Spoke w/ H blad about these matters yesterday.... There is no upgrade path from H2 to H3 because there never will be an H3. H2D to H3D- yes. It is intended that H'blad will support the "open-platform" H2 for quite some time to come. I think that the H2D is the dead end to end all dead ends.....
But the H3D is different than the H2D in that the back is removable and can be used on a view camera that has the H mount. The H3D also can use film backs- as the H2D could not.
The 28mm lens has barrel/pin cusion correction that the software corrects for..... so they don't seem to want to make this kind of correction available to H2 users..... could they have? perhaps...
A note from Hasselblad when I informed my rep that I would be purchasing a Leaf back and most likely Contax or Pentax body system. Take it with a grain of salt as I do:
Thank you for taking the time to write this email and letting me know about your decision.
Of course I would like to have been selected as your top choice and am a little disappointed we could not earn your business today.
I would like to address some of your very important points below to let you know you are not "locked" out - even by choosing the Leaf system.
Hasselblad is developing a DSLR solution in an effort to provide the highest image quality only attainable by knowing the technical specifications of each component (lens, body, digital magazine.)
Things like Digital APO - and now Lens Distortion - are technologies we simply do not know about on other digital magazines (similar to a Canon body/lens not optimized for a Nikon sensor.)
So it is with this point in mind that we have developed the H3 - to take the image quality further than we have been able to in the past.
What about other digital magazines? As you know, the Leaf and Phase One digital magazines work extremely well with the Hasselblad H1 and H2 bodies; we are committed to producing the H2 for as long as ANY customer wants to purchase them (and it does not appear that we are stopping anytime soon.)
I hope we have the opportunity in the future to earn your business by providing the type of camera system you desire in your professional photography business.
Sincerely,
John
--
John L. Williams
Hasselblad USA
6450 Industrial Way, Suite 140
Alpharetta GA 30004 USA
> John:
>
> The recent announcement of the H3 and the apparent decision by
> Hasselblad to lock out third party back vendors going forward has
> resulted in me completely re-thinking my business strategy going forward.
>
> I have currently ruled out Hasselblad for any of my needs going
> forward. I was extremely close to ordering either a Hasselblad
> H2/22MP system with 50-110 lens or the H2 with 50-110 lens and Leaf
> Aptus 65/75. I have instead placed an order for the Leaf Aptus 65 and Pentax 645af body with 2 lenses.
>
> It is a real shame that Hasselblad has chosen this direction as most
> of my colleagues are of the same opinion, we aren't willing to drop
> $30K on a closed technology system. While Hasselblad currently has
> the best lens line-up, they are well behind companies like Leaf in
> terms of high ISO performance, upgrade paths and warranty service.
>
> I had hoped to have the option of using Hasselblad lenses and bodies
> but unfortunately that does not appear to be an option going forward.
>
> Regards,
> Duncan Staples
> 314-xxx-xxxx Voice
> 314-xxx-xxxx Mobile
> 314-xxx-xxxx Fax
This whole argument is silly. A company has every right to produce, develop and market whatever product they so chose. It is also "their" risk. Hassy has no obligations to do anything except live with their own decisions. If you don't like their decisions make another decision yourself.
In other words they have the right to be as stupid as they want to be. Lots of people buy MF because they think the mp race is over with it. I think the industry will always find a way to make you buy something new and exciting
gdstaples wrote:
My original email to him:
. I have instead placed an order for the Leaf Aptus 65 and Pentax 645af body with 2 lenses.-
I didn't know that the Pentax 645af could take a digtal back at all. How does that work since none of the Pentax 645 models (645, 645N, 645NII) have interchangable backs?
Gary Whalen wrote:
This whole argument is silly. A company has every right to produce, develop and market whatever product they so chose. It is also "their" risk. Hassy has no obligations to do anything except live with their own decisions. If you don't like their decisions make another decision yourself.
And their customers have every right to express their displeasure with those decisions -- whether they choose to do so publicly or directly to the company. Customers have every right to walk away from a company's products because of these decisions, and to let that company know why.
Lotusm50 wrote:
I didn't know that the Pentax 645af could take a digtal back at all. How does that work since none of the Pentax 645 models (645, 645N, 645NII) have interchangable backs?
Since he says "645AF" it sounds like he means the Mamiya, and just wrote wrong. No Pentax supports any digital back.
Walk away from the big H and buy what? There is no real competition for a digitally integrated medium format system. Sure there are many other cameras that a digital back can be installed upon but no other pure digital medium format cameras.....
ssarchi wrote:
Walk away from the big H and buy what? There is no real competition for a digitally integrated medium format system. Sure there are many other cameras that a digital back can be installed upon but no other pure digital medium format cameras.....
This is the letter I got back from a dealer I wrote a note to.
Dr. Kay:
I can understand that you may feel that Hasselblad is abandoning the H system as an open architecture system, nothing is further from the truth.
Our H1D, H2D, and now the H3D are strictly medium format DSLR products that we will offer. Because our technology of manufacturing the front end (the camera body), we can create a much more powerful digital magazine. Please keep an open mind and look at what we are doing as a whole for high end digital photography.
If you’d like to schedule a demonstration sometime in the future, please feel free to contact me.
Best Regards,
Jeff
gdstaples wrote:
A note from Hasselblad when I informed my rep that I would be purchasing a Leaf back and most likely Contax or Pentax body system. Take it with a grain of salt as I do:
Thank you for taking the time to write this email and letting me know about your decision.
Of course I would like to have been selected as your top choice and am a little disappointed we could not earn your business today.
I would like to address some of your very important points below to let you know you are not "locked" out - even by choosing the Leaf system.
Hasselblad is developing a DSLR solution in an effort to provide the highest image quality only attainable by knowing the technical specifications of each component (lens, body, digital magazine.)
Things like Digital APO - and now Lens Distortion - are technologies we simply do not know about on other digital magazines (similar to a Canon body/lens not optimized for a Nikon sensor.)
So it is with this point in mind that we have developed the H3 - to take the image quality further than we have been able to in the past.
What about other digital magazines? As you know, the Leaf and Phase One digital magazines work extremely well with the Hasselblad H1 and H2 bodies; we are committed to producing the H2 for as long as ANY customer wants to purchase them (and it does not appear that we are stopping anytime soon.)
I hope we have the opportunity in the future to earn your business by providing the type of camera system you desire in your professional photography business.
Sincerely,
John
--
John L. Williams
Hasselblad USA
6450 Industrial Way, Suite 140
Alpharetta GA 30004 USA
My point is that I have put out 35K in the last 6 months on a Hassy H2 system and Leaf digital back. I am a college professor and not rich and I am not a professional photographer. Sure some of my photos have been purchased and even published but I do not make my living this way. I am disappointed that according to the press conference future HC lenses will only be chipped for the H3D system. Sure if Hasselblad wants to develop a parallel closed system, I have no issue but to basically abandon the H1/H2 line is not good practice and I am fairly certain will result in a loss of a number of previously loyal customers. I personally am loosing faith with the rapidity of change and incompatibility issues that Hasselblad is offering. I just hope that you can let the management know that there are a number of unsatisfied customers-- not only me. Mark
Mark, don't spend the money if you don't have it. Don't blame Hassy for that. Hasselblad has every right to establish as much proprietary equipment as they can. You have the right to decide if you can afford it. Enjoy what you have. Don't complain about what you won't have.
My understanding is that Hasselblad plans to release six new digital lenses which are all special-purpose and will only work with the H3D such as the 28 wide angle, a PC lens and super-fast lenses, etc. None of these are backwards compatible with the H1/H2. So it is the end of an era for the H1/H2.
Does anyone know how the back of the H3D is powered if you use it on a view camera? I'm assuming that means you'd be stuck powering it with a firewire cable tethered (drag) since it has no power source of its own.
You invest in a product because you expect to be able to continue to make upgrades as needed. If canon changed their lens mount every time they upgraded their camera or sensor--- what would you think? We had been told that Hassy was going to bring out a product for Shifting and wide angle-- we were not told it would require their digital back and new camera. Again, if they want to develop a closed system fine-- but continue to make lenses that will function on all H1 systems. Gary Whalen wrote:
Mark, don't spend the money if you don't have it. Don't blame Hassy for that. Hasselblad has every right to establish as much proprietary equipment as they can. You have the right to decide if you can afford it. Enjoy what you have. Don't complain about what you won't have.
Gary - the problem I have with Hasselblad is that they are changing mid-stream and leaving many shooters that have purchased many thousands of dollars of their gear stranded.
If they would have said last year that after the H2 there will be no further support for third party backs, many people would not have purchased the H1/H2 and $15K worth of lenses.
Sure you can sell the gear at $.50-$.60 on the dollar but that screws many depreciation schedules up in a rather big way.
I agree they can/should do what they feel is necessary for their company - just be honest and up-front about it from the get-go.
Roland you are heavily invested... in H1-- HC stuff.. what are you going to do.. at least you did not go with the back yet
netexpress wrote:
My understanding is that Hasselblad plans to release six new digital lenses which are all special-purpose and will only work with the H3D such as the 28 wide angle, a PC lens and super-fast lenses, etc. None of these are backwards compatible with the H1/H2. So it is the end of an era for the H1/H2.
Does anyone know how the back of the H3D is powered if you use it on a view camera? I'm assuming that means you'd be stuck powering it with a firewire cable tethered (drag) since it has no power source of its own.
