Greg Haag Posted March 23, 2019 Share #1 Posted March 23, 2019 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have been shooting with the Hasselblad H system now for over a decade, this has primarily been driven by the fact that when I was young I was fascinated by the brand and had wanted one since my late teens. There really is nothing about what I do that requires this kind of camera, my vocation is developing commercial real estate, my avocation is photography. I take project pictures of developments upon completion and virtually all are printed at 2’x3’ for a gallery in our office, which honestly, my Canon 5dsr does a perfectly acceptable job. I think it has more to do with a fascination for the brand and medium format. That being said, my photography workflow over the years has looked a bit like this. If I was going out to take a project picture, most of the time I would take the Hasselblad, but if it was landscape photography that required a lot of hiking or getting in a creek, almost always some version of a Canon 5d. I have owned the H2D, H4D and the H6D and my experience has been great in many regards, but I would also describe all three cameras as a bit temperamental. It is rare if I shot for a day, that I was not having to either power the camera off, remove the battery or back to reset for one reason or another. This is something, to my knowledge, I have never had to do with my Canon 5dsr, yet I kept buying Hasselblad. I love the camera, how it feels, looking thru the viewfinder, the sound when you click the shutter. However, I think as I have gotten older, reliability and simplicity have become more important to me. I reached the decision about a year ago, that I wanted to consolidate to a single system preferably staying in medium format. In addition to reliability, I wanted something rugged enough for hiking that could take some exposure to moisture. As I began my research, honestly there are lots of great cameras out there, maybe with different nuances that make them better suited for specific purposes but generally lots of great choices. If I am not careful, I get caught up in the forum discussions on how some camera is the panacea of cameras and the kryptonite that is going to put all other competitors out of business. So I tried to set that noise aside, and think about which system best suited my needs. After a great deal of reading and looking, I came to believe the Leica system might be that solution. I must confess that like Hasselblad, I was influenced to some degree by the heritage of the Leica brand. Once the brand decision was made, my next decision was what to buy and where to buy it. After spending some time looking into this, it seemed for me a used S 006 was a good way to enter and test, so I contacted Josh at Leica Miami to purchase my camera. I am now a few weeks into shooting with the S 006, I have the Leica 120mm & 24mm lenses and the rest are my HC lenses. I have found the camera an absolute joy to shoot with, ergonomically it feels great, works flawlessly and I love the image quality. The fact that all this is in what I believe is 6 or 7 year old technology is impressive. Honestly, while I almost certainly will upgrade to a newer system and keep the 006 as a backup, it is not because this camera has me longing for more. My hope in writing this is that it might be helpful to someone else trying to make a similar transition. In no way is my intention to talk badly about Hasselblad or any other camera, these are a highly personal decisions in a field that offers many great choices. Maybe writing this is just my way of saying goodbye to Hasselblad, I just sold my H6D and shipped it out yesterday. 9 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 23, 2019 Posted March 23, 2019 Hi Greg Haag, Take a look here Reflections on my switch from the Hasselblad H system to Leica S 006. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Jeff S Posted March 23, 2019 Share #2 Posted March 23, 2019 Leica Miami and Josh are great resources for the S. Hopefully your S006 has the new sensor replacement, and your S lenses have the new AF parts. These actions should ease some reliability concerns that have been a frequent topic of discussion here. Jeff 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertknappmd Posted March 24, 2019 Share #3 Posted March 24, 2019 Great choice of lenses.. the 24 and 120 are the crown jewels in my opinion.. The 006 is ideal for your architectural work and is very very reliable. When you add another body go for the 007 when the S3 is available. WELCOME! Albert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Haag Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share #4 Posted March 24, 2019 5 hours ago, albertknappmd said: Great choice of lenses.. the 24 and 120 are the crown jewels in my opinion.. The 006 is ideal for your architectural work and is very very reliable. When you add another body go for the 007 when the S3 is available. WELCOME! Albert Thank you for the advice Albert! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsprow Posted April 2, 2019 Share #5 Posted April 2, 2019 (edited) I hate to be a curmudgeon, but I moved from an 006 to an H6D-100c. The Hasselblad has been all over the world many times and the images from it are clearly superior in fine detail, colors out of the box (using Phocus) and three dimensional appearing large prints. Zero problems over many thousands of exposures. Will probably add an S3 when available. Edited April 2, 2019 by fsprow Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Haag Posted April 2, 2019 Author Share #6 Posted April 2, 2019 12 minutes ago, fsprow said: I hate to be a curmudgeon, but I moved from an 006 to an H6D-100c. The Hasselblad has been all over the world many times and the images from it are clearly superior in fine detail, colors out of the box (using Phocus) and three dimensional appearing large prints. Zero problems over many thousands of exposures. Will probably add an S3 when available. I am glad you are enjoying you H6D-100c, its a great camera! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterv Posted April 2, 2019 Share #7 Posted April 2, 2019 Advertisement (gone after registration) 1 hour ago, fsprow said: Will probably add an S3 when available Out of interest, how will you decide which camera to use for which project? How would you characterise the difference between the projects you plan to use the H6D-100c and/or the S3 for? Thanks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsmphoto Posted April 3, 2019 Share #8 Posted April 3, 2019 Funny. Your story is pretty mirrors mine, but I did it about 8 years ago. I shoot architecture. I had the same issues with the H2d-22 through H3dII-39. Though image quality was great. Every shoot meant restarts or disassembly of the camera to keep the shoot going. FW400 connectivity was irksome. I got tired of hoping things would improve. Like you I bought an S2 and used it as a back up and experimental alternative (since I liked my M9 color so much at the time) using H lenses at the start. I never looked back. Moved to 006, now 007 and early on moved to the 24 and the 30-90 - superior lenses to their counterparts in the H system IMHO - especially at the edges/corners. Cameras all operated flawlessly. Can shoot in pouring rain with no worries, Tethered operation with LRCC is pretty much flawless well. Got through the auto focus issue with great support from my dealer/Leica. Awaiting the S3. Good decision. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsprow Posted April 4, 2019 Share #9 Posted April 4, 2019 On 4/2/2019 at 5:10 PM, peterv said: Out of interest, how will you decide which camera to use for which project? How would you characterise the difference between the projects you plan to use the H6D-100c and/or the S3 for? Thanks! I will buy an S3 and compare the images and the RF. I'm very glad Leica is keeping the optical RF which is great in both the Hasselblad and Leica. Not a fan of electronic viewfinders. If I love the S3, will probably buy a few lenses and use mine from the Hasselblad also - relegating the H6D to studio and architectural images. All the best to you. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted April 4, 2019 Share #10 Posted April 4, 2019 21 minutes ago, fsprow said: I will buy an S3 and compare the images and the RF. I'm very glad Leica is keeping the optical RF which is great in both the Hasselblad and Leica. Not a fan of electronic viewfinders. If I love the S3, will probably buy a few lenses and use mine from the Hasselblad also - relegating the H6D to studio and architectural images. All the best to you. Good luck comparing RF mechanisms (as in the M). OVF (optical viewfinder) vs EVF (electronic viewfinder). Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsprow Posted April 4, 2019 Share #11 Posted April 4, 2019 Both the Hasselblad H series and Nikon S series (including the S3) use optical viewfinders, not EVF. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photon42 Posted April 4, 2019 Share #12 Posted April 4, 2019 43 minutes ago, fsprow said: Both the Hasselblad H series and Nikon S series (including the S3) use optical viewfinders, not EVF. Something is wrong in this sentence, I fear. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaubauu2009 Posted April 4, 2019 Share #13 Posted April 4, 2019 I think he meant AF.... not RF... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted April 5, 2019 Share #14 Posted April 5, 2019 5 hours ago, fsprow said: Both the Hasselblad H series and Nikon S series (including the S3) use optical viewfinders, not EVF. I know. You missed the point...they indeed both have optical viewfinders, not rangefinders (RF) as you wrote earlier. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsprow Posted April 5, 2019 Share #15 Posted April 5, 2019 All true. Mea Culpa. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 6, 2019 Share #16 Posted May 6, 2019 I to switched from S007 to H6D100c and have no regrets. The S system is fantastic, I just prefer the H system. I actually posted some S pictures yesterday from my trip to Japan in 2015 shot with the S006........ very nice memory’s neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Haag Posted May 6, 2019 Author Share #17 Posted May 6, 2019 8 hours ago, NW67 said: I to switched from S007 to H6D100c and have no regrets. The S system is fantastic, I just prefer the H system. I actually posted some S pictures yesterday from my trip to Japan in 2015 shot with the S006........ very nice memory’s neil It’s a great camera, was just not the right fit for my needs these days. I think the tank like qualities and larger file (of S3 over S007) size of the S3 will be a better fit for me now. Enjoy the Hasselblad, great camera with a great heritage! Greg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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