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[Giorgio]

It's summer time and everybody is busy...

I hope all of you are out there shooting like crazy, I have been.

I have had a chance to shoot the new camera from Hasselblad, the H5D 50c and I really liked it.

I got a hold of it on the morning of a big location shoot and I was a little hesitant to use it live with no idea of how the images would look so I saved it till the end of the day, outside on the beach.

I shot it on a mono pod at 800 ISO both on continuous focus and single. It worked, I shot models walking and running toward the camera. The images were contra jour, and the raws looked a little noisy but Phocus took most of it out. I wish I had more time behind the camera, I wish I could have tested it before the shoot. It's an impressive camera and yes the H5D is better at AF than the H4D IMO. This is not intended as a camera review, but I will post an image just as soon as the story is published.

I also had a chance to shoot the new 645z camera from Pentax in studio at a Ricoh event here in NYC. Obviously I shot under strobe light at base ISO 100 and with window light at 800 ISO. I'll put a link up for you to see full sized DNG's as well.

Personally since I already have an H camera I am not too interested in the P camera system.

I would love to hear what the rest of the group thinks about the new 645z and the images that it is producing?

[Giorgio]

I am going to post images to a gallery because this is a private forum, I am counting on the discretion of our members not to abuse my images. The images are Raw from the Camera and tiff files adjusted for white balance only.

The studio strobe photo is shot at native resolution (ISO100) and the available light photo is shot at ISO 800 (I should have shot 1600 and stopped down the lens).

I cannot post the 50c images (publication) until next week, but the Pentax 645Z images are up.

http://giorgioniro.photoshelter.com/gallery/Camera-Test-Images/G0000zidWKZ6hA0k

If you look, there are a lot of H5D 50c files on the web now, I saw a color checker ISO test that made my jaw drop.

This new camera H5D 50c is capable of clean files at 3200ISO, holy cow!

[Giorgio]

Hasselblad USA announced availability today of the CFV-50c !

http://www.newsmailservice.com/mail.asp?07878760459705329gionir

The announcement of the CFV 50c in Europe started a real firecracker of a thread over on getdpi, surprise, surprise...

I don't know what's coming in September, but I'm sensing a lot of big news.

[NickT]

Looks like a nice offering and a good price point.

I can also let you know that it will have Live View on the back enabled via firmware, probably around Photokina time.

Nick-T

[Giorgio]

Hey Nick,
I have some budget for a new camera this year, and for the first time ever I don't know what I want!
Good problem to have indeed, but waiting for Photokina is killing me!
Ciao,
Giorgio

[Giorgio]

OK,

Photokina is over, more importantly my most busy time of the year is done. I do have plenty of work to keep me busy but the frenetic time is past.

Thinking about the Photokina event in my view, using my perspective is very simplistic. The only hardware that they showed that I would consider is the 645Z from Pentax. IMO I think that any camera body over the $15K price point is just out of the question. Been there, done that (not again).

The H promotion that prices the H5D 40 at $12,995 is a strong consideration. I have used the H4D 40 as well as this new camera and I like the way it works for my subject matter. I don't really ever need to shoot above ISO 800 and I really like the colour produced via this camera sensor. To me it just looks right, very flattering to people and skin tones. This camera has the advantage of fitting right in with my existing camera gear.

The Ricoh/Pentax, 645Z is a very nice camera with a limited lens line up. The 645Z could replace my Canon system making the purchase a trade off, but I have not seen any really flattering people pictures from this camera and other than the one short test that Ricoh arranged for me there seem to be no demos available to test with. The files from the camera seem very robust but would need more PP that I am used to doing.

The Leica S 006, possibly a great camera. It can do a lot of things my canon system does so again I could mitigate the costs of a new body and some lenses. The price is right, Miami Leica has demo cameras available. The one thing I would need is an adapter, but I would maintain full use of my H lenses with full feature implementation. I have tested this set up with my HC 100 and it works well. The files are robust and the colour can be adjusted to please me quite easily. The form factor of the body is really nice, it fits into my hands like it belongs. I also used the standard Leica 70mm lens and really like it.

Surprise, Canon is said to be coming to PhotoPlus Expo at the end of this month with a new high MP body offering north of 40MP and new sensor tech. Who knows, even if it is coming it will not be available until some time in 2015.

Exciting times to be looking for a new camera.

OTOH, I would be fine just staying put. Maybe I'll trade in the SUV for a newer model.

What do you think?

[NickT]

I really like my H4D40 and the files it produces. That said I use it in studio on a heavy stand with mirror lookup. Mostly shooting food often at slow shutter speeds. When I'm out and about I have been using a D800 and just aded a D810. The D810 is very very good and I think with care I could use it as a back up to my H4D40, more testing required for that.

Nick-T

[jerome_m]

Giorgio, from your profile you use an H3DII-31 and and H4D-40. These cameras will give you almost the same low noise as the Pentax 645Z at iso 1600 but there is a trick: you have to use Phocus. Use Phocus and save 10K$... 

[Giorgio]

Hi Jerome,

I presently use an H4D 60 and a Canon system as back up.

The files from the 5DIII are ok but I really like the look of the files from a CCD sensor, that and the fact that the colour from Phocus is amazing make the H cameras hard to beat.

When I look back at my work giorgioniro.com I find that I almost never use the work from my 5DIII in my portfolio.

That said, there are options available to us all today, and I have spent time using quite a few cameras. I really like the Leica S 006, but I know I love the look of the H camera files right out of the camera.

Regarding ISO, IMHO you can't push the H4D 60 past 200 ISO but the H4D 40 does a nice job right up to 800 ISO beyond that I think you need a CMOS sensor camera.

Regarding the dollars and sense issue, none of us would be using these cameras if they were not paying for themselves, these cameras are professional tools and I want to use the tool that I think works best for what I do. I photograph people in studio, and ßon location. Some times the environment that I have to shoot in is harsh, that is just one of the reasons that I am looking at the Leica S 006.

Thanks for your comments, this is a great board I wish more people used it.

[jerome_m]

Regarding ISO, IMHO you can't push the H4D 60 past 200 ISO but the H4D 40 does a nice job right up to 800 ISO beyond that I think you need a CMOS sensor camera.

Nope and that was what I was saying: the cmos sensor cameras are not noticeably better than the H4D-40. The difference is mainly in the processing and if you use Phocus (which has a great noise reduction engine), you will get results at iso 800-1600 on the H4D-40 which are similar to iso 800-1600 on an H5D-50c. Maybe half a stop worse, which is not a big difference.

The 50 and 60 mpix cameras are much worse at high iso, because they lack micro-lenses to ensure compatibility with technical cams.

[Giorgio]

Jerome,

Have you used the H5D 50c?

Did you test it against a H5D 40 side by side?

That is exactly what I did, and the 40 looks good to me up to 800 ISO, the 50c is usable up to 3200 ISO and looks better than the 40 at every ISO above 400.

Who would process FFF files in anything other than Phocus?

[jerome_m]

Have you used the H5D 50c?

Did you test it against a H5D 40 side by side?

No, I have not been able to test the 50c, I have only seen files produced by others.

the 40 looks good to me up to 800 ISO

Yes, this is also my experience.

the 50c is usable up to 3200 ISO

What I have seen produced at 3200 looked horrible to me.

and looks better than the 40 at every ISO above 400.

What I have seen from the 50c indeed looks a bit better than what the 40 produces above 400, but not vastly better.

Who would process FFF files in anything other than Phocus?

Lightroom users.