From what I remember when I used the H3D it was a bit bugged, not quite as stable as I had hoped. Quite a lot of 'random' error messages and weird behaviour when the buffer was full.
That being said - it seems that it was due to a buggy firmware and they corrected most problems with the latest firmware for the H3D-System.
However, most people would rather got for the H4D, as it was (presumably) much more stable and reliable.
I used an H3DII-39 for several years and found it to be very stable, tethered or untethered. It was a great camera. Traded it in recently for an H5D50, which is also doing very nicely and is a great upgrade. Pros and cons of the H3DII-50? It all depends on what you're comparing it to, and what your knowledge level is. I could tell you that it's big and heavy, and that it's noisier at high ISOs than Canon/Nikon/etc, but you probably know that. Some pros and cons:
Pros:
- Large sensor (37x49) at what is probably now a very attractive price
- Large viewfinder. Totally different way of working vs 35mm.
- Great series of lenses. Easy rental availability.
- Syncs at all speeds, up to 1/800.
- By the time they got to the H3DII, I think the cameras became very dependable.
- Longer maximum shutter duration (128 sec) than the 39-megapixel bodies (64 sec)
- Works well with both Schneider and Rodenstock lenses, with plenty of shifting, on a tech camera.
- Big files let you crop in and still have big files.
- Feels good in the hands.
- Great color rendition and skintones.
- Amazing file quality, especially at 50 and 100 ISO. Deep and rich.
Cons
- No true focus.
- Older screen, body, buttons, ergonomics than the H5D series.
- Noisier at higher ISOs than H4D-40. Max ISO is 800 (H4D40 is 1600).
- Can't really do an accurate check for focusing sharpness zoomed in to 100% (you can on the H5D). Zoomed in, it's still hard to tell if it's tack sharp or not.
