When will we see a CFV update?

[zthee]

I'm thinking about getting a CFV-50 this year. But it's getting "old" (Strange, my 203FE still feels fresh. And it's from '96, but something digital is old after 2 years).

Do you think we'll see an update this year, or do we have to wait to Photokina 2014?

Or will there be no more updates? I mean what could they update to? A dream would be 55 x 55 sensor. But that will probably never happen. More mpix? A bump to 80mpix then maybe? Doesn't feel like a big deal to sell more though? I'd love to see one with an internal battery.

 

[blowupster]

Well the 203Fe is allready ...digital as it use ships to communicate between lens- body and back. If you is CFE lens on H body it will recognize the focal !

Yes the battery outside was realy a stupide idea and the buttons are low quality construction. The fact that iso internal fonction of the 203FE need to be desactivate to work with the CFV is realy a poor solution.
Why not a new CFV with
-Wider sensor (more pixels than 60M is not a priority)
-Internal battery
-Better quality of the internal clock
-Better interface (why not the two level button like the E-12 TTC with iso & on/off on the side; much faster than navigate by the menu)
-Better buffer to be able to use motorized 203FE at "full speed" (1.5 shoot /sec) and 4 sec to wait to start the CFV
-Scare sensor or twistable back for vertical shooting.
-Better mecanical interface that works for all V body (SWC 2000F ...and 1600F included !)

Any way I imagine that Hasselblad will not make any more effort for a new CFV as no body or lens production is on the way.
Let see Phase one or Leaf

 

[Swissblad]

I doubt if we will see any changes made to the CFV-50.
What I personally would like is a affordable CFV-22 to CVF-31.
Most of us don't need 50mp, and a back at about 4000.-$ would open the market for a lot of V users.

 

[carlo]

This in an exchange I recently had with Hasselblad Sweden. It is very sobering and interesting. For what its worth, partly because of this reply as well as a talk I had with a Hasselblad rep recently, I have decided to get a CFV-50 before it goes out of production.

to: Hasselblad R&D,

re: CFV-50

I will not get into the many years I've been you loyal customer, how much V Sytem equipment I have, etc., etc. What I would humbly recommend is two things from you:
1. A new, near state of the art resolution LCD.
2. Slim the damn thing by a couple of miserly millimetres so that the PM-90 can be used (portrait mode, understand?)

Thank you for your cooperation,

Carlo Dorigatti Photography
Amsterdam
Netherlands.

P.S. Fire the idiot(s) who came up with the Lunar fiasco. You would have got infinitely more mileage if you had put some of THAT energy into the V Sytem which, despite neglect, is still alive and well.
---------------------------------------
Dear Carlo,

Thank you very much for your mail!

We are of course aware of the two "problems" you mention. This is nothing that "just happened" but is there because of different reasons:

LCD:We have found it to be impossible to buy the display as component unless you are willing to buy a very large volume. Believe me, we have really tried. The current display is the best that we can find with this aspect ratio. Telephone LCD's (wide screen) with high resolution are easier to find but they do not fit the product and would give a smaller image. However, the display-issue is something that we follow very closely.

Size: It wasn't possible to fit the PM/PME-90 because the electronics inside is "too big". We use the same electronics as we use in the H4D cameras and to re-design just to make it smaller is very costly. However, if we get a chance to do that we will of course consider the PM/PME 90. We do understand that the portrait format is important.

It is quite interesting to see that the sales of the CFV has gone up the last year. Unfortunately we can spend very little resources to market that but photographers seem to realise it is there and that it is very good. A cool thing we often hear is that they have never really seen how good the old V system camera actually was until they use the CFV.

Being an "old guy" in the company (31 years) I would love to be able to do more for the V system but the main problem is that Zeiss since a number of years ago have stopped making lenses. To sell a camera without lenses is difficult!

I appreciate your comments and if you have any more, please let me know!

Vänliga hälsningar / Best regards

 

[Douglas Fairbank]

What an interesting and honest reply you have had. There is no doubt that the CFV backs show off the capabilities of the V system and I am always being asked to help people find a good used CFV back, I wish I could help them more. New backs always seem to be on back order. It is a great worry that getting 'new' lenses is a problem and it is my belief that good examples of Hasselblad V system equipment may be appreciating in value as X Pan cameras have been for some years now.
I have witnessed the rush to get the staggering image quality that medium format digital has given the photographic world and during that time most film cameras have been forgotten but remember that the Hasselblad H cameras started life as film cameras but were perfectly suited to digital.
We cannot be surprised that manufacturers must follow the market, but what is special about the Hasselblad V system and a few other cameras is that it offers the best of film and manual control digital photography. Could there be a resurgence of demand for the V system? Let's hope so!

 

[Swissblad]

I am stunned by such an honest and candid reply - bravo.

I agree with Doulas, we may be seeing an appreciation in V gear - it simply is just that good.

 

[blowupster]

Well most of cash should have been made with digital back and bodies as lenses are made by external company Zeiss.

The first lenses were made by …Kodak then Zeiss took the lead. However there are some Scneider lens (zoom) and Rodenstock lens, Fujifilm (xpan) and even Kryocera (FE-60-120mm Zoom). Rolleiflex used several different lenses made by Zeiss or Schneider. Interesting to have choise for the Planar 80mm/2.8 or Schneider 80mm/2.0 with central shutter.

Hasselblad V could „begin“ to sell only few new lenses like Leica S line that are made by other than Zeiss keeping in mind that there are tone of second hand compatible lenses on second hand. A new D 60mm/2.8 for the begining!
This situation may be interesting for Hasselblad: to begin a new line for the pro photographer bag, you buy a new digital back and spare with old body and lenses and then you buy new body and lenses after selling pictures.
At the same time you get order to repair or maintain old lenses and camera. Most of cash made by Rolex is made by servicing watches that are 20 years old.

Let’s Hasselblad issue a new body the 500D a mix between a 503CW with sophistication of a 203FE that cann use the old C(FE) lenses with new technology uncluded in the new lenses (like the CFE lenses that cann feed exif for the CF convertor on H body)

A 500D at 7'000$

• mecanicaly assisted: data buses to manage exif,
• help for foccusing confirmation,
• light mettering
• flash contact, flash holder like in the 1600F line
• flash master wifi
• winder included for digital (manual winder for film or C lenses !)
• wifi remote
• delay timmer.

I’m not sure that the use of the actual 2.5x PM viewfinder is a priority, a tweestable sensor or 56x56mm sensor is more helpfull but please the battery inside of the body. The actual screen is poor but good enought for me, the buttons quality and battery holder is a bigger problem.

For the CFV-80 at 10'000$

• 56x56mm sensor,
• Iso and on/off boutton on the side like the (E-12 TTC)
• 2 SD slots
• Exif for the lens and shutter (manualy if not 500D nor D lenses)
• Histogramme view when you zoom in the images.
• Buffer that allows to take 2pictures /sec.
• Usable with all V hasselblad (no need to modify my 1000F and use special wire for 2000F and SWC).