Mark, I stopped being surprised long ago... so many sheep following their leader's hatred for Hasselblad... most probably haven't spent more than a week using the very camera system and lenses they complain about.
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Derek,
You don't have to spend much time working in any major market without someone saying something about the H.
I hear it all the time, because I use Contax and I guess most assistants expect to see an H on set.
Also don't think that anyone serious about professional photography has not either owned, rented, bought or shot with an H series, because they are so prevelent in rental and with techs it's really not that hard to get your hands on one,
So in my world the people that like this camera, have used it and tried it and the people that don't like this camera, have used it and tried it.
I agree with Steve that people "want" to like it and I also agree that the flip side is it's a very polarizing camera. For my genre a flip flash just makes no sense, same with no 90 degree shutter release.
The fact that the H is the best selling medium format camera pretty much sums up the medium format camera market.
On one hand you have the Mamiya and though everyone says the optics are good, the price acceptable, nobody is thrilled with the build quality.
Then you have the far side of the spectrum with the HY6. Most people who have had a brief chance to use it like almost everything about it except the curent lens options and the price, so the Hasselblad falls somewhere in the middle.
I think medium format continues to shoot themselves in the foot by limiting their offerings. I still don't understand why most the the medium format backs have to be camera specific and I can understand the back makers trying to one up each other with proprietary bodies that only work with their backs, as an end user all this does is force me away from buying a camera, not push me towards it.
The day I bought my Contaxs I walked into Samys to specifically by an H series. I can absolutely gaurantee you that the initial buy in costs was not the concern or the reason I didn't go the H route and it just wasn't ergonomics or the viewfinder.
I knew that professional cameras were moving to the digital product cycle of proprietary systems and continual upgrades every 18 months, rather than the analog model of one camera every 5 to 10 years.
The most compelling reason I went with a Contax was they had no agenda as they were shutting their doors, so waiting for a firmware upgrade wasn't an issue.
I bought for the lenses first, the camera second and then wanted the option to decide what type of digital film goes on it.
JR