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Hasselblad CFV Digital Back User report

Hi , Colin

Your question is very easy to answer .
I would go for the 203FE , because of the built in metering , which is very precise , and because that body can take any V-SYSTEM lens . I have both bodies , the 203FE modified . Just great .
The 503CW's winder is a better and more handsome design , but that would not be a reason for me , not to choose the 203FE .

I will go and give my 203FE a tender loving care right now . . . . . . . . . . .

Now I am back again .

@ Richard

Yes , the price for the CFV goes down , but I can tell you , and I would very much like , that others feel the same , if you only think of what could be the next , better , and might be cheaper product , then you will probably never buy and , most important , never use any of the phantastic digital equipment , available today .
I live today and want to use my gear today . Never mind , if my CFV back will land on the back seat by tomorrow .
In other words:
Its better to be on the sunny side of our world now , than waiting for the best time to jump onto the sunny side .
But still , the future is going to be very interesting .

Best regards to Seattle and you Richard .

Jürgen
 
G'Day Jurgen:

Ah ha ! You have both: you are a lucky man to have such an understanding frau.
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And you are right. Carpe diem - seize the day. I spent $5000 for a Dell laptop some years ago - today, a better one is only $1200. But I used the laptop for almost 5 years !

Cheers, from South Carolina, and Down Under.

Colin
 
Colin , Mate

I have no "understanding FRAU" , but my own purse .
Very good and important for me . High live independance.
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Regards Jürgen
 
I admit to wishing that my fairy godmother would deliver a 203, and the CFV. >

Colin:

I hope you are in good standing with your fairy godmother, very well indeed. I would also like another 203FE, so please keep me in mind, please.

It is my understanding that the 200 series went by the wayside just like the other 500 series models, supply and demand. Lack of demand, too few new equipment buyers! With that in mind, unless there is an impelling reason for Hasselblad to produce a larger sensor back, and have the suppliers produce such a sensor at a price level that the market will readily pay for, it won't happen. Also, the market has moved to the H system and other 645's and they are performing very well meeting the needs of the market place.

mint used 203 is $5,000 (USD) with 80 Lens, and 12 exp back> I have only seen one offered for sale and I think that was advertised this month.

Regards:

Gilbert
 
Hmm, I guess my fairy God Mother was in the room when I bought my 203FE body brand new from a dealer's stock for ... drum roll ... $1,500. : -) And no, I did not have a gun in my hand when I made him the offer.

Back to the question ... depends on the intended use. If forced to choose, I would opt for a 503CW for the flash sync speed of 1/500th ... because flash work is important to me.
 
G'Day Marc:

Where exactly should I go to get my new 203 body for 1500 coconuts?

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Colin


BTW, what exactly did you have in your hand ?
 
A coconut cost's $2. here, so that would be to expensive Colin.

A 203FE for that price is luck. I just kept my eye peeled for a retailer with stuff on the shelf.
I once found an untouched Leica R6.2 for $1,000. sitting on a dealer's shelf.

Helps make up for the other times I've been taken to the cleaners.

BTW, I had a machete in my hand and kept running my thumb over my throat until the dealer got the price right.
 
Colin , Mate

You are sitting on the wrong horse .
They will not take coconuts , but trouser buttons . So be prepared .
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Marc & Jurgen:

All Funny !

Especially the trouser buttons.

Just going out, now, for a little film burning, in Charleston South Carolina, where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers meet to form the Atlantic Ocean...

Colin

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Colin, I lived and worked in South Carolina for years. Charleston is one of my favorite cities ... if the hurricanes haven't ravaged it to much. Excellent food BTW.

Good shooting to you.
 
Colin:

Last month my travel plans changed and I wasn't able to visit Charleston. I had planned to visit on my way to Cape Kennedy. Missing out on seeing Charleston was very disappointing. I hope you can post a photo or two. Have a great afternoon.

Regards:

Gilbert

BTW: I haven't even see a 203 in a store for many years now. If I do perhaps I try Marc's method of haggling.
 
G'Day:

Boo Hoo ! It started to rain about 10 minutes into my expedition. A fine mist with a few bigger drops. Still at it now (3pm). No fun with a tripod etc. and the machinery getting d& (it is humid as always). And a bit dull for the architecture I had in mind.

I used my 'Digiroid' P&S to grab a couple of record shots for the day. Marc, you probably haven't seen the new bridge. To get the scale in your mind, just know that the old bridge tops were not as high as the present roadway.

Anyway, excuse the rain, digigrain, quick crops, and all that - here's a couple of P&S grabs just to make you pine for Charleston a little bit.

Cheers,

Colin

PS. @Marc: My wife and I have had a house in Charleston for about 15 years or so. I'm just about a local. Of course, I'm a TRUE southerner, really. ;-) I change accents at the airport, but have been know to say G'day Y'all when I arrive back home in Australia.



House Window
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Shem Creek
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Typical Charleston Peninsula Street
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Marsh Grass
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Ravenel Bridge Mist and Rain
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I would settle for a 42X42 sensor CFV back with 22 mp and a 1:3X crop factor .
Well, for the same introductory price of the Current CFV.

Those are minimun requirements and max price for MY entry ticket to MF digital.

Jurgen: May your mouth be the one of a prophet.

Best
Eduardo


-------

The price for the CFV back has come down dramatically . (25%) Why ? ? ? Let me speculate .
I see a 22MB CFV BACK coming , might be with a 48x48 sensor , having a resolution (9 to 11 microns) , the CARL ZEISS lenses can still work with No need for extra digital lenses .

Also , such a CFV BACK would have a smaller crop factor .

Regards Jürgen
 
Here the prize doesn't move.
I easily imagine a new back with 22mpix and battery inside of the back and a wider screen.
What else ?
New lens type: CFD, same optical but digital bus that comunicates operture like FE lenses, speed and flash signal (over cost due to electronics: less than 20$). In a new body the 500 D (50 years to pass from C to D !) witch include the same cell as the 203 and mesure directly the Ev and show the Speed and operture in the viewfinder. All this cann be comunicated to à new CFV back for exif informations.

Nothing dramatical for R&D if you compare to what they succed with the 203FE 15 years ago.

About marketing ?
A free convertion of the "FE 203" for a new V back sale:
a better decision-help than the mentioned sale of a 10'000$ back without battery !


If Hasselblad wants to engage me for 10 months, they cann get more idéa for the new "X-panD" witch will ridiculize the Leica M8 success !
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Nice place Clarkie. Nearly good as Aussie places!
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Gentlemen I have read with interest your comments about you shared lust for the 203FE, with which I agree! However, there is one very appealing aspect of the 503CW and 501CM - their innate simplicity - so little to go wrong (but I make no suggestion that the 203 has any reliability issues - just that in so many ways owning a V series camera is a partnership for life, so an incident free life is even better.

Colin asked why Hasselblad did not chose to continue the 203 in preference for the 503 as the "last man standing". I think I know the answer. Yes, the 503 was a better choice than the 501 would have been simply due to its TTL flash and acceptance of a winder. The earlier demise of the 203 is the key to the answer IMHO.

From a product strategy point of view the 203 was logically the first "to go" because Hasselblad had made its move into the "new era" of cameras which was well under way in the 35mm sphere. The new era made features like AF and auto everything a must; it also demanded fully integrated controls operated by small microprocessors that enabled "custom functions and settings" - the H series was born and offered full features like Canon had offered in its top of the line EOS 1, EOS 1n and 1v cameras.

So, think about it - the H1 design, from a product marketing strategy point of view was making the 203 redundant. Their forecasting must have said that the 203 will have NO market in x period of time.

On the other hand, the 501CM and 503CW (of course while under some threat) were not so threatened. They offered target customer segments the benefits of all mechanical cameras (as well as a way to keep using their Zeiss lenses in the medium term at least).

So the economics (contribution margins and manufacturing costs etc etc) and limited (and probably declining anyway) sales forecasts for the 203 meant it had to be discontinued. The company would have said that the remaining 500 cameras would also get discontinued as sales died a natural death.

But, the product strategy would still have seen the need for the company to continue one last 500 body regardless of economics because of the huge legacy V series customer base.

The final choice between the 501 and 503 were a "no-brainer" - the 503 because it was still a simple camera (as simple as these things can ever be) but has 2 key features that V series system owners would need when they replace or add to their kit.

So, the 503CW lived on. And now Hasselblad's product strategy has identified a need for a "current" digi-back dedicated to it and hence the CFV.

Well being a marketing adviser myself, that is my take on the logic.
 
For Jurgen ...

due to the "digital addiction" I've had to move my family to new quarters, and was quite delighted to have found this country home at a reasonable price. The real estate ad described it as a "Charming Handyman Special" ... come visit won't you? ... our door is always open ... literally : -)

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G'Day:

If anyone else has 'DA' (digital addiction), I have just listed this nice house in the Blue Ridge Mountains of N.Carolina.

Renovator's dream. Fixer Upper. Extensive views from any room in house. Your chance to live in the great outdoors. etc. etc.

Perhaps, Jurgen, this would be a nice place for you when you visit?

Cheers,

Colin

BTW, 50FLE - but it is this delightful house which has (intended) architectural distortion !

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@ Marc and Collin

Thank you both very much for these delightful images .
Both homes are in great state and I love these wonderful images .
If the transport link is good (underground or even airport) , I will be thinking to buy both homes , if Marc would be ready to sell .

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In any case , I am thinking of making a calender with such lovely homes .
If you are ready to coop , that would be fine .

Best regards Jürgen .
 
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