If Hasselblad can make this camera in Sweden targeting a relatively small production run... What prices can we expect if the Japanese big players decide to have a go at it?
I am guessing that many D810/5Ds owners would be willing to sacrifice AF speed, framerate, lens selection etc if they could have the argueably "best" camera sensor out there without increased size, weight, a moderate price increase.
-h
Production in Japan won't be cheaper than in Sweden, but a big group could source latest generation EVF and display and sensor to which non-japanese wouldn't get access. As we all know, Phase and Hassy displays were for a long time not exactly the most appealing part of the product, and this trend seems to continue with the new Hassy EVF.
And then there is this perverse japanese attitude that normal members of society are supposed to be able to afford consumer products, whereas as Hasselblad once told me they see themselves as "reserved for an Elite". So I would expect a Fuji or Pentax product to trade at most at 60% of the swedish product. On the other hand, the swedish product may have more "western" design, have buttons physically sized for westerners with large hands, and be better repairable.
A french engineer who subcontracted some instrument manufacture for me had portable audio disc jockey mix stations of his own design as a steady seller. One of the sales points was that the buttons were separated enough for "American disc-jockeys with very thick fingers". Also, as it is very conventional discrete electronics it can stand up to any amount of abuse and is field-repairable by anyone with a soldering iron.
I think there is room for both western and eastern build philosophies and pricepoints; personally I have always preferred the western designs, more stolid and more solid. The market doesn't share my opinion, as the large German camera industry has mostly died out.
Edmund
