After Photokina Medium Format rumors (UPD. And The WINNAH is FUUUJIIII !!! )

[landscapephoto]

It is my opinion this is a PR disaster.

The puzzle is not the lack of a camera, it is the lack of a reaction in the form of a CEO interview.

Hassies and Leicas get given as Christmas gifts, and bought as "gifts to oneself" at Christmas. A woman of a certain social class will go into Dior any day of the year and drop $10K on a dress or $5K on a handbag on a whim, that's what makes the fashion trade so profitable. At Xmas she'll go out and get her guy a tie, or if she really likes him take him to the shop and make him buy "that camera" while she waits patiently for all of ten minutes.

If you ask the advertisers, they will tell you that about 70% of discretionary spending is now in the hands of women, the guys don't really do much that much everyday leisure buying. In fact in most high-priced city centres nowadays shops don't waste space on man stuff.  But the sports car, luxury watch and camera trades are on the opposite side of that equation, and the Christmas sales are important. The same is true for mobile phones where men probably represent a significant fraction of the buyers of the large $1K phones with complex cameras

Ask the world's most profitable camera company, Apple - they make most of their sales in the year's end quarter.

Edmund

Got it.

But do the luxury buyers follow Photokina news? Maybe the X2D is to be unveiled at a different place?

Frankly, I don't know why Hasselblad is silent. Possibly, the Sony chip is delayed. Possibly, they expect a completely different chip from Samsung. Possibly, DJI is busy moving Hasselblad's assembly line to Shenzen to undercut Fuji's prices in 2019. We simply do not know.

[hubell]

BASLESS SPECULATION IS WHAT I DO HERE. IT IS WHAT THIS THREAD IS ABOUT.

Edmund

I believe you cross the line between speculating about the possible introduction of products at a forthcoming trade show like Photokina and describing a company’s failure to not ANNOUNCE a new product many months in advance of actually releasing it as a “PR disaster.”

[Steve Hendrix]

Got it.

But do the luxury buyers follow Photokina news? Maybe the X2D is to be unveiled at a different place?

Maybe here?

https://preview.tinyurl.com/y7olmz96


Steve Hendrix/CI

[eronald]

I believe you cross the line between speculating about the possible introduction of products at a forthcoming trade show like Photokina and describing a company’s failure to not ANNOUNCE a new product many months in advance of actually releasing it as a “PR disaster.”

I'm sorry, at this point I've lost track of what crime  I'm being accused of today. Life is tough for fortune tellers and supreme court nominees.

But regarding Hasselblad, their main competitor Fuji has just announced a major product in the trade-fair upgrade context, and in this context it is usually expected, it is customary,  for a company to quickly brief the press, on or off the record, about how they view this evolution of the competitive landscape. This messaging is for the benefit of the whole ecosystem; ie. customers, distributors and investors.

The absence of messaging creates an uncertainty, a cloud of doubt if you wish.

Notice that Doug did state -without being pushed too hard- that as regards Phase One, no crop-frame product would be coming in the existing IQ range. Leica had less need to brief officially as they released the S3 demonstrating their short-term intent in the medium format market. While Hasselblad are reserving their voice, which *I* consider to be a PR error, in form and in effect.

Edmund

[eronald]

Here is an MF hybrid I didn't know about.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/2/15725890/fujifilm-instax-sq10-review-instant-polaroid-digital-camera
https://phototrend.fr/2018/09/test-fujifilm-instax-square-sq10/

Fuji would make many of us very happy with a Hasselblad back for this film format.

Edmund

[eronald]

Question of the day - where is the Hasselblad  H6D150?

Judging by the comments on this forum, the Phase 150Mp is getting some real customer love.

Edmund

[landscapephoto]

The absence of messaging creates an uncertainty, a cloud of doubt if you wish.

Apparently, Hasselblad/DJI lost their "director of strategy".

[faberryman]

Apparently, Hasselblad/DJI lost their "director of strategy".

And since there is silence on all sides, nobody knows exactly what is meant by "lost" in this context.

[Bo_Dez]

Question of the day - where is the Hasselblad  H6D150?

Judging by the comments on this forum, the Phase 150Mp is getting some real customer love.

Edmund

That is a very good question. The silence from Hasselblad over Photokina was deafening. They didn't even have a press conference.

They will be trying to stem the blood flow after being on the receiving end of the 2 hit combo of Fuji GFX100 and C1 Support PLUS Phase One dropping H from their repertoire.

The Prognosis does not appear that good, at a time when they seemed to be gaining the upper hand too.

[hubell]

That is a very good question. The silence from Hasselblad over Photokina was deafening. They didn't even have a press conference.

They will be trying to stem the blood flow after being on the receiving end of the 2 hit combo of Fuji GFX100 and C1 Support PLUS Phase One dropping H from their repertoire.

The Prognosis does not appear that good, at a time when they seemed to be gaining the upper hand too.

Lots of time to "recover." It all depends upon what Hasselblad does between now and next Summer when Fuji releases the GFX100. The X2D with the 100MP sensor may be far more desirable than the GFX100 for many photographers. We don't know, do we? We don't know anything about the X2D other than the sensor, and even that's not a certainty. Those that are making the dire predictions about Hasselblad are generally not potential buyers anyway. It does seem to always work like that.

[alan_b]

And since there is silence on all sides, nobody knows exactly what is meant by "lost" in this context.

Notes from Ming Thein on his blog: https://blog.mingthein.com/2018/10/03/moving-on/

[matted]

And since there is silence on all sides, nobody knows exactly what is meant by "lost" in this context.

The former director of strategy has a blog post up about this now. Doesn't say much other than the job was frustrating.

Edit: Looks like Alan beat me to it. And provided links and screenshots!

[landscapephoto]

Re: Ming Thein -> We only have one side of the story here. I wonder what the other side would post. I especially wonder why DJI is not mentioned in the "reasons for leaving"...

[Bo_Dez]

Lots of time to "recover." It all depends upon what Hasselblad does between now and next Summer when Fuji releases the GFX100. The X2D with the 100MP sensor may be far more desirable than the GFX100 for many photographers. We don't know, do we? We don't know anything about the X2D other than the sensor, and even that's not a certainty. Those that are making the dire predictions about Hasselblad are generally not potential buyers anyway. It does seem to always work like that.

My prediction about Hasselblad isn't that wonderful right now and I have been a Hasselblad customer for well over 20 years. I'm interested in the X2D, but I was really expecting to see life of it at Photokina and I have to say that GFX100 ticks a whole heap of boxes and creates some new ones too that the rest have got to get ticking.

The lack of C1 Support for the X1D is going to be damning, IMO.

[Paul2660]

Latest rumor on the GFX100s is it will have pixel shift. As it has IBIS in the design this is a nice addition. Hopefully there will be a good software solution for it. LR never got the K1 pixel shift right and C1 never tried.

Paul C

[alifatemi]

We will be posting a set of hand held shots we did with the IQ4 150mp tomorrow. It shows, just as the math would predict, that you only need around a stop faster shutter speed than a D850 to get excellent sharpness/detail at 100% pixel view (the most aggressive way of comparing).

What about higher shutter speed at sunny day, say, 500 or even higher? will it give us A+ sharpness hand held?

[Doug Peterson]

What about higher shutter speed at sunny day, say, 500 or even higher? will it give us A+ sharpness hand held?

The The test was a 45mm lens at 1/60th which is roughly 1/1.5x. I. Then downlaods for that test is also a hand held test with that lens at 1/160.

For ideal results we’d recommend a min of 1/3x which, for the 45mm lens would mean roughly 1/125th.

Therefore, for a 45mm lens we would consider 1/500 to be significant overkill for anyone with reasonably steady hands.

When using a longer lens like a 150mm then a shutter speed of 1/500 would certainly be in-line with excellent practice.

Of course each shooter should do their own test to determine their own min speed since this will vary from person to person.

[eronald]

I think I will hijack this thread a bit - I'm sure the OP won't mind - and talk about Hasselblad and the X2D some more.

The absence of a  Hasselblad reaction to the Fuji products has been surprising.
My current line of thought is that this might be about DJI and Sony.


Edmund

[KLaban]

I think I will hijack this thread a bit - I'm sure the OP won't mind - and talk about Hasselblad and the X2D some more.

The absence of a  Hasselblad reaction to the Fuji products has been surprising.
My current line of thought is that this might be about DJI and Sony.


Edmund

It could also be that Hasselblad were panned for announcing the X1D way before they were able to deliver.

A lesson learned?

[eronald]

It could also be that Hasselblad were panned for announcing the X1D way before they were able to deliver.

A lesson learned?

I don't think that's it because the second dog didn't bark either: no H6D-150.

Edmund