Crave

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."

Hasselblad's H3DII-31 medium-format camera now can be purchased for $17,995 with an 80mm lens.

(Credit: Hasselblad)

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 that makes "medium format" cameras. However, like every camera maker, it's navigating choppy waters during the transition from film to digital photography.

For photography, bigger can be better. The larger film area provided by medium-format cameras can outdo the smaller frame size of 35mm film in detail, and some of those advantages carry over to digital sensors.

But with digital, the math is unforgiving: it's not much more expensive to make a large frame of film, but it's a lot more expensive to make a large digital image sensor. Medium-format digital camera technology from Hasselblad, Mamiya, Phase One, and others are costly, and indeed, even the 35mm format is confined to a small, higher-end segment of the SLR business as camera makers moved to sensors that are roughly two-thirds the size.

The H3D-II uses a sensor that's 44x33mm, significantly larger than the 36x24mm of 35mm film but not as large as the 50-megapixel 48x36mm sensor Kodak builds for Hasselblad's top-end camera.

Canon, the leading seller of 35mm SLRs, has its eye on the medium-format market. Its $8,000 top-end 21-megapixel EOS-1Ds Mark III is specifically geared for studio photographers, for example. Sony has committed to full-frame 35mm digital SLRs, with a 24-megapixel model planned for later this year, and Nikon is rumored to have its own high-resolution full-frame rival in the works. (I should have been clearer that I meant a high-resolution Nikon alternative to the EOS-1Ds Mark III; Nikon has offered a lower-resolution though high-sensitivity full-frame model since introducing the D3 in 2007.)

Hasselblad is aware of the threat: "For a little more than high-end 35mm solutions and much less than many competing medium format solutions, you too can begin using the world's most advanced digital camera system," the company said.

Kodak 50-megapixel CCD

(Credit: Kodak)

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 digital photography,which tends to be used more by commercial and fine art photographers in studio settings. The KAF-50100 is only the latest in Kodak's line of high-resolution medium-format CCDs. For instance, it joins Kodak's 39-megapixel KAF-39000 in the lineup, which now becomes the second highest-resolution sensor for non-scientific imaging. Hasselblad recently announced the H3DII-50, a camera based on the 50-megapixel CCD, in addition to its older 39-megapixel H3DII-39. Professionals fork over upwards of $30,000 for models like these.

To fit more pixels on the same chip, Kodak had to perform some voodoo shrinkage on them; they're 6 microns, compared with 6.8 for the KAF-39000. Kodak claims that the chip has increased data throughput with a maximum of 18MHz per output vs. 24MHz for the 50-megapixel and 39-megapixel CCDs, respectively. Since the newer chip uses a 4-channel output, up from 2, that's an overall bandwidth increase. While the specs on the two cameras show the higher-resolution version to be faster by one measure--1.4 seconds per capture for the H3DII-39 over 1.1 seconds for the H3DII-50--the higher-resolution model has an overall slower capture rate of 33 captures per minute vs. 39. I'd attribute that last slowdown to the larger 50mp files the camera has to process.

Other performance specs seem to take a hit; quantum efficiency (how successful the electrons are at getting where they need to go), blooming protection (how well the chip handles the electron overflow caused by bright light) and dynamic range seem to drop as well, despite Kodak's claim that "key performance parameters" are retained compared to the current 6.8-micron designs. The company also says the new chip consumes less power, but there are no specs to judge by. (Check out the specs yourself.)

Kodak's comment:

While there are changes in other specifications for this device compared to the current sensor, our customers have indicated that these are minor and will not significantly impact overall camera performance in these markets. For example, while blooming protection is indeed slightly lower for the new device, it is still well above the level of protection needed for this application. And while dynamic range is also a little lower, it is still above 70 dB, which is a critical threshold for this market.

That sounds reasonable to me. Really, though, it does take some magic to cram that many more pixels in a small space without losing anything. We'd look forward to seeing what Kodak pulls out of this hat, but we probably won't be lucky enough to get our hands on the camera. Do you want us to try?

Hasselblad's now-discontinued H2 medium-format camera.

(Credit: Hasselblad)

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 line required for its production."

"Medium-format" historically referred to film sizes that are bigger than that of 35mm SLRs; bigger film means higher quality in theory. Although it's technologically harder to make larger image sensors than larger film, the bigger-is-better philosophy has carried over into the digital era.

And as with SLRs, medium-format cameras typically have interchangeable lenses. But unlike SLRs, medium-format film cameras commonly have interchangeable backs, alllowing different film holders or different image sensors to be attached to a film body. Hasselblad's H2 camera could accept either film or digital backs, but the company is continuing only with a film back version that costs less than the H2, the H2F, it announced Thursday and detailed in the Monday customer announcement.

"We feel an obligation to continue to offer a film camera as long as possible, and the H2F is a good compromise that allows us to continue to offer a film alternative, while directing most of our R&D, manufacturing and support efforts to the digital products that photographers tell us they want," Hasselblad said. H1 and H2 support will continue for 10 years from the date of purchase, the company added.

Scrapping the H2 with its digital-back option will let Hasselblad concentrate its resources specifically on the H3D-II, which is available only with a built-in sensor. Its integrated design, rather than the earlier, more modular approach, is the wave of the future, Poulsen said, citing the success of SLR makers Nikon and Canon and moves toward integration by other medium-format manufacturers Sinar, Leaf and Mamiya.

Better photo quality is the reason for an integrated design, Poulsen said. "The best way to do this, as we have stated for years, is in an integrated system where all of the components, from the lens to the capture unit to the software, are designed as a system and are communicating and working together," Poulsen said.

Hasselblad's H3D, an integrated digital-only design.

(Credit: Hasselblad)

Canon is among those trying to carve out a bit of Hasselblad's business. It's pitching its 21-megapixel EOS-1Ds Mark III, due to ship in November, at the studio photography users who today are one of the key medium-format customer segments. And Canon's sales pitch has got to have some shooters listening if for no other reason than price.

Canon said its 1Ds Mark III cameras will cost about $8,000. A Hasselblad H2 costs about the same--but adding a Hasselblad digital back adds $28,000 to $38,000 to the price, depending on the model. For the H3D-II line, a 39-megapixel model costs $34,000, a 31-megapixel model $27,000 and a 22-megapixel model $25,000.

The 1Ds Mark III has an image sensor the size of a full frame of 35mm film--36x24mm. That's half the size of a 48x36mm Hasselblad H3D sensor; larger sensors permit pixels to be more sensitive or more numerous. Most digital SLRs come with a smaller sensor, but Canon's main rival, Nikon, just announced its first full-frame SLR, the $5,000 D3, with more to come. So there could be more medium-format competition in the studio market from the traditional full-frame SLR crowd.

Hasselblad H3D II

(Credit: electronista.com)

I usually prefer to get my news from the horse's mouth, but as I'm having trouble tracking down the stable that issued the press release about Hasselblad's new H3D II I'll have to echoblog letsgodigital.org, which seems to have reproduced the press release in total.

According to the site, Hasselblad just announced its update to the H3D series of medium-format digital SLR systems. Like the older series, the H3D II offers three backs with 48x36mm sensors in 39-, 31-, and 22-megapixel resolutions. As far as I can tell, new features include a 3-inch LCD and some updated controls and navigation; improved heat dissipation on the sensors for better signal-to-noise response; better raw-processing algorithms in the software; and a GPS to record location data, which can be automatically uploaded to Google Earth via the raw-processing application.

Hasselblad H3D II

(Credit: electronista.com)

In case you're thinking about kitting out a new studio, Electronista.com has done the pricing math for conversion from euros: from $24,816 for the H3D-22II to $36,739 for the H3D-39II. In theory, they're available in Europe starting today.

(Credit: Hasselblad)

So you think you've got megapixels? Try one of Hasselblad's cameras on for size. A year after releasing the world's first 39-megapixel camera, Hasselblad has introduced a "more affordable" model at 31 megapixels and a shooting rate of 1.2 seconds per image, as well as a bevy of other features. But affordability is a relative term: The H3D-31 goes for $24,995, according to Pocket-lint. Which means we may be hanging onto our Kodak Instamatic a bit longer.