[Leica] Hasselblad X1d, Leica SL, Hasselblad H4D/50MP, and not the Fuji GFX 50S

[John McMaster]

S2 came out a few years before the D800 ;-) S lenses are all quite heavy.....

I have probably used most medium format cameras, the only reflex ones I liked were Hasselblad (owned for many years) and RB/RZ in the studio, liked Pentax 67 results but not the camera....

john

-----Original Message-----

I handled an S2 right after they came out.  There was a Nikon D800 also there.
I remember thinking the size and ergonomics of the S2 and the D800 were about equal.  And other than a difference in the weight  ( actual weight difference... D800 is about 1Kgm the S2 is 1.4Kgm.  About a pound different... ), the lens balance was about the same, an important parameter for me.

But the handling of the 2 was pretty much identical.  The H4D was awkwardly
different.  The torque twist on the wrist was genuinely "different".    I
could continue to analyze my reactions, but to be honest, it is not a camera I am interested in.

I have had waist level TLR cameras, and Hasselblad 500 ( which I find work best waist level or tripod mounted), and the Mamiya C330 and  645 with a waist level finder very comfortable.  As soon as I place an eye level oriented grip on them, they too become unwieldy.  But even then the H4d was more awkward.  That hand grip on the side maybe to blame?  The TLR cameras placed the handle beneath the camera, where I could use it comfortably ( being square format, portrait and landscape modes were the same.  You use it vertically all the time).

 I do remember thinking, at the time they were popular,  that all the (film or digi) MF cameras, like the Bronica E2 series, the Mamiya 645 ( now Phase
One) were not my cuppa.  It was an attempt to take a WLF camera, and make it so a 35mm user would find the through the eye level finder similar to the 35mm SLR.  For me, it failed.  The H4d is in that tradition.

It is true, that when it comes to the SL, that big zoom lens up front is unlike any lens I have handled on other MF digi cameras.  And it is probably that lens that makes a bad impression on me ( ergonomic point of view).
Maybe if it had a 50mm ( or pick another FL) lens up front, my reactions would be different....

I get a lot of pleasure trying out new, different cameras.  As you can tell, the X1d positively impressed me.  It was done to my preferences. Would I feel the same if it had a big honking zoom up front?  A question for the next time I visit Samys....

Frank Filippone

Red735i at verizon.net



> First the Hasselblad H4D.... a BEAST!  Heavy, awkward to hold 
> freehand, and back heavy.  If you are insistent on using a mirror box 
> MF digital camera, and want that 35mm overall position of the body
relative to your eye, I guess it fits the bill.

Have you ever held a Leica S series (S2, S2-P, S(006) or S(007))? 

Until the last couple of months there was no option about have a mirror box if you wanted digital MF (other than technical cameras) :-)