Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/01/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Super duper shot! I got my Zeiss 100mm Planar f3.5 T* Cfi in July of 2002 a year before I got my first digital camera a D100. It seemed obvious to me that if this digital thing hit it would be Hasselblad that would be riding high as all you gotta do is put a digital back on the darned thing and its good to go right? Right for 40 grand. Hasselblad was the first to go. Mine sat for years I did take it out a few times this year and getting going as I get my scanners going again having moved to NY. There is a cornucopia of back options as when a back comes out its usually a "medium format back" and fits most the medium format cameras. They even fit the so called large format cameras and there is a real gray area between it seems medium and large format digital. The "crop factor" a term not used so much in digital medium format with the Hasselblad when I checked once was 1.5x on a common back. A number I'd grown quite familiar with multiplying. Hasselblad stuff got real cheap real fast then and soon after and I got all kinds of dream Hassy goodies on top of glass. Bellows, finders and backs. I got an A16S back for 99 bucks which is 45x45mm and found it a nice thing to use. 16 on a roll my 100 became the 150mm I'd used exclusively for years for portraiture and fashion and it was like a frame line I could work in and out of like I'd gotten used to on my Leica which I started using instead of Nikon since 1993. Gotta love those frame lines! So shooting digital I imagine would be similar to using the super slide back which I just mentioned. And works out great. Though my widest lens is a 50 at this point and I think getting the 40 would be quite an investment on top of the back. On 1/26/13 5:59 PM, "Gary Benson" <bensonga at gmail.com> wrote: > *Cedric Agie* wrote: >> As I said before the same story goes for the many Hasselblad owners among > us. >> When will we see a decent digital back for our beloved 500 500CM, SWC, ELM > etc? >> Without having to sell everything for an even more expensive composite > body with Fujy lenses? >> Again it's IMACON who makes the digital backs for Hasselblad. I hope > newcomers will appear soon. >> I recently saw a digital back made in China or the US compatible with > Hasselblad bodies. >> But it is hard to find and still expensive. Again wait and see, technology > will improve and prices will go down. > > Hasselblad has made dedicated digital backs for the V-system cameras since > at least 2006 (release of the 503CWD-16), including the the CFV-16, CFV-39 > and the latest CFV-50 (50 megapixel 6x4.5 format sensor). I own a CFV-16 > v2 > back and it works perfectly with my 501CM, 553EXL, 503CXi and 503CW bodies. > Yes, I wish it was a full frame 6x6cm square sensor.....but the market for > that is so small, I don't think we will ever see one. > > So unlike Leica which dropped the R series all together, I think Hasselblad > deserves some credit for continuing to offer a digital solution for it's > legacy V-system owners. I had thought about buying a DMR for my Leica R8, > but was concerned about even getting usable batteries for the camera. By > contrast, my Hasselblad CFV-16 digital back uses a readily available Sony > battery which is used on many Sony video cameras. > > Phase One and Leaf also make digital backs which can be used on the > Hasselblad > V-system cameras. I have a friend who is currently using a Leaf Aptus II > (22 megapixel, 6x4.5 format) digital back on his 501CM and getting > beautiful > results. 16-22 megapixel digital backs from Phase One and Leaf can be > found on the used market for ~$4,000 now. My friend paid $4,500 for his > Leaf Aptus II and it had less than 200 shots on the back.....absolutely > perfect condition. > > Here's shot from my 503CW with the CFV-16II and a 100mm f3.5 CFi lens. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/bensonga/A0000065+Grafitti+Rocks+XXL.jpg.html > > Gary Benson > Eagle River, Alaska > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information -- Mark William Rabiner Photography http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/lugalrabs/