Hasselblad's "game changer" 22nd of June?

[Hulyss]

Just wondering - the look on Perry Oosting's face, and the tone in his voice, when talking about Nitto and not Fuji for lenses was quite guarded and odd I thought.

Fuji have not done the lenses on this because they are probably about to launch their own camera at Photokina.

Hasselblad already seen the fuji prototype.

[BernardLanguillier]

The lack of FPS is IMHO the result of:
- the desire to keep the body very simple, compact and cheap to produce,
- the desire to spread the cost of their new leaf shutter mechanism over a larger number of lenses
- the tageted usage of the camera where outdoor flash photography is considered important

Cheers,
Bernard

[torger]

This camera gives me headaches.

There is so much really nice stuff. The menues look good, the formfactor is nice, the size is great.

BUT: why oh why - did Blad decide to keep this a part of the H System with leafshutters involved ? for... what ?
Light and carry backpack shooters will most likely not use studio flashes. For all the others there is now HSS if needed.
Excluding this camera from a simple adapter solution because of the lacking FPS is such a total misconception of the understanding
of the success of the mirrorless bodies. It´s about the lenses Hasselblad - all these wide open old or new pieces of glass that
invite the creative spirit for experiment ? You could have done that , making some nice f2.0 or brighter series for that camera especially ?
No leaf shutter, which is only a source of additional headaches (as we heard before ?).

And then: no 4K finder ? Epson sells these, they are available for some time now. A 9000$ body which cannot get the best out there in finders ?

and finally: I get the point that making a 4K video option in a high quality way may have been difficult. But at least some more punch on the video side
like mabe 120fps in full HD, Log S or some of these goodies ....?

Sigh......

Such a nice camera. But a "close to" hit is still a miss.

I don´t even want to speak from the now cannibalizing effect of the body for all the hobbyists that have been buying H6D before and can now get the Blad name and the lenses on a 7k $ less expensive body ? Did nobody speak with the dealers first ?

BIG Sigh

I wish Hasselblad Luck. They will need it.

I don't agree with your analysis, I'm very positive about the camera. Sure I'd love to have FPS too, but what I want is not necessarily what sells the most cameras. If the choice was between $9k camera and 725 grams, or a $11k camera and 900 grams plus a bit bulkier form factor, just to fit the FPS, would the later option be better? I don't think so. Maybe it would not hurt the design that much, but the point is that FPS wouldn't come for free, and the slick lightweight sexy design plus the lower price I think is more important for sales than satisfying the niche of combining third-party lenses and tech cams. I would guess that there's like 20 enthusiast buyers that want a slick clean system on every 1 pro that mixes and matches bodies and lenses. Sure you can argue that with FPS the lenses would be cheaper, but no, medium format / hassy is so associated to leaf shutters so I think that either they would have had FPS + leaf shutters, or just leaf shutters like now. I'm not sure how good idea it is to have a MF-sized shutter in a light body either...

The video is probably because the sensor/platform simply isn't made for it. As far as I know anything but the most basic video does require quite some specific development, and I don't think video makes sense in medium format size at all (with like Arri's special rental only camera as the exception), so that it actually have some basic video is just a bonus.

The lack of highest end finder is a bit mysterious though, but I'd like to see it first before saying that it's actually bad.

Cannibalizing effect may be there for a narrow set of users, but what would they do instead? Set the price to $20k? They want to reach those that cannot pay for H6D. Working professionals, probably 90% or more of the H6D customer base, will go for the H6 for the feature set anyway, and maybe get the X1D as an extra body. I think pros that get X1D as an extra is more than those that get only an X1D instead of a H6D they otherwise would have bought.

[design_freak]

This model is for Hasselblad , what Cayenne for Porsche.

[Hulyss]

The lack of FPS is IMHO the result of:
- the desire to keep the body very simple, compact and cheap to produce,
- the desire to spread the cost of their new leaf shutter mechanism over a larger number of lenses
- the targeted usage of the camera where outdoor flash photography is considered important

Cheers,
Bernard

This is it. It is not made to cannibalize the H series who have other advantages. This is the digital Mamyia 7.

[eronald]

ok, wil do so, but first getting the X1D...

Well, at least you already have a sense of humor - that's priceless

Edmund

[Stefan.Steib]

@ Torger

I would have wished Blad would have more faith and courage.
Dividing the H6D Pro Line completely from the X1D would have been a much more clean and definite marketing approach.
Doing it the FPS way, which I think would have been Cheaper (there is a Copal shutter that also Phase uses), would have been a start for a second
Model line and total freedom of design. No backward compatibilty issues etc.pp.

And this would also have solved the cannibalizing problem: Light and easy - and Pro and heavy line. 100% clear and straight.
And - there is a gadzillion users out there who have been asking for this kind of camera to get wide open glass to save the medium format look.

All these will now NOT buy this camera. Is this really a good plan by Blad ? We have to many customers, we don´t need new ones ?   

Jeez......

[BernardLanguillier]

Stefan,

You should look at it as a business opportunity.

"Just" build an adapter with shutter built-in.

As far as the EVF quality goes, this is in my view the only disapointement, but then again most a7rII users have been telling us that it is perfectly fine.

Cheers,
Bernard

[synn]

Amen.
Stefan, an Hcam FPS module for this with an EF mount in the front would be... For the lack of a better term, echt Hammer!

[henrikfoto]

I agree with Stefan about the lenses. They could do better than 3.2 and 3.5. Maybe just to save weight.

Also how can the MTF's be said to be so fantastic without information of the linepairs on the graph?

[Stefan.Steib]

Stefan,

You should look at it as a business opportunity.

"Just" build an adapter with shutter built-in.

As far as the EVF quality goes, this is in my view the only disapointement, but then again most a7rII users have been telling us that it is perfectly fine.

Cheers,
Bernard

Yes. that would really be a matter of courage. I have done something like this 7 years ago with the HCam B1, where we reengineered the Canon Lens Protocol.

And BECAUSE I have already done this: Never again.

Let´s see what the Sony (and others) answer to the X1D on Photokina will be.

[Stefan.Steib]

Amen.
Stefan, an Hcam FPS module for this with an EF mount in the front would be... For the lack of a better term, echt Hammer!

I see all this as a very tricky business. What about global shutter already being in the wings ? What use will a leafshutter have, as soon Sony releases the next generation of sCMOS chips with Global Shutter (which they already make with lower res for industrial ?) for Photography ?

To invest nowadays into a mechanical solution like leafshutter, seems an anachronism to me in this year 2016.

[siddhaarta]

As many here, I wish Hasselblad the best and feel a lot of sympathy for this fascinating brand. Also I like the design and a lot of their ideas behind the X1D. Nevertheless, I am also a bit puzzled about HB's business strategy.

- The first MFD with EVF means you have to convince the mirror aficionados (as myself) that EVF could work. So the new Epson EVF (or something similar) and multiple focus points were mandatory. Instead they have subpar resolution-specs for EVF and SCREEN and apparently only a single focus point. We have to wait, what first testers will say, but I am not very optimistic as far as I have experienced screens and EVF with that specs. 
- I assume that there is a increasing number of enthusiasts who buy Hasselblad (as compared to professionals). As the X1D cripples nearly nothing compared to the H6D (except the EVF does not replace the OVF), I suppose there will be substantial cannibalizing. I bet, H6D 50 pricing will react accordingly once the upgrade phase finishes in september.
- Sony A7 was and is so popular also because a lot of people like to adapt other lenses, for economic and practical reasons, but also for creative reasons (think of all the photographers who adapt vintage lenses with special character). The first mirrorrless MFD should meet this demand but HB obviously does not want this. Only think of these nice old V lenses without leaf shutter like the 110 FE or MF lenses for Contax, Pentax, Mamiya, etc, etc.
- Wasn't one argument to gain other MFD users, like Leica S, to make a even more compact and cheaper MFD system? No Leica S user (at least which I know) would part from their S lenses, so adaptability is a must. This was exactly the strategy of Leica, when they produced all their adapters for Hasselblad H (even with working leaf shutter), V, Pentax 6x7, Mamiya, Contax.

This new camera seems to be very nice for current Hasselblad users and also for some enthusiast FF photographers who want to increase their sensor sizes without selling their kidneys, but not for P1, Pentax and Leica users.

[design_freak]

Lenses for the V System  possess leaf shutter . I hope the adapter appears.

[siddhaarta]

Lenses for the V System  possess leaf shutter . I hope the adapter appears.

Only the C lenses, not the F lenses which I am interested in a little bit more

[hasselbladfan]

The first MFD with EVF means you have to convince the mirror aficionados (as myself) that EVF could work. So the new Epson EVF (or something similar) and multiple focus points were mandatory. Instead they have subpar resolution-specs for EVF ....

Probably a stupid question / idea, but at a time that Leica can improve their AF via a firmware update and Tesla makes their cars drive better every month via software updates:

   can they improve the EVP later on via a software update?

[design_freak]

Only the C lenses, not the F lenses which I am interested in a little bit more

There is only one lens I like. 110/2. But I have few CF lenses...  Anyway I think that dedicated lenses will suit better :-)

[AlterEgo]

Probably a stupid question / idea, but at a time that Leica can improve their AF via a firmware update and Tesla makes their cars drive better every month via software updates:

   can they improve the EVP later on via a software update?

depends... for example what you see in EVF is the result of raw conversion... which is done by software in camera... but they can't increase the amount of elements in LCD/whatever emits there for your eye

[siddhaarta]

There is only one lens I like. 110/2. But I have few CF lenses...  Anyway I think that dedicated lenses will suit better :-)

Adaptation of V leaf shutter lenses should be possible with the combined adapters V-H-X (not very practical though, I assume)

[BernardLanguillier]

which may be indicating that they use the electronically (by Firmware) corrected MTF´s only........

Am I feeling a tiny bit of negativity here?

Considering the limited aperture and sensor size, I am not surprised by the MTF results.

Cheers,
Bernard