HASSELBLAD CFV BACK

[MARK WALLACK]

Greetings,
I recently purchased a Hasselblad CFV back for my 503CX.  My other digital work has been with a Nikon D2X and Nikon View 6 (not the Bridge).
 
Is there anyone out there who has experience with the CFV ?    I have a few questions.

Many Thanks,
Mark

[pprdigital]

Greetings,
I recently purchased a Hasselblad CFV back for my 503CX.  My other digital work has been with a Nikon D2X and Nikon View 6 (not the Bridge).
 
Is there anyone out there who has experience with the CFV ?    I have a few questions.

Many Thanks,
Mark
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=77271\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Mark:

What are your questions? Ask away.

Steve Hendrix
PPR Digital

[MARK WALLACK]

Mark:

What are your questions? Ask away.

Steve Hendrix
PPR Digital
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=77275\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for you reply.

 My Nikon D2X my raw files would open in Nikon Transfer and then to Nikon View 6. From there  I move selected images to photo shop where they would be edited in raw and into Photoshop....no problems.( I was used to Nikon View so Idon't use to The Bridge)

With the CFV back:
I installed the flex color program.
Put the card in the reader and Nikon Transfer would open.
I made the  Flex color the destination and it would show up in the Nikon View Menu but I am not able to open them.  I can't find them at all in the Flex color program.

I would like to open the images in Nikon View then to raw editing and then to Photoshop just as I do with my Nikon NEF files.

Do I have to use the Flex color program ?
I tried transfering  the CFV images using Nikon View as the destination.  It showed up in the list but no images opened

As I mentioned my computer skills outside of Photoshop are limited. I could not find any info in the manuals.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark

[Richowens]

Mark,

Nikon View will only work with NEF files, jpeg and tiff.

Rich

[pprdigital]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for you reply.

 My Nikon D2X my raw files would open in Nikon Transfer and then to Nikon View 6. From there  I move selected images to photo shop where they would be edited in raw and into Photoshop....no problems.( I was used to Nikon View so Idon't use to The Bridge)

With the CFV back:
I installed the flex color program.
Put the card in the reader and Nikon Transfer would open.
I made the  Flex color the destination and it would show up in the Nikon View Menu but I am not able to open them.  I can't find them at all in the Flex color program.

I would like to open the images in Nikon View then to raw editing and then to Photoshop just as I do with my Nikon NEF files.

Do I have to use the Flex color program ?
I tried transfering  the CFV images using Nikon View as the destination.  It showed up in the list but no images opened

As I mentioned my computer skills outside of Photoshop are limited. I could not find any info in the manuals.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=77286\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Mark:

There weren't any good, knowledgable Hasselblad dealers in the area, huh?  

No - NIkon software is not going to recognize Hasselblad files.

The CFV might be compatible with Raw Developer by Irridium Systems. I know that some of the other Hasselblad backs are compatible.

Otherwise, it's Flexcolor. However, if you're comfortable with Photoshop, Flexcolor does not present a significant learning stretch. Many of the tools are very similar to Photoshop - curves, levels, unsharpening, selctive color correction, etc.

The Flexcolor manual, like most, will tell you what each tool and menu will do, but will not provide recommendations or depth on how to get the most of it. I would recommend that you join the Flexframe forum, a Yahoo Groups forum made up of Imacon/Hasselblad members. Just go to www.yahoo.com, click "Groups", type in Flexframe, and you'll be directed.

In the meantime, if you have specific questions about the workflow, just post them or email me directly and I'll give you the information.

Steve Hendrix
PPR Digital
shendrix@ppratlanta.com

[pprdigital]

Mark:

There weren't any good, knowledgable Hasselblad dealers in the area, huh?  

No - NIkon software is not going to recognize Hasselblad files.

The CFV might be compatible with Raw Developer by Irridium Systems. I know that some of the other Hasselblad backs are compatible.

Otherwise, it's Flexcolor. However, if you're comfortable with Photoshop, Flexcolor does not present a significant learning stretch. Many of the tools are very similar to Photoshop - curves, levels, unsharpening, selctive color correction, etc.

The Flexcolor manual, like most, will tell you what each tool and menu will do, but will not provide recommendations or depth on how to get the most of it. I would recommend that you join the Flexframe forum, a Yahoo Groups forum made up of Imacon/Hasselblad members. Just go to www.yahoo.com, click "Groups", type in Flexframe, and you'll be directed.

In the meantime, if you have specific questions about the workflow, just post them or email me directly and I'll give you the information.

Steve Hendrix
PPR Digital
shendrix@ppratlanta.com
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Actually I just heard from Brian Griffith of Iridient Digital (correct spelling this time), that the CFV is compatible with Raw Developer. However, the CFV raw files must first be imported into Flexcolor, which converts them from a .3FR raw format to .FFF (don't ask), which can then be imported into Raw Developer. Ok, since you asked, .FFF is the raw file format from Imacon digital backs (iXpress and earlier) and the ultimate raw format once any Imacon or Hasselblad file imports into Flexcolor. All of the 39 MP Hasselblad product (CF-39, CFH-39, H2D-39), as well as the CFV product, shoot .3FR. The Hasselblad 22 MP product (CF-132, CFH-132, H2D) shot DNG.

Raw Developer is an admirable program worth taking a look at. We've had particularly good feedback from our Leaf customers who have played with Raw Developer.
[a href=\"http://www.iridientdigital.com/]http://www.iridientdigital.com/[/url]


Steve Hendrix
PPR Digital

[MARK WALLACK]

Mark:

There weren't any good, knowledgable Hasselblad dealers in the area, huh?  

No - NIkon software is not going to recognize Hasselblad files.

The CFV might be compatible with Raw Developer by Irridium Systems. I know that some of the other Hasselblad backs are compatible.

Otherwise, it's Flexcolor. However, if you're comfortable with Photoshop, Flexcolor does not present a significant learning stretch. Many of the tools are very similar to Photoshop - curves, levels, unsharpening, selctive color correction, etc.

The Flexcolor manual, like most, will tell you what each tool and menu will do, but will not provide recommendations or depth on how to get the most of it. I would recommend that you join the Flexframe forum, a Yahoo Groups forum made up of Imacon/Hasselblad members. Just go to www.yahoo.com, click "Groups", type in Flexframe, and you'll be directed.

In the meantime, if you have specific questions about the workflow, just post them or email me directly and I'll give you the information.

Steve Hendrix
PPR Digital
shendrix@ppratlanta.com
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=77308\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for the information.  I was able to finally open the images in Flexcolor and move then into Photoshop as TIFFs and print them.  They advertise the raw CFV 3F Raw files "can be converted directly into Adobe's raw image format DNG"

I'll go to the Yahoo website.

Hasselblad dealers in Maine as as rare as Dentists. Hasselblad advises that you contact your dealer. I bought the back from a larger type photo store and they were'nt too knowledgable.

Thanks alot for your help...greatly appreciated.

Mark

[pprdigital]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for the information.  I was able to finally open the images in Flexcolor and move then into Photoshop as TIFFs and print them.  They advertise the raw CFV 3F Raw files "can be converted directly into Adobe's raw image format DNG"

I'll go to the Yahoo website.

Hasselblad dealers in Maine as as rare as Dentists. Hasselblad advises that you contact your dealer. I bought the back from a larger type photo store and they were'nt too knowledgable.

Thanks alot for your help...greatly appreciated.

Mark
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=77318\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Mark:

When you shoot the CFV un-tethered (to CF card), when you import images from the card into Flexcolor, in the "Import Window", there is a button called "EXP DNG". If you choose this option, the file will import into the computer (to your folder of choice) as DNG files, bypassing Flexcolor completely. Or, if you bring them into Flexcolor, then there is also an option to save them out as DNG. Choose "Save" from the contact sheet, pull down the menu that appears, and choose the DNG option. Flexcolor provides slightly better quality, especially color, but that's an ongoing and hopefully improving issue dependent on cooperation between Adobe and Hasselblad.

Steve Hendrix
PPR Digital

[MARK WALLACK]

Mark:

When you shoot the CFV un-tethered (to CF card), when you import images from the card into Flexcolor, in the "Import Window", there is a button called "EXP DNG". If you choose this option, the file will import into the computer (to your folder of choice) as DNG files, bypassing Flexcolor completely. Or, if you bring them into Flexcolor, then there is also an option to save them out as DNG. Choose "Save" from the contact sheet, pull down the menu that appears, and choose the DNG option. Flexcolor provides slightly better quality, especially color, but that's an ongoing and hopefully improving issue dependent on cooperation between Adobe and Hasselblad.

Steve Hendrix
PPR Digital
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=77324\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Steve,

 I just returned from a number of forums regarding my question. Very, very confusing with conflicting opinions.  I was about to put my 100 mm Zeiss in my mouth, cock the shutter and trip the release to end it all when I found your reply.

I DID IT.......... IT WORKED

Many , many  thanks for taking the time to help me out.
No I can sleep in peace !

Mark
Camden, Maine

[basil47]

I have been battling with the CFV for a few weeks now. (I have the 503CWD kit) Other than workflow issues I have a problem with the yellow tint to everything. I previously used a Contax 645 with Kodak Pro Back with great results and I thought that since the chip in the CFV was also made by Kodak it would give the same sort of results.

Well, the dynamic range is better but the colour processing in camera is nowhere near as good as Kodak. I think much of the problem is in the white balance as the CFV doesn't have automatic and the manual setting offers no way of actual measurement - unless I am missing something.  The Kodak back has an auto white balance and it tends toward blue rather than yellow which is pleasing since most of my work is swimwear on the beach and there is an abundance of yellow.

I use the CFV with the standard daylight white balance setting as this simplifies things at the shoot. Theoretically the white balance can be changed during processing with no ill effect to the file - but I have found that the yellow tinge is stubborn depending on processing method.  

The first attempt was to process using Flexcolor and export TIFF files then open in Photoshop. Not bad results but lousy browsing in Flexcolor. Next was to use Flexcolor just to convert files to DNG and export to a folder. Then it is easy to browse using iView and open in Photoshop Raw. This is a good workflow but Flexcolor DNG conversions are very yellow and difficult to fix; changes to the white balance settings do not always remove yellow cast.

So far the best result I have achieved is to download the 3fr files directly to a folder then open them in Raw Developer then save out to the batch folder as TIFFs and open in Photoshop. This provides the best looking pics and deals with the yellow problem. Unfortunately the browsing is not easy - the thumbnails are too small to really select pics and to see a large pic it needs to be processed which takes a while. So I am also converting the files to DNG for browsing in iView.

It's all a bit difficult. The 503CWD is a beautifully made tool but for my purposes it doesn't perform anywhere near as well as the 4+ year old Kodak Pro Back (on Contax 645). The CFV firmware appears to be the main problem but Hasselblad could also do well to let others such as Adobe and iView decode CFV files.

Peter G.

[MARK WALLACK]

Hi Peter,
I also have the CFV back and find the same yellow cast. I've spent lots of time learning Photoshop CS2 so I export the CFV raw images into Photoshop raw right off. The only thing I use Flexcolor for is to open the images.  Once in Photoshop raw I can deal with the yellow cast. I use the PS Bridge to browse my images. You would think for the cost of the CFV back Hasselblad would have worked out the "problem"  I thought that I was  also missing something until I read your posting.
I'm curious to know if we are the only two. ??  

Mark

I have been battling with the CFV for a few weeks now. (I have the 503CWD kit) Other than workflow issues I have a problem with the yellow tint to everything. I previously used a Contax 645 with Kodak Pro Back with great results and I thought that since the chip in the CFV was also made by Kodak it would give the same sort of results.

Well, the dynamic range is better but the colour processing in camera is nowhere near as good as Kodak. I think much of the problem is in the white balance as the CFV doesn't have automatic and the manual setting offers no way of actual measurement - unless I am missing something.  The Kodak back has an auto white balance and it tends toward blue rather than yellow which is pleasing since most of my work is swimwear on the beach and there is an abundance of yellow.

I use the CFV with the standard daylight white balance setting as this simplifies things at the shoot. Theoretically the white balance can be changed during processing with no ill effect to the file - but I have found that the yellow tinge is stubborn depending on processing method. 

The first attempt was to process using Flexcolor and export TIFF files then open in Photoshop. Not bad results but lousy browsing in Flexcolor. Next was to use Flexcolor just to convert files to DNG and export to a folder. Then it is easy to browse using iView and open in Photoshop Raw. This is a good workflow but Flexcolor DNG conversions are very yellow and difficult to fix; changes to the white balance settings do not always remove yellow cast.

So far the best result I have achieved is to download the 3fr files directly to a folder then open them in Raw Developer then save out to the batch folder as TIFFs and open in Photoshop. This provides the best looking pics and deals with the yellow problem. Unfortunately the browsing is not easy - the thumbnails are too small to really select pics and to see a large pic it needs to be processed which takes a while. So I am also converting the files to DNG for browsing in iView.

It's all a bit difficult. The 503CWD is a beautifully made tool but for my purposes it doesn't perform anywhere near as well as the 4+ year old Kodak Pro Back (on Contax 645). The CFV firmware appears to be the main problem but Hasselblad could also do well to let others such as Adobe and iView decode CFV files.

Peter G.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=77612\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

[pprdigital]

I have been battling with the CFV for a few weeks now. (I have the 503CWD kit) Other than workflow issues I have a problem with the yellow tint to everything. I previously used a Contax 645 with Kodak Pro Back with great results and I thought that since the chip in the CFV was also made by Kodak it would give the same sort of results.

Well, the dynamic range is better but the colour processing in camera is nowhere near as good as Kodak. I think much of the problem is in the white balance as the CFV doesn't have automatic and the manual setting offers no way of actual measurement - unless I am missing something.  The Kodak back has an auto white balance and it tends toward blue rather than yellow which is pleasing since most of my work is swimwear on the beach and there is an abundance of yellow.

I use the CFV with the standard daylight white balance setting as this simplifies things at the shoot. Theoretically the white balance can be changed during processing with no ill effect to the file - but I have found that the yellow tinge is stubborn depending on processing method. 

The first attempt was to process using Flexcolor and export TIFF files then open in Photoshop. Not bad results but lousy browsing in Flexcolor. Next was to use Flexcolor just to convert files to DNG and export to a folder. Then it is easy to browse using iView and open in Photoshop Raw. This is a good workflow but Flexcolor DNG conversions are very yellow and difficult to fix; changes to the white balance settings do not always remove yellow cast.

So far the best result I have achieved is to download the 3fr files directly to a folder then open them in Raw Developer then save out to the batch folder as TIFFs and open in Photoshop. This provides the best looking pics and deals with the yellow problem. Unfortunately the browsing is not easy - the thumbnails are too small to really select pics and to see a large pic it needs to be processed which takes a while. So I am also converting the files to DNG for browsing in iView.

It's all a bit difficult. The 503CWD is a beautifully made tool but for my purposes it doesn't perform anywhere near as well as the 4+ year old Kodak Pro Back (on Contax 645). The CFV firmware appears to be the main problem but Hasselblad could also do well to let others such as Adobe and iView decode CFV files.

Peter G.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=77612\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Peter:

It would be helpful to have a good auto white balance in the CFV. The default white balances could be improved, although "daylight" is not going to give good results throughout the day. Shooting a neutral grey card in just one shot will eliminate this issue. You can use that shot to color balance the rest of the images in Flexcolor.

You can also dial in a color temperature on the CFV. I've found this more reliable than the default settings. Go to "White Balance", hit the plus sign until it says "manual", then you'll see the color temperature dial.

It's a pain to shoot a grey card in one shot for some - especially those who come from 35mm D-SLR or a product like the Kodak that gave good auto white balance results. But once you get past that, you'll find color in general, and skin tones in particular are impressive with any Flexcolor software version 4.5 or later when neutralizing the grey card in Flexcolor.

Steve Hendrix
PPR Digital

[MARK WALLACK]

It would be helpful to have a good auto white balance in the CFV. The default white balances could be improved, although "daylight" is not going to give good results throughout the day. Shooting a neutral grey card in just one shot will eliminate this issue. You can use that shot to color balance the rest of the images in Flexcolor.

You can also dial in a color temperature on the CFV. I've found this more reliable than the default settings. Go to "White Balance", hit the plus sign until it says "manual", then you'll see the color temperature dial.

It's a pain to shoot a grey card in one shot for some - especially those who come from 35mm D-SLR or a product like the Kodak that gave good auto white balance results. But once you get past that, you'll find color in general, and skin tones in particular are impressive with any Flexcolor software version 4.5 or later when neutralizing the grey card in Flexcolor.

Steve Hendrix
PPR Digital
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=77741\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Steve,

Once you get to the manual adjustment  how do you determine the color temperature...do yu use some type of color tempeature meter or estimate a setting to move away from the yellow cast ?

Thanks,
Mark

[pprdigital]

Steve,

Once you get to the manual adjustment  how do you determine the color temperature...do yu use some type of color tempeature meter or estimate a setting to move away from the yellow cast ?

Thanks,
Mark
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=77777\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Yes.

[basil47]

Steve

As far as I can see there is no way to measure the light temperature using the back during the shoot. It's a matter of guessometrics what setting to use on the day. This manual setting option  is virtually useless unless you take a computer to the shoot. The shoot before last I shot a white balance grey card set (white+ 3 shades of grey) but it was nowhere near accurate when I sampled it in Photoshop or Raw Developer. Unfortunately I didn't keep the .3fr files from that shoot - they were all converted to dng through Flexcolor. The day was very successful in terms of content but the yellow is very hard if not impossible to remove especially from areas like eye sockets and shaded body areas.

One day earlier on the same beach with the same model and identical weather I used the Kodak back/Contax 645 and the colours were near perfect. I am not talking about tiny detailed differences that the more experienced pros debate and comment about - these are significant obvious tonal differences. The Kodak produces a crisp blue Ektachrome look with almost perfect skin tones straight from the camera (with polarising filter) with minimal tweaking while the Hasselblad produces oversaturated yellow Kodacolor look with a dirty haze that is almost impossible to correct. Models look like they have jaundice (Polarising filter makes the problem worse so we are stuck with glare also).  As noted, I have used the daylight white balance setting so maybe if I guessed a lower colour temp then warmed it up later things might be a little different. Flexcolor might be better to set white balance after the event but Raw Developer with its comprehensive range of adjustments was unable to make a good image from a Flexcolor generated dng file. Photoshop has even less of a chance.

I really like the physical camera but it makes enormous work in post processing just to get a passable result even with perfect exposure, a perfect day and a good model. The workflow is horrendous because standard programs cannot view the raw files and the DNG conversions are terrible to correct. This camera is not suited to my type of outdoor beach work where there is a lot of sand, sun and skin. I doubt I will keep it. Looking now to get a spare old Kodak back if possible to find. Maybe a Leaf Aptus would be better but we mostly do web work and small cataloges so it is overkill. I like the Kodak back but it cops a battering and is becoming unreliable.  I thought the Hasselblad 503CWD would be a good square format system replacement now the Contax 645 and Kodak backs are obsolete.

Mark:  If you look at the user report from Mark A Williams you will see that all of his shots look yellow particularly the beach shots. There is a real problem with this software. Maybe Hasselblad will fix it. All they gotta do is ask the Kodak folks who make the sensor. Surely Kodak will give out info if it sells more of their chips because the product works properly.

http://www.hasselbladinfo.com/discus/messages/4/26201.html

Peter G.

[MARK WALLACK]

Steve

As far as I can see there is no way to measure the light temperature using the back during the shoot. It's a matter of guessometrics what setting to use on the day. This manual setting option  is virtually useless unless you take a computer to the shoot. The shoot before last I shot a white balance grey card set (white+ 3 shades of grey) but it was nowhere near accurate when I sampled it in Photoshop or Raw Developer. Unfortunately I didn't keep the .3fr files from that shoot - they were all converted to dng through Flexcolor. The day was very successful in terms of content but the yellow is very hard if not impossible to remove especially from areas like eye sockets and shaded body areas.

One day earlier on the same beach with the same model and identical weather I used the Kodak back/Contax 645 and the colours were near perfect. I am not talking about tiny detailed differences that the more experienced pros debate and comment about - these are significant obvious tonal differences. The Kodak produces a crisp blue Ektachrome look with almost perfect skin tones straight from the camera (with polarising filter) with minimal tweaking while the Hasselblad produces oversaturated yellow Kodacolor look with a dirty haze that is almost impossible to correct. Models look like they have jaundice (Polarising filter makes the problem worse so we are stuck with glare also).  As noted, I have used the daylight white balance setting so maybe if I guessed a lower colour temp then warmed it up later things might be a little different. Flexcolor might be better to set white balance after the event but Raw Developer with its comprehensive range of adjustments was unable to make a good image from a Flexcolor generated dng file. Photoshop has even less of a chance.

I really like the physical camera but it makes enormous work in post processing just to get a passable result even with perfect exposure, a perfect day and a good model. The workflow is horrendous because standard programs cannot view the raw files and the DNG conversions are terrible to correct. This camera is not suited to my type of outdoor beach work where there is a lot of sand, sun and skin. I doubt I will keep it. Looking now to get a spare old Kodak back if possible to find. Maybe a Leaf Aptus would be better but we mostly do web work and small cataloges so it is overkill. I like the Kodak back but it cops a battering and is becoming unreliable.  I thought the Hasselblad 503CWD would be a good square format system replacement now the Contax 645 and Kodak backs are obsolete.

Mark:  If you look at the user report from Mark A Williams you will see that all of his shots look yellow particularly the beach shots. There is a real problem with this software. Maybe Hasselblad will fix it. All they gotta do is ask the Kodak folks who make the sensor. Surely Kodak will give out info if it sells more of their chips because the product works properly.

http://www.hasselbladinfo.com/discus/messages/4/26201.html

Peter G.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=78149\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Hi Peter G.

Thanks for the information. I looked at the Marc Williams photo and saw the dreaded yellow cast in some of the photos...especially the beach scene. I just registered on that site and will ask him if he's had the yellow problem.

I move the CFV files into Bridge then they open in Photoshop Raw. I make some adjustments there then into Photoshop.  I download directly from my camera (503CX) into the Flex color.  If I use a card reader my Nikon View Transfer kicks in, In photoshopit seems that I can remove the yellow cast...but I'm not sure if I'm sacrificing anything to do it.

Have you talked with anyone aat Hasselblad ?
Is it possible to even talk with any one at Hasselblad ?

On page 37 of the CFV Manual it saus

"Please note that white balance settings are for your convenience only.  The setting is temporary for preview display reasons and in no way affects  the file which remains neutral awaiting further processing "

What does that mean

Thanks again,
Mark

[pprdigital]

Steve

As far as I can see there is no way to measure the light temperature using the back during the shoot. It's a matter of guessometrics what setting to use on the day. This manual setting option  is virtually useless unless you take a computer to the shoot. The shoot before last I shot a white balance grey card set (white+ 3 shades of grey) but it was nowhere near accurate when I sampled it in Photoshop or Raw Developer. Unfortunately I didn't keep the .3fr files from that shoot - they were all converted to dng through Flexcolor. The day was very successful in terms of content but the yellow is very hard if not impossible to remove especially from areas like eye sockets and shaded body areas.

One day earlier on the same beach with the same model and identical weather I used the Kodak back/Contax 645 and the colours were near perfect. I am not talking about tiny detailed differences that the more experienced pros debate and comment about - these are significant obvious tonal differences. The Kodak produces a crisp blue Ektachrome look with almost perfect skin tones straight from the camera (with polarising filter) with minimal tweaking while the Hasselblad produces oversaturated yellow Kodacolor look with a dirty haze that is almost impossible to correct. Models look like they have jaundice (Polarising filter makes the problem worse so we are stuck with glare also).  As noted, I have used the daylight white balance setting so maybe if I guessed a lower colour temp then warmed it up later things might be a little different. Flexcolor might be better to set white balance after the event but Raw Developer with its comprehensive range of adjustments was unable to make a good image from a Flexcolor generated dng file. Photoshop has even less of a chance.

I really like the physical camera but it makes enormous work in post processing just to get a passable result even with perfect exposure, a perfect day and a good model. The workflow is horrendous because standard programs cannot view the raw files and the DNG conversions are terrible to correct. This camera is not suited to my type of outdoor beach work where there is a lot of sand, sun and skin. I doubt I will keep it. Looking now to get a spare old Kodak back if possible to find. Maybe a Leaf Aptus would be better but we mostly do web work and small cataloges so it is overkill. I like the Kodak back but it cops a battering and is becoming unreliable.  I thought the Hasselblad 503CWD would be a good square format system replacement now the Contax 645 and Kodak backs are obsolete.

Mark:  If you look at the user report from Mark A Williams you will see that all of his shots look yellow particularly the beach shots. There is a real problem with this software. Maybe Hasselblad will fix it. All they gotta do is ask the Kodak folks who make the sensor. Surely Kodak will give out info if it sells more of their chips because the product works properly.

http://www.hasselbladinfo.com/discus/messages/4/26201.html

Peter G.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=78149\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Peter:

Today, we shot with numerous Hasselblad digital cameras, including CFV in studio with flash. The skin tones were great. I've shot the CFV outside and the skin tones were great. You mentioned that you shot with a white balance card with 3 shades of grey. What were you balancing on? And how can you balance on a grey patch when it has "shades"? Grey cards for color balance should be manufcatured and designed for the grey to be perfectly neutral - unless it's for warm/cool "looks". That makes me wonder.

Listen. You're not getting the results you think you should. That is frustrating. But I know this product inside and out and I know that the skin tones are great. Why don't you do this - if you like. Send me some of your 3FR files, including the one with the white balance card. I'll look at them through Flexcolor and let you know what I find. What do you say?

Steve Hendrix
PPR Digital
667 Eleventh Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30318