Urghh
Nothing is ever easy.
I bought my medium format system just over 2 weeks ago, and haven’t had any time to really explore its use as I’ve been busy with work on a daily basis. On Thursday, I charged the Li-ion battery grip up, and switched the camera on - only to find the error message above displayed. I never panic when things like this happen, as it’s usually a simple matter that can be resolved easily. The camera manual couldn’t help, so I had a quick internet search for the issue, and was given only one link to an ancient Hasselblad forum which seemed to suggest that the issue was a hardware problem linked to the connection between the digital back and camera body. I cleaned all the electrical contacts, ensured the firmware was up to date, changed memory cards, swapped lenses, and even warmed the gear up a bit. Nothing helped, and the error message prevailed.
The next step was to contact the retailer mpb, who have helped with a similar issue in the past (my trusty Nikon D850 had an issue with an error message which continues to this day on occasion).
Unfortunately, they employ the services of an online AI chatbot to try and discourage the tried and trusted method of speaking to a trained human. I bloody hate all AI chatbots in customer service departments - it’s a ridiculous policy designed to make customers give up on finding answers to any after-sales issues. In this case, after some AI suggestions to do the things I’d already done, I was eventually advised to package the camera up and send it back for investigation. There’s a 6-month warranty on all used equipment, and a 14-day “no quibble” returns period which I’d just missed.
So - off goes the gear on Monday. I bet I can predict the outcome: They’ll test it, find it free of any fault, send it back with some bullshit explanation, and I’ll be thousands of quid lighter - stuck with a lump of metal and lenses that are useless to me. Hopefully, I’m wrong, and it’ll be repaired or replaced with a similar H-series body. I don’t mind upgrading to the H5D-50c for a few hundred quid. That one has Wi-Fi capability so it can be used remotely without cables.
Let’s wait and see.
