H3D II - 31 - photo quality

[dimvast]

I am a new user of the H3DII 31, and shooting with the zoom in my studio with Elinchrom strobes. Although, photos' sharpness is excellent, they are not glossy with crystal view when I see them in Flexcolor and later in PS3. Should I get this glossy appearance in Flexcolor or PS3 or I am doing something wrong during shooting?

I was expecting amazing photos much better than my Canon DSLR

Any advise will be highly appreciated.

Sorry for my English, but I am Greek

 

[polypal]

Welcome at the forum!

This is a question for Marc Williams I think.
If you do not get a reaction please contact Marc in a pm.
I am sure he will be able to help you.

Paul
Moderator MF forum

 

[steve_hendrix]

I am a new user of the H3DII 31, and shooting with the zoom in my studio with Elinchrom strobes. Although, photos' sharpness is excellent, they are not glossy with crystal view when I see them in Flexcolor and later in PS3. Should I get this glossy appearance in Flexcolor or PS3 or I am doing something wrong during shooting?

I was expecting amazing photos much better than my Canon DSLR

Any advise will be highly appreciated.

Sorry for my English, but I am Greek

I think what you are saying is the photos don't have punch, look a little lifeless?

If so, this is not an unusual impression.

Flexcolor is designed to provide a very raw, linear appearance to the files initially. The purpose of Flexcolor's treatment is to allow a very natural and benign starting place for you to customize exactly how you would like your files to look, rather than an "auto" approach where things are decided for you.

There are ample tools for you to customize - curves (including individual color curves), levels, selective (somewhat) color adjustments, saturation, shadow recovery, and sharpening.

Once you play around with the tools and accomplish the appearance you prefer, you can save this as a setup (file>setup) which can be recalled and applied to an individual file or as many files as you would like at one time in a batch.

If you shoot tethered, you can select your custom setup and each file will appear with your custom setup already applied automatically as you shoot.

If you import files from a CF card, you can apply your custom setup on the fly as the files are imported, so they come into the software already looking the way you want.

Flexcolor (and Phocus) is a very customizable program. You're the operator...Once you get the hang of it, you'll see you can accomplish whatever you like.


Steve Hendrix

 

[polypal]

Sorry Steve I knew you would help too if you notice this problem.
Thanks for answering and helping a new user of the H system.

Paul

 

[dimvast]

Thank you all of you. I feel much better now

 

[fotografz]

Download the latest version of Phocus (public Beta version).

It provides a higher resolution preview than Flexcolor to make it easier to evaluate adjustments to your image. You will need to leave Flexcolor on your machine for now, because Phocus needs it for color profiles.

As Steve said, it's important to use set up to zero in on how you want the photos to look ... then save it for future work.

You can also convert the RAW files into DNG file format and use lightroom or Photoshop CS3 to process with.

 

[jotloob]

Today I have installed the public beta version of PHOCUS .
MAX OS X 10.5.2 on G5 POWER PC with 4GB storage . This should be sufficient .

My first impression , it is a combination of LIGHTROOM and FLEXCOLOR .
Well , my first words are , I like the layout , but I find the writing far too small .
Also , PHOCUS is very slow and sometimes ended up in no where land , so that I had to cancel the program .
I like the better resolution to display the images , but when I wanted to use the magnifying option , all I received were funny patterns , changing , and finally ended up in a magnified view , and sometimes not .
Also the color correction function did not always do what I wanted to do .
No problem found in the USM function .
I will do further tests , but my first impression is , there is still a lot to do to make this PHOCUS an adult program .

Jürgen

 

[fotografz]

Today I have installed the public beta version of PHOCUS .
MAX OS X 10.5.2 on G5 POWER PC with 4GB storage . This should be sufficient .

My first impression , it is a combination of LIGHTROOM and FLEXCOLOR .
Well , my first words are , I like the layout , but I find the writing far too small .
Also , PHOCUS is very slow and sometimes ended up in no where land , so that I had to cancel the program .
I like the better resolution to display the images , but when I wanted to use the magnifying option , all I received were funny patterns , changing , and finally ended up in a magnified view , and sometimes not .
Also the color correction function did not always do what I wanted to do .
No problem found in the USM function .
I will do further tests , but my first impression is , there is still a lot to do to make this PHOCUS an adult program .

Jürgen

Jurgen, what computer are you using and what video card do you have? Also, I presume you have Flexcolor still on your machine? ... it has to be there for the profiles, but should NOT be open and running when Phocus is open.

The reason I say this is because I have none of the issues you mention. Phocus is very fast, the mag view works instantly and flawlessly, color control is excellent (love the color wheels), etc..

My only gripe is that the Imacon scanners aren't supported, and it doesn't have Life View up and running yet.

 

[jotloob]

Marc

Its a power mac G5 1,8GHZ dual processor . 4GB RAM
MAC OS X 10.5.2 with ATI RADEON 9600 PRO .
Flexcolor is still installed but not started .

I will do further tests and let you know .
What I found up to now is , that all functions in the ADJUST mode , like WB , EV CORRECTION and others do not react immediately .

Jürgen

 

[fotografz]

Marc

Its a power mac G5 1,8GHZ dual processor . 4GB RAM
MAC OS X 10.5.2 with ATI RADEON 9600 PRO .
Flexcolor is still installed but not started .

I will do further tests and let you know .
What I found up to now is , that all functions in the ADJUST mode , like WB , EV CORRECTION and others do not react immediately .

Jürgen

Maybe something is up then Jurgen?

I'm running it on a Mac Pro 3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon; 10 gig of RAM; ATY, Radeon 1900 ... and nothing is slow in Phocus. It'll be even faster once it comes out of Public Beta and is optimized.

Maybe try a re-install ?

 

[jotloob]

Marc

I have looked up the provisional users manual for PHOCUS .
On page 3 all info for the system requirements can be found .
My MAC does not belong to the favourites and will possibly never do .
I doubt that I can install a graphic card which will meet the requirements .
So , for the moment I will deinstall PHOCUS and wait for the final version and try again.
Thanks for your hint .

Regards . Jürgen

 

[polypal]

Jürgen,

You may as well start saving for a new generation and more powerful computer.
I have a strong feeling this is what is going to happen with Phocus software.

With digital you entered the rat race of more, stronger and faster.
Believe me it will not end not this time and not the next time.
No problem as long as you are having fun and are enjoying yourself.

Paul

 

[jotloob]

The following might be of interest for all MAC G5 users , who want to run
HASSELBLAD PHOCUS .

I received a very interesting hint yesterday .
All MAC G5 (dual or quad core) machines can replace the existing GC by the
ATI RADEON 1900 MAC G5 version .
Phocus will run in "real time mode" with that GC . Also PSCS3 is running faster .
The only disadvantage is , the ATI 1900 will need active cooling , which means an additional fan running in your POWER MAC .
The cost is around 330,00€ when you can install that card yourself .
I will check the details with my MAC dealer on thusday and report the details .

Jürgen

 

[polypal]

Jürgen,


I am looking for my crystal ball so I can tell you what is going to happen next......


Paul

 

[jotloob]

Paul

Very bad news here and your christal ball might be urgently needed.

My MAC G5 is 1/2 year too "old" and will not be able to have the ATI RADEON 1900 MAC G5 installed which requires PCIe slots . My MAC has only PCI-X slots .
I have just reassembled my MAC and I can see HASSELBLADs PHOCUS either coming soon (very big investment needed) or it will not come at all .

So , please have a careful look into your cristal ball and post me your advice .

Refards Jürgen .

 

[vandevantersh]

The following might be of interest for all MAC G5 users , who want to run
HASSELBLAD PHOCUS .

I received a very interesting hint yesterday .
All MAC G5 (dual or quad core) machines can replace the existing GC by the
ATI RADEON 1900 MAC G5 version .
Phocus will run in "real time mode" with that GC . Also PSCS3 is running faster .
The only disadvantage is , the ATI 1900 will need active cooling , which means an additional fan running in your POWER MAC .
The cost is around 330,00€ when you can install that card yourself .
I will check the details with my MAC dealer on thusday and report the details .

Jürgen

Read the user feed back on the 1900 at the Apple web site. The card runs hot and has poor reliability.

 

[polypal]

Hello Jürgen,

Bad news from this end too.

My crystal ball crashed half an hour ago. It says it needs an update.

So even the most reliable simple devices are now subject to this never
satisfied monster called progress.

I wonder what the world is heading for.
Nothing seems to last except of course 120 roll film.
I am glad I have sufficient stock in the refrigerator.


Paul

 

[jotloob]

Yes Paul

I just had a look into my fridge . There are at least 60 rolls of 120 film left in my fridge . Good to know .

There is no solution for my MAC G5 to upgrade to a minimum requirement for PHOCUS to run on my beloved MAC G5 .
5 years old and already an old , old man . "Bloody progress" .

Regards Jürgen

 

[jotloob]

Marc

After a couple of sleepless nights I have come up to a decision .
It will be a MAC PRO 3 with the fastest ever used graphic card in a MAC .
It is the nVIDIA geforce 8800 GT . I will have 4 internal HD drives with 4TB all together . Puuuuuuuuuuh . All together a lot of money .
But I believe , there will be more very "comfortable" programs to come that will make the investment a good decision .

I have carefully checked LIGHTROOM 1.4.1 on my current system , and it already shows signs of weakness . I have checked with the LR 2.0 beta and found it even slower .

I have the impression , that PHOCUS is somehow a coop with LR , as it looks so similar .

I am looking forward to test PHOCUS on my new MAC .

Delivery time is 2 weeks , as it is a built to order MAC .
Do you have any idea , when the first official release of PHOCUS will be available .

Regards Jürgen

 

[fotografz]

Marc

After a couple of sleepless nights I have come up to a decision .
It will be a MAC PRO 3 with the fastest ever used graphic card in a MAC .
It is the nVIDIA geforce 8800 GT . I will have 4 internal HD drives with 4TB all together . Puuuuuuuuuuh . All together a lot of money .
But I believe , there will be more very "comfortable" programs to come that will make the investment a good decision .

I have carefully checked LIGHTROOM 1.4.1 on my current system , and it already shows signs of weakness . I have checked with the LR 2.0 beta and found it even slower .

I have the impression , that PHOCUS is somehow a coop with LR , as it looks so similar .

I am looking forward to test PHOCUS on my new MAC .

Delivery time is 2 weeks , as it is a built to order MAC .
Do you have any idea , when the first official release of PHOCUS will be available .

Regards Jürgen

Congrats Jurgen. That is one mighty machine. Be sure to also load with RAM : -)

I'm going to goose up my Mac Pro with 2 new HDs added @ 500 each (I already have a 4 TB Drobo for storage)

And I'd love to hear your impression of the big Graphic's card. I suspect my 1900 is not giving me the best performance.

Marc