Which is best

[bredd]

I am an all round photographer from studio and flash to landscapes, wide angle and/or long exposure, as well as macro work. Which 4D camera system would best suit my needs?

[Michael H. Cothran]

In all candor, I'd say whichever one you can comfortably afford.
It sounds like you're going to need quite an arsenal of lenses. Be sure to account for their expense as well, just in case your budget has limits. You may have to consider purchasing less pixels in order to afford more lenses. Just depends on the depth of your pockets, and how versatile you want to be. Good luck.

[ghoonk]

Another way to look at it - how long is a long exposure. I moved on from my H4D-31 and upgraded to a H4D-40 as I found myself needing to go past 64s. The H4D-40 also allows me to get usable ISO800 images and ISO1600 is usable if I put in more time in post. I haven't had a chance to shoot with a 50 or a 60 but I would go for them if i needed to maximize wide angles (though it could be argued that the 28HCD would crop on the full frame / 1.1x sensors), resolution and long exposure (256s on the H4D-40) at the expense of cleaner performance at higher ISOs.

[Drchevalier]

Very sound advice so far.  I would toss in for consideration the perspective that if in financial range, the H4D-40 gets you into some serious pixel density and this particular configuration also benefits from the updated firmware that brings many of the features that used to be only available on the back of the H4D-60.  There was no such option for the H4D-31.  Also consider that the although the sensor is substantially smaller, the better 35mm builders are pressing hard on higher megapixel counts without compromising on low noise performance, so the value of a medium format back should give you a significant edge.  The Hasselblad backs do bring a real advantage in bit depth and pixel distribution across the sensor but I also have to agree with another commenter that ISO 1600 is still noisier than I might like. 

If you can rent first, I recommmend that.  It's what I did, trying out the 31, 40 and 50.  I found the H4D-40 for my purposes was the best choice all around.

Best regards,

Ross

[bredd]

Thank you for your invaluable replies.