HC 3.2/150N

[NickT]

Please use this thread to post reviews, opinions and images from the HC 3.2/150N

Here is a link to the technical data for the HC 3.2/150N:

http://hasselblad.com/media/6416/hc150n.pdf

[Alastair Bird]

How does one tell the difference between the 'old' 150 and the '150 N'? I'm pretty sure I have the old version - but not certain.

[NickT]

Alastair I'm pretty sure there it does actually say "N" on the new one after "150"

Nick-T

[Alastair Bird]

Alastair I'm pretty sure there it does actually say "N" on the new one after "150"

Nick-T

Ah, well in that case.   

[Alex Maxim]

HC 150 (not N) one of my most used
f/10 - f/8:






150 + 26 mm tube @ f/9:

100% (f/9, ISO50):

[fotografz]

H3D/31 @ ISO800, HC/150 (non-N)

[rem]

Alex is it only on my monitor or are the most 100% crops not sharp? Only the last looks for me to be sharp... lg, rem

[TareqPhoto]

Alex is it only on my monitor or are the most 100% crops not sharp? Only the last two looks for me to be sharp... lg, rem

+1 i agree, it is not that sharp as it should be, is that intentionally or you didn't manage to focus and get sharper shots?

[Alex Maxim]

Alex is it only on my monitor or are the most 100% crops not sharp? Only the last two looks for me to be sharp... lg, rem

+1 i agree, it is not that sharp as it should be, is that intentionally or you didn't manage to focus and get sharper shots?

If I were shooting products they would be all sharp. If you work with models you probably know that they move and breathe all the time and you hand hold the camera if you don't want to slow everybody down and try different angles. So as a result, in 20-30% the focus can be a few mm away from the eye. And the keepers are not based on the focus, unless it's completely off, but on the composition, expression etc.
Another thing you have to constantly struggle with is the autofocus which is often not fast and snappy enough for moving targets.

I'd like to see everybody's 100% crops. Not the sharpest photos, but the actual final picks from real shoots.

Cheers,
Alex

[maubwana]

love this lens, nice and quick for un-structured portraiture

[rem]

Alex it was not a critic, only a question, because it looks not to be in a strong movement. I now about the difficult focus but thats one of the benefits (sometimes). Yes, its sometimes really not easy for the perfect sharpness at the right point, but what is the benefit from a MF system, when the pictures wit a Nikanon are sharper then MF?  The sharpness and resolution was the reason why I bought this spring the Hasselblad system. So, when my camera comes back from sweden from the repair (several weeks now), then I will start with training!;-)

[Alex Maxim]

Rem,
with Nikon, as I remember, I had more images in 100% focus due to the wider dof and faster AF. I wasn't happy with the results for many other reasons, though.

I really hope that Hasselblad update the whole lens line up to match AF speed to 35-90 or faster. 35-90 is fast...

[grandguru]

pictures wit a Nikanon

I prefer 'Cakon'. Any other mythical beasts out there? lets name them all or perhaps that would be going down the LL route.

[Dick Roadnight]

... the autofocus which is often not fast and snappy enough for moving targets.
Alex

Hi, Alex
Auto-focus is as much a feature of the camera as the lens... so what camera do you use?

Do you use a lens shade? ... on the big lenses the lens shade prevents the focus light seeing the whole subject, and this slows the autofocus, (I have only tested this on H4D-60/300mm).

The 150N is very much smaller than the 95mm filter-threaded lenses, but this might still be a problem close up.

[fotografz]

Nice work Alex.

I agree, content rules.  When dealing with real living breathing subjects and shooting fast for just the right expression, composition and/or action pose ... there is most certainly a margin of micro error even when stopped down a bit. The best shot isn't always the best one technically.   

However, a 100% crop from one of these cameras represents one heck of an enlarged image compared to a 35mm DSLR ... viewed at the same relative usage size, even a micro error will look as sharp as a perfectly focused 35mm DSLR image. That's not meant to say that tight focus isn't the objective, but size can mitigate it occasionally if the shot is the best one.

In addition to commercial work, I've supplementally shot weddings for years with one of these cameras (H2D/22 to H3D/31&39 to H3D-II/31&39 ... to my current H4D/40 & my studio rig: H2F/39MS). Fast moving scenarios with people in every shot. Content rules, and usually a less than perfect file still looks great even at 17 X 22 with careful contrast adjustments and sharpening.

Lighing plays a huge roll in the perception of sharpness. Diffused light and muted contrast looks really diffused and muted when enlarged to 100% or more. That's the point ... otherwise every pore, and the hair in that pour shows up ... LOL!  If you shoot a face, you light for the face ... if you enlarge just the eye it may not be perfectly lit ... but if you were shooting the eye only,
you'd light for that only ... That's the fallacy of enlarging some micro portion of a people image.

As far as focusing speed and focusing accuracy ... Hassey has addressed that pretty nicely with the H4D ... for the first time since using these cameras my H4D/40 is getting closer to the 35mm DSLRs when shooting in good to medium ambient light. In one respect, it has become even better thanks to True Focus/Focus Lock.  I can use the center focus point to lock focus at the edge of a frame,  or on a face of a full length model shot and re-compose while keeping the off-center subject in focus ... with a 35mm DSLR, you have to wheel the focus point over to the side ... and it isn't really to the side, since the focus points are grouped around the center not out to the edges. In this type of situation, the center focus point of the H4D is as good or sometimes better than the slower supplementary points on a 35mm DSLR.

Maybe time to upgrade from that H3D-II/39 Alex LOL!

-Marc