JWilsonphoto wrote:
Oh, and the client is having me make a 72” print of the image and at a resolution of 11,000 pixels I have to believe the difference will be enormous.
I've done some big print testing with non-upscaled 45mp files vs 100mp and the difference isn't as far apart as you'd think, but I totally get gelling with a system and having fun while using it.
I'm anxious to see what the six foot print looks like, this will be the first display print of that size from the Hasselblad. I sold a 48" cloudscape to a corporate art collection last month and I felt like the reproduction was considerably better than it would have been if it was captured with the R5II. the client was struck by the depth and color, pretty much straight out of the camera. The sale came very close to amortizing the X2DII and they requested sequels as I captured them.
RoamingScott wrote:
I've done some big print testing with non-upscaled 45mp files vs 100mp and the difference isn't as far apart as you'd think, but I totally get gelling with a system and having fun while using it.
I imagine you are right Scott, so much depends upon viewing distance as well. Our current 35mm mirrorless cameras and lenses yield pretty spectacular results.
Usually calculate by nose to image distance for virtual gallery where it does make a big difference. For irl gallery, some viewers like to revel at the individual parts as much as the whole image. So for higher frequency dense scenes would be where the main advantage is. Something like Walter Wick I Spy series or mountains with tons of textures.
I can confirm with rsolti13s observation on variance in the 20-35E I had to send back one copy in order to get a consistent high performance one [both new]. The 3 or 4 35-100E copies I've tried however seemed pretty excellent across the board.
ftllens wrote:
Usually calculate by nose to image distance for virtual gallery where it does make a big difference. For irl gallery, some viewers like to revel at the individual parts as much as the whole image. So for higher frequency dense scenes would be where the main advantage is. Something like Walter Wick I Spy series or mountains with tons of textures.
I can confirm with rsolti13s observation on variance in the 20-35E I had to send back one copy in order to get a consistent high performance one [both new]. The 3 or 4 35-100E copies I've tried however seemed pretty excellent across the board....Show more →
I'm not near a Hassy dealer, but trying 3-4 copies seems excessive since most stores are lucky to have one in stock, let alone 3-4.
stgrove wrote:
I'm not near a Hassy dealer, but trying 3-4 copies seems excessive since most stores are lucky to have one in stock, let alone 3-4.
But when you make a living using this stuff and have had to deal with wide variations in samples before, is it really excessive? Over the course of two months, I tried 3 copies of the 35-100 (one after the other) and they all fell short of nearly all my primes, in the case of the first two they were near unusable beyond 65mm. The last one was better than the first two but I am still expecting better collimation out of a near $5K lens.
So I decided to do what I did when I went through this with early purchases of the 38V and 55V and that is wait 12-18 months for Hasselblad / DJI to get their act together in the Q/C department.
I'll look into the 35-100 in another year or so, hopefully they get manufacturing quirks worked out by then and I get a copy I can actually put to work. For now and as hopeful as I was during those two months, I am willing to be patient and wait a year or more.
Ai_Print wrote:
But when you make a living using this stuff and have had to deal with wide variations in samples before, is it really excessive? Over the course of two months, I tried 3 copies of the 35-100 (one after the other) and they all fell short of nearly all my primes, in the case of the first two they were near unusable beyond 65mm. The last one was better than the first two but I am still expecting better collimation out of a near $5K lens.
So I decided to do what I did when I went through this with early purchases of the 38V and 55V and that is wait 12-18 months for Hasselblad / DJI to get their act together in the Q/C department.
I'll look into the 35-100 in another year or so, hopefully they get manufacturing quirks worked out by then and I get a copy I can actually put to work. For now and as hopeful as I was during those two months, I am willing to be patient and wait a year or more....Show more →
bwcolor wrote:
What happens to the copies that you reject?
I returned the first two for an exchange based on exhaustive testing that the retailer saw and agreed with and then sold the last one. I almost kept the last one but like my experience with my early copies of both the 38V and 55V, my gut told me to part with it and circle back at a later time for a likely much improved copy.
I also think some real in depth reviews that compare the 35-100 to all the primes will have emerged in a year and I will then know that what I saw at this early stage was either anomalous or a limitation of the design. It if is the latter, I will just pass on it altogether and stick with what works.
My 35-100 is excellent. It’s slightly better than my 38V in the extreme corners and very well centered. Some of the primes are better but not all. The 25, 65 and 90 are better but the 55V (I have three of them and they do have small variations), 38V etc are about the same as the new zoom. I also have the 35-75, which while superb isn’t better than my new 35-100. They have a slightly different look. The older lens has more bite but at 200% I can’t see any differences in detail. It a few points of the texture slider.
My 35-100 is better than my 20-35. Mostly in the extreme corners. I think my 20-35 is normal and it’s well centered but it’s not a match for the wide primes or the stunning GFX20-35. Disappointing for the price. It’s great stopped down though so I’ve kept it.
I like the 35-100. It’s quickly become my most used lens.
Ai_Print wrote:
I returned the first two for an exchange based on exhaustive testing that the retailer saw and agreed with and then sold the last one. I almost kept the last one but like my experience with my early copies of both the 38V and 55V, my gut told me to part with it and circle back at a later time for a likely much improved copy.
I also think some real in depth reviews that compare the 35-100 to all the primes will have emerged in a year and I will then know that what I saw at this early stage was either anomalous or a limitation of the design. It if is the latter, I will just pass on it altogether and stick with what works.
I’ve been waiting for over three months for a copy of this lens. If this is what is happening to this lens, then I’ll be waiting a long time and when I get mine I just might decide to return it because I’m probably missing the defects by judging lens quality by looking at images taken during the normal course of use. I test all lenses for centration and then look at the images that I’ve taken, so I must be missing something. I’ve seen your work and you certainly deserve the best. I’ve also seen my work and I deserve .. well my wife always tells me what I deserve.
bwcolor wrote:
I’ve been waiting for over three months for a copy of this lens. If this is what is happening to this lens, then I’ll be waiting a long time and when I get mine I just might decide to return it because I’m probably missing the defects by judging lens quality by looking at images taken during the normal course of use. I test all lenses for centration and then look at the images that I’ve taken, so I must be missing something. I’ve seen your work and you certainly deserve the best. I’ve also seen my work and I deserve .. well my wife always tells me what I deserve. ...Show more →
on the wife, it's a wink and a nod at best on my end as well.
But the lens, I think you could look at it as a real world case of early adopter syndrome in which you are truly being saved the trouble of jumping through those kinds of hoops. Supply is catching up, I see Capture Integration getting them in as well as the USA Hasselblad store now getting regular shipments that seem to be available for more than 24 hours. So that is good.
Hasselblad / DJI seems to have a heck of a hard time with supply early on though. One of the reasons for this might be that manufacturing not only has to ramp up, it needs to even out, become efficient and any unforeseen issues dealt with on the fly in the early adoption phase. It's super frustrating at times because when Hasselblad V was all Sweden and Carl Zeiss, they were more like Leica and simply never put a lens, back or body out if it did not meet at least a minimum requirement, Q/C was pretty much air tight. I never used the H system so I have no way to judge how that went as it shifted away from a film based system.
As it would turn out, the ski area project I really wanted this lens for was cut way short due to a historically bad Winter to begin with, so it made it really easy for me to sell what was at least a decent if not passable third copy once it concluded nearly two months earlier than expected.
People are reporting getting good copies of the 35-100, much like they did in the early phase of the 38V, 55V and 90V, the latter took especially long to fill the shelves as a regular stock item. I am also super critical of optics in using the X system, much more so than my Nikon system.
Maybe I am expecting too much? I dunno but I do know what great optics do in front of this spectacular and yet merciless 102MP sensor, so it is hard to accept less than top performance.
Time will tell, I hope we both end up with copies that put the doubt in the rear seat and keep the image making in front of us.
I have been very pleased with my 35-100E, tack sharp across the entire range. My 20-35E is in this week so I'll need to do some thorough testing on it I guess.
I received my 35-100E yesterday and all test out 100%, just like the 20-35E. I must say that it is a rather good size lens, but these two are probably a good pair for travel. I’m sure that my primes would outperform the zooms, but other than a slightly brighter aperture, there isn’t a practical difference in performance for me. There is quite a difference in size & weight, but that was a known going in and the straps attached to the Falcam cage increases my confidence in strap carry vs the Hasselblad lugs.
RoamingScott wrote:
I'm at my inflection point for Hassy...sold my 55V so it's either buy the 35-100 as one last gasp to gel with the X2D, or just divest
What is it about the system that isn’t gelling? I read above where there isn’t much of a difference between Hasselblad images vs full frame. There certainly is a size difference. The X2D2 is definitely an upgrade, but not with regards to image quality. I don’t have the 55V, but have been happy with the 25V, 38V and 90V… but then again, I’m not earning a living with the system like other, more experienced users commenting above.
on the wife, it's a wink and a nod at best on my end as well.