Hasselblad reaffirms commitment to medium format with H6D series, including 100mp, 4K H6D-100c
posted Friday, April 8, 2016 at 2:22 PM EDT
Swedish camera company Hasselblad has announced the H6D range of medium-format cameras in London, which their CEO Perry Oosting says signals Hasselblad's return "to the top of the photography pyramid." Oosting went on to say that the H6D signals Hasselblad's commitment to medium format cameras, a format for which they are most well-known despite forays into APS-C and full-frame sensors in recent years.
The lower-resolution version of the two new models, the H6D-50c, is equipped with a 50 megapixel CMOS sensor. The H6D-100c comes with a 100-megapixel sensor. Both cameras are equipped with a brand new processor, built-in Wi-Fi, dual card slots (SD and CFast), a high-resolution touchscreen display, USB 3.0, and a wider shutter speed range (from 60 minutes to 1/2000s).
Besides a higher-resolution sensor, the H6D-100c also offers ISO speeds up to 12,800 (the 50c tops out at 6,400) and 4K video (the 50c's video is capped at 1080p). Both cameras offer impressive dynamic range, with the 50c providing 14 stops and the 100c's high-res sensor delivering up to 15 stops of dynamic range.
As you might expect, these new cameras are designed for the most demanding professional photographers and are, not surprisingly, quite costly. The H6D-50c retails for $25,995, while the 100MP H6D-100c gets priced at $32,995.
In addition to the two new H6D cameras, Hasselblad has also updated their H lenses with a new shutter unit that is equipped for the H6D's faster 1/2000s shutter speed.
To see how the new H6D cameras perform in real-world situations, check out the videos below from professional photographers Tom Oldham and Karl Taylor, who each put the cameras through their paces.
For additional insight on this announcement, see Jaron Schneider's article about the launch for Resource Magazine here.
In his article, Jaron notes the importance of the H6D for multiple reasons. Firstly, the H6D is not an open system, which means unlike previous Hasselblad cameras, you cannot mix and match the H6D with a different back. Jaron believes that this should benefit photographers in the long run because Phase One and Hasselblad are now competiting with each other more than ever before and competition has the tendency to breed innovation.
Despite both offering 100-megapixel sensors, the H6D-100c and Phase One XF are priced very differently. Coming in at $33,000, nearly $17,000 less than the Phase One XF (which includes a lens), the H6D-100c is the "most affordable, most dominant performing, high-end camera available." This is important not only for photographers looking to buy a medium format camera, but also for renters (the rental market is particularly important for medium format cameras).
Jaron is "pleased beyond measure" with what Hasselblad has done with the new H6D. He believes that it is not only an important step for Hasselblad, but for medium format as a whole. For more of Jaron's thoughts on the H6D, be sure to read his article.
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(Seen via British Journal of Photography with additional information via PetaPixel)