A few weeks ago I held in my hands the final product of over two years of work: A photo book of just over 200 images. Not enough images for all the work in the field and much more in front of a computer screen.
What does this have to do with the Hasselblad? Because I didn't use a Medium Format camera and wish I had. I was not pleased with color and sharpness, even after using all the proper techniques; well, most of the time. There were situations where I just didn't have the right settings and no camera can alert me to not thinking.
Of course two years ago, there were not as many options as there are now. The client was pleased and from what I was told, "Went on and on about how wonderful it was." Next time, if I am granted another similar project, I want to produce better images; files that I don't have to work on so much to produce high quality photographs that can be enlarged.
I will make a purchase only if I get another project. I've looked at the Hasselblad, Phase One, and the Leica S2. The S2 has appeal in many areas, but a lack of lens options, for now. Phase One just does not inspire me, not sure why. So, it's between the Hasselblad and the Leica.
The Hasselblad shows the H4D being hand held by a pro who uses the H4D with ease; it's a five pound camera. Did you find that it could be hand held for a few hours? If so, then I need to start lifting weights!
From what I read, the files from the H4D can be opened in Lightroom, or am I confused? If that's true, then the nice lens correction features of Phocus would not be available. Could the files be opened in phocus, converted to TIFF files that could then imported into Lightroom? I need LR to keep track of the project images.
Why do you think the battery life is so poor? While I can carry more batteries, it would be nice to see some improvement in this area.
I too like the the tilt/shift feature mechanism and that is a big reason I am considering this system.
I downloaded sample images from the Hasselblad site and I was impressed; RAW files that needed no correction; just perfect. Is this typical? Of course the lighting was perfect, so it was a staged shot, but still, just amazing to see such wonderful color and resolution.
My primary concern about going to a Medium Format systems is this: Am I good enough? Do my skills and talent match a camera that can produce fantastic quality? A sharp image with perfect color and high resolution of a scene that is not composed properly and with bad light is still not a photograph. This is something I need to give serious thought to.
