She’s gone.

I really don’t think I’m supposed to own a Hasselblad H camera given the bad luck that has plagued me recently. Luckily, my new, used H5D-40 was covered by the MPB 14-day returns guarantee, and a lovely, helpful guy called Daniel at the retailer sorted everything out for me using web chat. A full refund will be forthcoming in the next few days. This does leave me with a bit of a decision to make though. I can either buy another H system body (at an even greater cost), or abandon the medium format venture altogether and resell the lenses I have at a considerable loss. There’s nothing wrong with the lenses, so I’m currently leaning towards the purchase of another camera body - this time the H5D-50c with Wi-Fi. This, as previously mentioned, would allow me to operate the camera remotely using the Hasselblad Phocus software and my existing iPad Pro, plus give me the newer CMOS digital sensor which performs really well at higher ISO values. The large sensor is actually two 25-megapixel units stitched together giving the 50MP output.

So why keep going with the medium format project?

Firstly, it’s something I’ve always wanted. In business, it’s important to separate what you want from what you need, and don’t succumb to the temptation of spending on unnecessary things. God knows I’ve been guilty of that in the past, with some awful purchases which seemed like a good idea at the time. I certainly don’t need the camera system, so many will say it’s a waste of money which could be spent on other things - including a family holiday in the summer.

Working in the high-volume, fast-turnover, but ultimately low-paid sector of real estate photography has led me to wanting to move up a few notches so I can spend the remaining years of my career as a guy in demand by high-value, discerning clients. Buying an expensive camera system certainly won’t guarantee better photographs, but it will hopefully force me into moving up a few gears in order to pay for it at least.

So - I’ll give it a few days for my mind to catch up, then make a decision. Watch this space.