Back on the Horse
After much deliberation, dithering, consideration, and veritable teeth-gnashing for the last few weeks, I took the plunge again and dived head-first into the medium format project. My journey into the world of the Hasselblad H system was cursed from the start. My H5D-40 camera body packed in within two weeks of receiving it, was duly sent back to the retailer MPB Cameras, and a refund was promptly dispatched. I considered replacing it with a slightly better version of the same camera, but began to have doubts when it became apparent that Hasselblad had completely cut off all support for the H system. No repairs, no parts available, and the batteries were becoming rarer and rarer (and £400 each on the second-hand market due to a few absolute pricks buying them all and treating them like Oasis tickets).
Enter the Hasselblad X-system.
The mirrorless, lightweight X series of cameras come in two varieties - the 50 megapixel X1D and successor X1Dii, and its big brother the 100 megapixel X2D. On the used market there is a good range of the X1D model knocking about, and the H lenses can still be used with the utilisation of a Hasselblad lens converter. I didn’t send the lenses back when I sent the faulty body back, so they’re ready to go. The sensor in the camera is used in many of the current “more affordable” medium format cameras produced by Hasselblad, Fuji, and Pentax.
The camera body arrived last week, but supply issues mean that it could be weeks until the converter is available. I have an upcoming job which would have been a great opportunity to get to grips with the camera - shooting the highlights of a luxury house which is being marketed as a film and TV location.
The camera has in-built Wi-Fi, so can be controlled remotely using an iPad and the Hasselblad Phocus Mobile app. There are a selection of dedicated X system lenses available, which are spectacular in terms of quality, but they’ll have to wait until the system has paid for itself many times. There’s a wall of outgoing payments to be made in the next few months - a huge tax payment, and new car lease deposit to name a couple - so it’s going to be all hands on deck for a while.
When I’m up and running, I’ll check back in.
