STAR Quality

One thing that always amazed me about Hasselblad is the quality of their systems. I know I mention that a lot but bare with me. Having been a photographer for nearly half my life, I have tried out practically every camera system. My first experience with a Hassy system was with my grandfather's 500C. Wow! It definitely set the bar up another notch that all other camera's had to compete against.

With the digital age, I knew Hasselblad would deliver once again and they did. I've used Canon and Nikon and Mamiya systems but there were always some quirks about each system. Canon had some real nice files but their glass was just too soft and their quality control was anything but stellar. Mamiya was nice but something always felt dated to me. I do still have a Nikon setup. Their camera's are workhorses and their low light performance and creative lighting system are killer! One thing I noticed with all digital SLRs is that there is something missing. This could be that the gradation from shadow to highlights may not be as clean, the colors are sometimes less than desirable and sometimes I need more resolution. I wear a lot of hats with my photography. One day I could be shooting a wedding or portrait session while the next could involve me doing fine art work or landscape photography.

So I once again turned to Hasselblad. The primary reason for this was... their quality. STAR Quality to be exact. Every other camera company seemed to have hit up a couple of these areas but none satisfied them all. Well, Hasselblad delivered.

Clarity: This mainly stresses maintaining a clean file at the various ISOs, especially higher ISOs. Noise can pose as an issue and can drastically reduce the image quality. Hasselblad responded and does it right offering amazingly clear and exceptional images across their ISO range.
Detail: A problem with many cameras is the fact that unwanted artifacts occur during the interpolation of the image and affect the overall image. There is also an issue with making square pixels appear smooth and fluid while not affecting other parts of the image. Hasselblad's single shot backs offer superior quality to other cameras. If you have their multi-shot back, then that goes even further to provide detail that is par none at time of capture.
Resolution: Bigger is better. Having a 39mp file at my disposal allows me to wow my portrait clients with fine detail and allows my fine art landscape work to be printed to ridiculously large sizes. Studio and commercial photographers can take even more advantage with this and become more marketable to their clients. Having larger files allows your clients to have more flexibility with the images and allows them to be used for a variety of purposes; From billboards to the web.
Color: Color accuracy is very important to any serious photography. Hasselblad went back to the drawing board and expanded their color space to allow for more colors. That means more accurate skin tones and better gradations.
Sharpness: Being a closed system, Hasselblad can take the reigns and provide an exceptional image from the lens down to the software. Hasselblad knows all the fine details at every part of the system and automatically correct for that so you don't have to. For example, APO chromatic correction (color inaccuracy caused when light passes through a lens at various apertures) is known throughout each lens and aperture. Even minute details such as the glass and IR filter covering the sensor are taken into consideration. They each act as another element of the lens which is accounted for at time of capture for a truly sharp image. Finally, the Phocus software fixes lens distortion, vignetting and chromatic abberation for you on the fly without needing to fidget with any sliders whatsoever. Absolutely unbelievable.