Hasselblad

Hasselblad, which so far has survived the culling of the medium-format herd, announced a new high-end camera, the H5D.

Members of the H5D series will come in 40-, 50- and 60-megapixel models, and Hasselblad will show them off next week at the Photokina trade show in Cologne, Germany.

As before, it'll also have a 50-megapixel Multi-Shot version that can take 200-megapixel images of stationary subjects using Hasselblad's sensor-shifting multiple exposure technique. The new line will start shipping in December, the company said.

The new model generally resembles Hasselblad's earlier H4D but adds a number of new features, … Read more

Hasselblad has lowered the price of its high-end medium-format cameras from the upper stratosphere to the lower stratosphere.

The 60-megapixel HD4-60's list price is now $30,995, down $9,000, the company said Friday. And the HDR-200MS, a "multishot" model can combine four 50-megapixel shots into one higher-quality image to compensate for image sensor shortcomings, was cut $8,000 to $35,995.

Lower down the line, but geared and priced for professional photographers, the HD4-31 with a 35-90mm lens is down $3,595 to $15,995.

Hasselblad specializes in medium-format cameras, which in an earlier era meant … Read more

Professional camera manufacturer Hasselblad, a storied company based in Sweden that's wrestling with the transition to digital photography, has been acquired by Ventizz Capital Partners.

Specifically, the medium-format camera maker is now part of the Switzerland- and Germany-based private equity firm's Ventizz Capital Fund IV, the companies said today. The firm will provide new capital for a growth strategy, Ventizz said.

"We are proud to have such an iconic brand in our portfolio and are convinced that with solid financial support and a suitable growth strategy, Ventizz can further strengthen Hasselblad's position as the first-class producer … Read more

The new top-end model from medium-format camera maker Hasselblad is now on the market, and it's not cheap: the 200-megapixel H4D-200MS will set you back 32,000 euros, or about $45,000.

The camera actually uses a sensor with a mere 50 megapixels, but with Hasselblad's multishot technology combines six shots into one. That means moving subjects such as fashion models need not apply. But a lot of this very high-end photography involves static subjects such as jewelry, watches, cars, and paintings for reproduction.

Hasselblad announced the H4D-200MS last September at the Photokina show. At the time, the … Read more

COLOGNE, Germany--For those who find Hasselblad's 60-megapixel H4D-60 camera a little too confining, the company plans to sell a 200-megapixel model in the first quarter of 2011.

The Copenhagen-based medium-format camera maker announced the product today at the Photokina imaging show here. Interestingly, it uses the same camera body as its current H4D-50MS, which will be upgradable, said Peter Stig-Nielsen, director of product development.

However, even in the rarefied air of the medium-format market, where image sensors are very large and very expensive, the 200-megapixel "extended multishot" technology won't appeal to everyone: each shot will take about 30 seconds to capture, restricting the camera to stationary subjects such as cars, watches, and jewelry.

That's because of the design of the Hasselblad multishot-series cameras such as the H4D-50MS. The current model uses tiny piezoelectric motors to shift the sensor a very small amount to combine two shots into one higher-quality image.

"We are now building it into a real product that's going to hit the market in the first quarter of next year," Stig-Nielsen said. "It is going to be an extension of the current H4D-50 multishot."

Most digital cameras capture color with a checkerboard of color filters called a Bayer pattern over image sensor pixels; each pixel captures only red, green, or blue color information. The multishot technology shifts the sensor so the same pixel can capture each of the colors, ridding the camera of the need to mathematically infer the missing values of red, green, and blue. … Read more

Updated 4:22 p.m. Oct. 25 with a link to Reichmann's comparison..

Sure, Canon's $500 14.7-megapixel PowerShot G10 is better than your average compact camera, but is it as good as a $40,000 Hasselblad H2 with a 39-megapixel Phase One P45+ sensor?

Well, yes, with some caveats, concluded high-end photography buff Michael Reichmann, who tested how well people coming to his studio could distinguish between 13x19-inch prints of the same scenes taken with the two cameras. Though it was only one test, and Reichmann qualified it plenty, the result is startling.

"In every case … Read more

Is Hasselblad feeling some pressure from the more plebian realm of 35mm SLR cameras?

That's the thought I had when I got a promotional e-mail from the high-end camera maker offering a 31-megapixel H3D-II and an 80mm lens for $17,995--a lower price, the company is eager to note. The tagline of the promotion: "If you thought you couldn't afford a Hasselblad, think again."

Those of you who aren't photographers for Vogue advertisers or astronauts taking snapshots of the moon might not be familiar with the Hasselblad name, but it's a prestigious brand … Read more

update: 7/10/08: I made some errors in the original post, which I've corrected, plus added Kodak's comment.

You thought Sony's 24-megapixel CMOS was high res? Well, as Kodak's announcement on Tuesday of a 50-megapixel CCD shows, there's always room for more--pixels, that is.

Granted, that's a bit of an apples-to-oranges comparison. Sony's chip is designed for full-frame dSLR cameras, those with a sensor the size of a 35mm film frame (24x36mm), which generally go into pro-level handheld cameras. In contrast, Kodak's KAF-50100 CCD is 49.1x36.8mm, for medium-format … Read more

Hasselblad, a manufacturer of high-end medium-format cameras, is dropping its H2 product line, a move that spotlights the company's transition from film camera roots to its digital future.

The H2 can record images on either film or a digital sensor, but there wasn't sufficient demand for the product, so the company is devoting more resources to its more popular digital-only H3D family, Hasselblad Chief Executive Christian Poulsen said in an announcement to customers Monday.

"We have made a decision to discontinue the H2 camera line," Poulsen said. "Demand simply no longer justifies the dedicated manufacturing … Read more