Hasselblad’s 50 megapixel “full frame”
Hasselblad has announced their 50 megapixel H3D II (see the PDF system sheet). If it works as well as the H3D (see quirks and noise in my review), then I don’t want one. Besides I can’t afford a US$50,000 system (plus lenses and accessories), so I might as well head out to Whole Foods for my dinner of sour grapes.
Anyone who can afford $50K should be looking at PhaseOne and Mamiya and Leaf and Sinar before plunking down that kind of cash. It will be very surprising if other vendors don’t follow suit on resolution. The 50MP back doesn’t ship until 2009 (next year), so take your time while working that 2nd job.
Which brings me to Truth and Lies—for the advanced math experts here (3rd grade or higher), when does 100% equal 75%? (Answer: when marketing bozos get involved). Hasselblad calls the 48 X 36mm sensor “full frame”, but actual 645 film image area is 56 X 42mm, a full 36% larger. I have to scratch my head on that one. Maybe the same folks who sued monitor manufacturers on screen size claims can take up the medium format digital liars.
Were it really full-frame, the photosites would be 7 microns instead of the much more optically-demanding 6 microns. Several years ago, I concluded that the Nikon D2x 5.5-micron photosites were a serious challenge to optics, so 6 microns on medium format is good for serious giggles. Heck, the 21MP Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III has 6.4 micron pixels. Might its per-pixel quality actually be superior to the H3D II? Hence the need for heavy software enhancement aka Hasselblad’s DAC (Digital Auto Correction), a worthwhile trend nonetheless.
More significant than the marginal 50-39 = 11 additional megapixels over the previous offering (a meaningless 1.13X linearly when optical performance is factored in) is the fact that the system capabilities are being fleshed out with the HTS 1.5 tilt/shift adapter and the HVC View Camera Solution. Hasselblad has taken their digital system proprietary; the latter option at least opens things up to usage on a view camera, though not on another camera system, like Mamiya. Nor does it address the discomfiting fact that only a Hasselblad back works on the H3D II (no PhaseOne, etc).
Hasselblad H3D II with HTS 1.5 tilt/shift adapter and lens
