Hands-on with the Hasselblad H6D
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Hasselblad claims that its new H6D is a completely new camera and is redesigned 'from the ground up' on a completely different platform. The new platform is one of electronics compared to the mechanical bias of its previous models, and consequently there is a good deal more communication between the back and the body – and the new HC lenses.
The general thrust is one of modernization with a mass of upgraded specification that brings the company’s flagship camera into line with the new Phase One XF body. And now of course there is the 100 million pixel sensor to match. One of the areas in which Hasselblad differentiates itself from its main competitor is in the provision of video – and 4K video at that.
The orange dot on the lens here indicates that it is part of the new HC series. The top shutter speed for the new body is 1/1000 sec, but with the new HC lens range that increases to 1/2000 sec as the sensor and lens work together to cut the exposure time in half. As the shutter is in the lens, users can synchronize flash at all speeds. The lenses have a new shutter mechanism that is able to return to the open position more quickly after closing which helps to enable the shorter exposures. The blades have new coatings to reduce friction to allow a smoother motion, and the durability of the system has been increased to the extent that the company guarantees you’ll get at least a million actuations. Hasselblad has also tripled the duration of the camera’s warranty to 36 months (if you register before September 30th - otherwise it's 24 months).
Other key developments include:
- A choice of 50 and 100 Megapixel backs
- New top shutter speeds
- Much-improved rear screen
- A host of new connection ports
- HD and 4K video
- A new range of HC lenses
There are two different versions of the H6D. The H6D 50c sports a 50MP sensor and retails for $25995. The 100c has, as you probably guessed, a 100MP sensor and has an MSRP of $32995.
Hands-on with the Hasselblad H6D
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The rear screens used on the 50c and 100c backs are a great improvement over those used on the previous models. They are sharp and crisp, and colors seem much more realistic than before. The resolution is 920k dots, but the improvement is as much about contrast and color as it is about the fine detail.
The touch function works very well and offers a great response, and dual touch allows pinch zooming in live view and in review modes.
Live view shooting is also offered, and while at the moment focus is manual-only with the mirror up, we're told that Hasselblad hopes to have introduced touch AF by the time the camera comes to market at the end of the month.
Hands-on with the Hasselblad H6D
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The top plate features a new screen that is a bit bigger than before and which uses slightly larger and clearer icons. The display is slightly sunken into the top plate and sits under glass which makes its low-resolution a little less user-friendly, but it is an improvement on the screen of the H5D. The button layout is almost exactly the same as before, though the orange shutter release of the H6D makes it instantly recognizable.
Hands-on with the Hasselblad H6D
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Hasselblad is quite proud of the fact that the body of the H6D is very much the same as that of the H5D, claiming that the designers got it so right last time that nothing needed to change. The advantage, of course, is that anyone upgrading will be immediately at home with the new body and, in fairness, the H5D is very comfortable to hold and to use. Metering is still in the body though, so when you switch to a waist-level finder you lose metering and the semi-automatic exposure modes.
The in-body shutter and mirror mechanisms are the same as those used in the H5D.
Hands-on with the Hasselblad H6D
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The H6D comes in two options – with the 50MP back as the H6D 50c or with the 100MP back as the H6D 100c. While the obvious difference is the resolution, it is worth noting that the 50MP sensor is 43.8 x 32.9mm and the 100MP model measures 53.4 x 40mm – almost full frame for the 6 x 4.5cm format. Clearly the difference in physical size of the sensors has an impact on the crop-factor of the lens range.
While both sensors offer video recording the 100MP sensor is capable of 4K output and uses the whole sensor area for capture – which should produce some interesting shallow depth-of-field footage. The 50c back records in HD only.
The sensors also differ in their dynamic range, with the newer 100MP sensor offering 15 stops versus the 14 stops of the 50c, as well as an ISO range of 64-12800 against ISO 100-6400.
Hands-on with the Hasselblad H6D
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Below the main output ports compartment is a USB 3.0 port for shooting tethered to a computer. The USB 3.0 socket is Type-C so photographers can connect quickly even in the dark (since the slot is symmetrical), and the data rate of the socket is up to 5x that of FireWire, which previous models used.
The socket can also be used to power the camera, so portable battery packs that offer USB-out sockets can be used to supplement the camera’s own battery.
Hasselblad says that it has dramatically reduced the power consumption of the camera by managing downtime better, and users should expect over 550 shots per battery and less drain when not actually shooting.
Hands-on with the Hasselblad H6D
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The ports compartment offers audio input and output so sound can be recorded via an external microphone (the camera doesn’t have its own) and so audio levels can be monitored through headphones. An HDMI socket is also provided so external field monitors can be used and so video can be streamed to an external recorder. The use of an external monitor is useful when the back is attached to a technical camera. We are told that the labeling in this example doesn’t reflect how the sockets will be marked in the production models.
Hands-on with the Hasselblad H6D
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The H6D offers dual card slots, with Hasselblad choosing the CFast and SD formats. The company says that the SD slot is only suitable for shooting stills, while the potential 400MB/s data rate of the CFast slot makes it ideal for shooting 4K video. As usual, the slots can be assigned to duplicate or divide tasks, so images can be stored to both simultaneously or arranged so that JPEG files go to one and raw files to the other.
Streaming to an external recorder via the HDMI socket will only be necessary if a large amount of storage is required, as the 100c can record raw video in 4K directly to the memory card. It only records in Raw in fact, and users take the footage to the company's Phocus software where it can be converted to the Apple ProRes format.
Considering Hasselblad went to great lengths to emphasize that video is very much a secondary feature of the H6D the company has gone to a great deal of trouble to accommodate it. Of course, the CFast slot allows longer bursts at the maximum 3.2 fps in stills mode too.
Hands-on with the Hasselblad H6D
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The main menu gives users access to all the principle settings of the camera in a clear and icon-centric display. The larger icons at the bottom of the screen switch between stills and video, as well as providing access to the detailed settings, while the smaller icons take us directly to oft-used features and functions. This menu can be customized to suit the photographer’s way of working, favorite features or to the needs of a particular job.
The Hasselbad engineers' debugging 'Develop' tool icon is shown here because the camera is a prototype.
Hands-on with the Hasselblad H6D
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Swiping down from the top of the main menu, iPhone-style, brings us to the main shooting interface. The display shows all the principle modes for normal shooting each of which can be accessed by directly touching the icon. A row of four physical buttons below the screen help navigation and when using the touch screen isn’t practical.
Hands-on with the Hasselblad H6D
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Once an item is selected a rolling tab appears that allows that function to be adjusted. Here the aperture is being controlled, but the main screen also gives us fast access to exposure modes, drive modes, exposure compensation, white balance, ISO and focus modes. When the scrolling tab is in operation selections can be made either by using a finger on the screen or via the thumb wheel on the main grip.
Hands-on with the Hasselblad H6D
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The H6D uses the same Sony sensors that are already in circulation with the Pentax and Phase One cameras – as well as in the H5D 50c. Hasselblad says that although it is using the same sensors as other brands, the 50c and 100c will produce Hasselblad-unique characteristics as it applies its own calibration to the sensors.
While the Phocus software plays a large part in the way raw files appear on the computer screen the camera’s processing will have already applied its own ‘look’ to raw files between them leaving the sensor and being stored on the memory card.
A Hasselblad R&D engineer explained that it has control of fixed pattern noise, how data is dealt with in different temperatures, the way data is dealt with after different exposure durations, tonal gradients and the way color is represented. He said that this allowed Hasselblad to have a significant impact on the look and feel of the image.