Currently Have Olympus E-510 is Hasselblad H-Series Worth It?

[Terminator121395]

Hi,

I currently take product photography pictures and I am using an Olympus E-510. The camera works pretty well however when I zoom into the product the images begin to look blurry and not crisp. I have been taking product photos for years and I am thinking about having Adobe Scene 7 or something with a zoom on my site, however it would obviously look horrible if the pictures all looked blurry. So my question is would a Hasselblad H-Series camera do a better job? Which one should I get if that is the case? Would an H1 do a good job and give me those crisp photos? If not what would? I saw on the Hasselblad site the crispness of the lady when you zoom in and that is what I am looking for. Also is there a special lens for product photography? I can take nice pictures I just don't understand a lot of technical mumbo jumbo because I taught myself so try to bear with me. Thank You for all of your help.

 

[cs_foto]

i think you should learn about using what you have in a better way, no offence intended..

basically what you are saying is: currently I play football with cheap $10 shoes, but I can't shoot like Ronaldo or the brazilians, should I get a $300 nike shoe? will it allow me to run and strike as good as the Arsenal players?

again no offence intended.

 

[polypal]

Hello Terminator,

Welcome at the forum!

CS is putting it rather bluntly but I think he has a point.
First try to get the most out of the gear you are using now before you switch to more complicated systems.

As far as I can see you have problems with focusing.
That can have many different causes.

Why not make some test shots with different settings of the distance scale of the lens?
Record the settings and look if there is a constant factor for images that are crisp.

Do you use a good tripod. Good as in absolutely stable?

Just a few factors that have an influence to get sharp images.

Paul

 

[Terminator121395]

Hi Polypal,

Yes the camera is extremely stable and the image looks crisp when not zoomed in (meaning when you look at the image minimized a bit it looks fairly clear but when you begin to zoom in to actual pixel size the image looks fairly blurry). I know my pictures are focused and my camera is stable, (using a Giotto tripod) but it just seems like the actual camera is not capable of giving me the crispness and sharpness that I want. From what I have heard you can zoom into a Hasselblad image and it looks extremely sharp even when zoomed in. I have heard that it is because the camera is medium-format and of course a Hasselblad, you get amazing pictures with sharpness and detail. So pretty much what I am saying is the Olympus has done a good job for the past year or so but I think upgrading would give me better shots, would you agree? (Just to reiterate I am not saying that my image is blurry when zoomed out or even zoomed in a bit, but when you get into the pixel range you begin to see fuzziness and the picture begins to lose it's sharpness). Thanks you for your answer I really appreciate it!

 

[lorenz]

Hi,

the way you describe your problem, you will get it bether with more megapixel and good lenses. of course, hasselblad or any other medium format will give you bether results. but without enough base-knowledge, medium format maybe gives you other difficult points and you pay a lot of money for it. let's say you maybe are an artist, as example. you like to do your personally way of art, you don't care about technical stuff, but much about quality and quantity. So before you pay so much money, ask some professionall to help you find the right equipment and workflow – for your way of working.


regards
lawrence

 

[cs_foto]

Hi Polypal,

Yes the camera is extremely stable and the image looks crisp when not zoomed in (meaning when you look at the image minimized a bit it looks fairly clear but when you begin to zoom in to actual pixel size the image looks fairly blurry). I know my pictures are focused and my camera is stable, (using a Giotto tripod) but it just seems like the actual camera is not capable of giving me the crispness and sharpness that I want. From what I have heard you can zoom into a Hasselblad image and it looks extremely sharp even when zoomed in. I have heard that it is because the camera is medium-format and of course a Hasselblad, you get amazing pictures with sharpness and detail. So pretty much what I am saying is the Olympus has done a good job for the past year or so but I think upgrading would give me better shots, would you agree? (Just to reiterate I am not saying that my image is blurry when zoomed out or even zoomed in a bit, but when you get into the pixel range you begin to see fuzziness and the picture begins to lose it's sharpness). Thanks you for your answer I really appreciate it!

ok, as I have never shot with an olympus camera I am not aware at how sharp it is/isn't.

probably a full frame DSLR like d700 or canon 5dmk2 could be a good upgrade for you at this point... might be worth having a look at those, of course you will need to buy a good specialised macro lens. (60 or 105 mm?)

as well, from my experience you get the extra depth (3d look) with lighting technique and sharpening technique: retouching.... of course more megapixels and a good lens helps a lot...

cheers

 

[polypal]

To start with the last remark from CS_FOTO the "3D look" is untill now reserved for MF.
Of course ligthening has a substantial influence on this pnenomena.

It seems Terminator is ready to take the plunge to go for MF and in this case a Hasselblad H3D.
I can only encourage this but not without a word of warning.
MF digital is not a road without obstacles.
Once these have been solved the results will amaze the user.
Find a knowledgeable dealer who will be able to answer questions and solve problems.
This service has a price but is money well spent.

 

[Terminator121395]

Hi,

I went for it. I bought the Hassleblad H3D-31 at a good deal. I should get it in a few days. Can't wait to try it out. It sounds like there is a lot of understanding and knowledge needed to get the Hassleblad to work at its best. But I am all for it. Thanks for all of your answers. By the way what do you mean by 3-D Effect?

 

[polypal]

Congratulations!
Another new user of the H system, excellent.

3D effect is the suggestion that an image has depth.
Of course images are purely 2D but MF, be it film or digital, gives the impression of depth for certain images.

A trannie of a wood on 35 mm compared with MF on the same type of film will give the impression that the MF allows you to walk into the wood.
The 35 mm one will look very good untill you compare that with the MF.
This simple test convinced me over thirty years ago to buy my first Hasselblad camera.

 

[Paul Claesson HUSA]

Congratulations!
Welcome to the Hasselblad family.

Once you receive it, check the firmware in the body and digital magazine.
Press and hold the Illumination button above the ON/OFF button on the hand grip.

On the top left is the firmware for the body, currently 2.1.0
On the top right is the firmware for the digital magazine, currently R248

The current firmware and software are available at the www.Hasselbladusa.com or www.hasselblad.com (global) website.
Take a moment to register and you will access to the downloads and technical areas.

Paul Claesson
Hasselblad USA

 

[Professional]

Congratulaions!
I am shooting with Canon 5D and 1DsII since 2007, and added 1DsIII in 2008, all my Canon cameras giving me crisp and sharp result at 100%, but even though, i was using Hasselblad not so long time ago [i bought it in Jan2009] and i did a test with 1DsIII and Hasselblad got my winning prize, sharper and crisper, and that with 80/2.8, but i tested Macro lens 120 in the store as well, it blown my 80 out of water, no comparison with Canon, so even my Canon cameras are enough and great but still i love to use Hasselblad now, and i shoot my daughter since Jan 2009 with Hasselblad instead of 1DsIII/1DsII/5D.

 

[lemonlib]

16 bit vs 8 my friend....thus people will talk "what he do to that shot..how he do that?"...they wont be able put thier finger on it..hehehhe...am in the same boat...1dsmk3 collecting dust now..

lemon

 

[fotografz]

The H3D/31 will solve the problem ... which simply sounds like lack of resolution. He is zooming in on the on-screen image which is falling apart.
Terminator is in for a shock when he opens his first shot : -)

The lens to get for table top product is the 120 macro.

 

[polypal]

Just heard the first order from a forum member for a H3D60 Mp is confirmed.
The camera is due for delivery in June.
In the mean time a H3D50 Mp will do.........

 

[HMi]

Hello,

New here and find I did pretty much exactly the same, been using an E-510 and now got myself a D2H-39 with 80/2.8 and 150/3.2 lenses because the deal simply was to good to walk away from..

Having now used it for a little while (just about a 100 real shots), here is the first impression

Positives
- Oh yes, it is sharp
- It does not feel as big and bulky as I was expecting and I can actually handhold it and get sharp images over a wider shutter speed range than I expexted
- The precessability of the image is just great, you can tweak so much and still get a great shot

Negatives
- I shoot untethered an am actally a bit surprised at handling.. Some controls are quite awkward and I find I accidentally change F-stop and shutter speed far too often
- The LCD is not very useful, you cannot really pick out anything except those shots are went terribly wrong
- I have terrible probs with my Photoshop now with the bigger images, on a 32-bit windows machine with 4G of memory, Photoshop freezes so often when doing DNG processing..

Surprises
- I've had it for a couple of week and I'm no better photographer than before

Will I keep it? Most certainly! Will I shoot Oly in the future? Yes, most certainly!

 

[fotografz]

Hello,

New here and find I did pretty much exactly the same, been using an E-510 and now got myself a D2H-39 with 80/2.8 and 150/3.2 lenses because the deal simply was to good to walk away from..

Having now used it for a little while (just about a 100 real shots), here is the first impression

Positives
- Oh yes, it is sharp
- It does not feel as big and bulky as I was expecting and I can actually handhold it and get sharp images over a wider shutter speed range than I expexted
- The processability of the image is just great, you can tweak so much and still get a great shot

Negatives
- I shoot untethered an am actually a bit surprised at handling. Some controls are quite awkward and I find I accidentally change F-stop and shutter speed far too often
- The LCD is not very useful, you cannot really pick out anything except those shots are went terribly wrong
- I have terrible probs with my Photoshop now with the bigger images, on a 32-bit windows machine with 4G of memory, Photoshop freezes so often when doing DNG processing.

Surprises
- I've had it for a couple of week and I'm no better photographer than before

Will I keep it? Most certainly! Will I shoot Oly in the future? Yes, most certainly!

Learn to use the Histogram, and rely on the LCD only for detecting those images that went "terribly wrong". This is true even for the best LCDs ... they lie to you.

Give yourself some time to become familiar with the controls of the H camera. With time you will find the ergonomics quite well thought out. Not sure how you are accidently changing F stops and aperture settings .... the dual wheel system is the same as on most current 35mm type DSLRs, and can be custom programed to meet your needs.

As for Photoshop freezing up on you, do you have a scratch disk dedicated to PS? Have you adequately set the memory allocation in your preferences?

 

[HMi]

Hi,

Thanks for your suggestions!

Learn to use the Histogram, and rely on the LCD only for detecting those images that went "terribly wrong". This is true even for the best LCDs ... they lie to you.

Yes, exposurewise the histogram and in particular overexposure warning work very nicely. I'm mainly missing the capability to detect mildly out-of-focus cases. My current tripod is clearly a bit too light so I seem to get quite a few cases of oof due to camera shake on long exposures even though I use mirror lock-up.

Give yourself some time to become familiar with the controls of the H camera. With time you will find the ergonomics quite well thought out. Not sure how you are accidently changing F stops and aperture settings .... the dual wheel system is the same as on most current 35mm type DSLRs, and can be custom programed to meet your needs.

I'm certainly on a climb up the learning curve on handling. I don't know what I am doing wrong, I just find that if I re-adjust the camera on the tripod, I often seem to accidentally change settings as the wheels seem quite sensitive, especially the wheel under the thumb. I found the settings lock but with my style I change exposure setting so frequently, that locking at least so far has seemed cumbersome.

As for Photoshop freezing up on you, do you have a scratch disk dedicated to PS? Have you adequately set the memory allocation in your preferences?

I do have a separate 10'000 RPM scratch disk with 50G free space on it so I should fine with that. I have 4G of memory and I have also set the memory photoshop takes to max.

The problem I am seeing is that I use FlexColor to import as DNG. When I then open the DNG, do raw processing, open in Photoshop and then do a few basic processing steps such as mild input sharpenign or similar; when I then go on to "Save as", Photoshop just freezes or dies. If I save immediately, it mostly works.

Is someone successfully using CS3 on a 32 bit Vista to do raw processing from DNG without the above issues? Or even better, had the above issue and managed to solve it? I asked over on the Adobe site but have not gotten a solution.

Any help appreciated, Håkan