I can't say I can fault them too much, if at all, even the CF 40 which is the worst of the bunch is good, just a little soft out to the edges and a small ( and I mean small!) amount of CA in the corners, probably not visible at all in a native print size. Any residual correction is completely welcome . Its great to see Hasselblad moving forward and not leaving those of us who upgrade gradually behind . The big advantage of using a H body and CF converter is the electronic focus confirmation as it is impossible to actually see the level of detail the camera captures to focus on .
 I have also been using a CF132 back for three years now on a V series, and don't have too much trouble leaning it over to do a vertical or Horizontal composition( depending on how I have the back oriented on the camera at the time). its certainly no more difficult than using an H series in the vertical position .

[Dick Roadnight]

Thank You, Paul... this is useful information - it seems that the H zoom is significantly better than the V system primes, but that the V primes are worth using, especially when using the Macro-Planar 120 using movements with the Flexbody.

Will DAC for the V system lenses take into account Flexbody movements?
Is it possible for the software to calculate the movements from the pattern of aberrations, and then eliminate the aberrations?

...and when do I get live view for my H3D11-50?

Hi Dick

The DAC support for select V system lenses will be available shortly in a new version of Phocus 1.2.x
The advantage of using a CFE lens with CF adapter on an H3DII is the aperture data is embedded in the metadata of the file.

The distortion and vignetting correction will have more impact with your 40mm lens then with your 80mm, 120mm etc.
In short, will there be a difference -- Yes

Hasselblad has the Lens MTF data available on our website for you review.

H System lenses
V system lenses

I do not have this information available at this time and hesitate to speculate. I will post yeah or nay when I have the answer.

Paul Claesson Hasselblad USA

[Paul_Claesson_HasselbladUS]

Hi Dick

Will DAC for the V system lenses take into account Flexbody movements? Is it possible for the software to calculate the movements from the pattern of aberrations, and then eliminate the aberrations?

No, DAC for the Flexbody is not available, nor do i see this implemeted in the future. As a reference Hasselblad has created in excess 11,000 + lookup tables for the HTS 1.5 in conjunction with the 5 HC/HCD lenses available.

...and when do I get live view for my H3D11-50?

Hassleblad is still working on implementing LV for the 50mp.

Paul Claesson
Hasselblad USA