Whether you are shooting large full length fashion groups or small table top food and products, everything needed is to hand. The editing station uses twin Eizo monitors and proof output from a Canon printer. Lighting is Profoto, from The Pro Centre, London’s main Hasselblad rental and sales specialist.
Ceiling height counts when your lights have been supersized
Evolution: the H4D Report and photographs by Richard Kilpatrick
Operator and camera deals start at £375 with H3D-31 and Macbook Pro aimed at location work, of which £195 is rental of the Hasselblad camera. Even if you can’t justify these figures for your own commercial clients, they provide a useful benchmark for valuing your own services. The studio has already been well received by high-end cli- ents, including Gary Salter who recently used the full facilities to host a creative team for Sony’s Playstation system; the
idea behind the pricing for Has- selblad digital owners is to offer another dimension and space for a new breed of medium-format photographers whilst provid- ing the backup and training to ensure their investment in the system isn’t wasted. Whilst Gary is a well-established photogra- pher, this should give younger (and not so young) newcom- ers to the Hasselblad system without the space or facilities a professional working area whilst they bring their client base up.
A couple of years ago, I re- viewed the H3DII-31 – at the time a new low price point for Hasselblad digital, and recently an unprecedented bargain. Hasselblad’s matched ap- proach to the backs and bodies mean that the upgrade from H3DII to H4D isn’t just about new backs - the new body is part and parcel of it. Prices haven’t changed much since May, with the £11,995 H4D-40 being available for £9,750 ex. VAT if you trade in your old 16-39Mp MFD system (including HxD models). H3DII-50 own- ers are given a better deal with a body/back upgrade to H4D costing from as little as £1,795. The H4D-31 is there as a entry model under £10K, but models from 40 megapixels upwards are worth it if you can afford the outlay.
The H4D’s big benefit is the
clever “True Focus” system, which uses active yaw sens- ing and calculations to adjust the focus after recomposing the shot (it works very well, acquiring focus rapidly with the central single AF point then adjusting focus to match lens
field curvature and angle as you recompose the shot). It also has a new, white-light AF illumina- tor. Other than this the H4D has the same metal body, leaf shut- ter and clever integration that made the Hasselblad H3D feel less like a set of components and more like a single camera. The viewfinder information display has the textual menu system visible when shooting, the top LCD histogram and the combined battery/grip module remain. The H-system also has options like a stylishly inte- grated-looking GPS module for £495, waist-level finder, and the new H-lens tilt-shift adaptor. With new lower prices and upgrade paths the ‘closed’ nature of the system (no ability to use film, or other makes of digital back) seems less of a risk and the deep integration of lens design with Phocus software corrections ensures optimum output quality. Hasselblad’s “Hasselbuddy” scheme, Pro Centre’s plans for operator training and the new studio all begin to form a package, a complete solution, rather than merely providing the technology.
Ì MASTER PHOTOGRAPHY 45
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