Thx. Im leaning towards the H4D-40. Im playing with some files and they are awesome. I know its a cliche but they look quite film like but with a lot resolution at 100%. Very different from any DSLR I have used. I pulled up some shadows and the dynamic range its great. The D800e is quite good at this also. (I know, kinda a hot topic comparing the Nikon to MF).
I planning on buying it with the kit lens and the 24mm. (I can use the Cokin X pro filter system since it has 95mm front thread) Maybe add the 120 macro and TS adapter later ($10G's!)
The Phase SLR system looks ok but seems more limited in wide angle and AF.
Wide angles.
Both Hasselblad and and Phase one wide angles are excellent (with the exception of the Phase One 55mm LS... good but not as good as the others)
However usability will be quite different on the two cameras. If you want to shoot shallow depth of field with moderate wide angles the Hasselblad
with true focus will make a significant. It will also improve subject sharpness when stopped down as the subject will most likely have spot on focus.
However for this advantage to be at it's best care has to be taken in how you recompose.
Focus recompose test with Phase one DF.
Here is a composite to show the extent of the recomposition.
Here is a crop (@50%) of the center:
Here is a crop of the recomposed image.
Regarding the files form a 40MP hasselblad and a 36MP nikon sensor there is really not any significant difference.
The Nikon has significantly more dynamic range and slightly better color depth than the HD3II-50.
Today's Hasselblad sensors have not really changed.
The whole CCD vs CMOS debate is had it's roots in the lead MF had quality wise about 10 years ago.
This has totally changed and I think that a very clear example of this is Leica's choice to go with CMOS sensors
in their new cameras.
Much of it also has to do with how people are processing their files. IF you make accurate camera profiles for both the Hasselblad sensor and the Nikon sensor
there really is no difference.
Here is a side by side test with the files processed with calibrated profile make for each camera. D800e vs H4D40
Photogy article here:
http://www.photigy.com/nikon-d800e-test-review-vs-hasselblad-h4d40-35mm-against-medium-format/Full frame
Crops
Anyway the point I want to make is that in choosing an MF camera to complement a top of the line 35mm DSLR I think that sensor size
of the MF camera is important. The 40MP sensors are sub 33x44... you might as well remain with a d800.
Really is rather pointless to "upgrade" to a crop sensor MFD especially when using wide angles that lose angle of view due to the crop.
Especially for wide angle use an larger sensor will give you more coverage, but watch out for color casts on some larger sensors.