18/10/07

Hasselblad H3DII-39 DSLR

Hasselblad H3DII-39 DSLR

In response to market demands to continue the development of DSLR technologies for new applications, Hasselblad today announces the H3DII-39MS, a multi-shot version of the recently announced H3DII-39 DSLR that will deliver digital images of the finest quality for architectural and still life photography. Previously available only on Hasselblad multi-shot digital backs, much of the multi-shot technology in the new H3DII-39MS comes from the extremely popular 39 megapixel Hasselblad CF-39MS digital back. Combining the benefits of the CF-39MS’s multi-shot technology with the full functionality and integration of the H3DII-39 DSLR, the H3DII-39MS completely eliminates the need to interpolate images and enables both single- and multi-shot DSLR capability, giving photographers the ultimate in flexibility and moiré-free image quality.

H3DII-39MS users will gain the full benefits of all the key features of the new H3DII DSLR system, providing outstanding pixel resolution, better colors, and improved detail rendering. Such features include a new RAW converter; Ultra-Focus™, which compensates for minute changes in the plane of focus resulting from changes in aperture; and DAC-Digital Auto Correction™, which offers digital APO correction, digital distortion correction, and now anti-vignetting to deliver for the first time full digital lens correction, when used with Hasselblad HC and HCD lenses.

The H3DII-39MS will not be film compatible, but, as with the H3D and H3DII product families, will offer photographers the ability to use the digital magazine, which contains the sensor unit and related technology, on a view camera via an adapter.

Christian Poulsen, CEO of Hasselblad, comments: “For more than fifty years, it has been Hasselblad’s mission to enable photographers to create the finest images possible, and it is clear that today the best way to accomplish this is with an integrated DSLR. An integrated system produces the highest image quality, due to the fact it enables the integration of all key components, including the lenses, within the camera system, and in the H3DII also enables features such as Ultra-Focus and DACDigital Auto Correction, allowing Hasselblad to offer customers full digital lens correction for the first time ever. With the H3DII-39MS, in addition to single-shot technology, we’ve included our multi-shot technology to offer professional photographers of still life and architecture a camera system that gives them image quality equal or in many cases superior to anything they’ve experienced before, as well as the functionality, flexibility and ease of use of a digital system.”

Further acknowledging the specific demands of film photographers, Hasselblad is also announcing the H2F, a simplified, film-only version of the H2 camera, which it is replacing. By removing the highend digital imaging technology found in the H2, which is unnecessary for shooting with the film-only H2F, and therefore simplifying the manufacturing process, Hasselblad is able to offer the H2F at a substantially lower price than the H2. The H2F offers full compatibility with H System HV viewfinders, film magazines, and HC lenses.

It is Hasselblad’s strategy to excel in the high-end segment of the photographic market and offer camera systems that deliver the best image quality and the most flexibility. While the company offers the premier DSLR solution with the H3DII product line and will support the legacy of film photography with the H2F camera, market demand does not justify the cost of maintaining the additional manufacturing line for the dual-platform H2. In keeping with its customer-centric modus operandi, Hasselblad will, however, continue to offer service and support for H1 and H2 owners for a minimum of 7 years from date of purchase. Meanwhile, the H3DII, H3DII-39MS and the H2F are being assembled in Copenhagen, Denmark and Gothenburg, Sweden, on new production lines engineered specifically for their unique designs and assembly requirements.

The H3DII-39MS will be available from January 2008 and the H2F from November 2007 worldwide through Hasselblad’s national subsidiaries and channel partners with a retail price of €33,500 for the H3DII-39MS, and €2,100 for the H2F camera body and €6,460 for the H2F camera kit, excluding tax. An attractive trade-in program has been announced that enables current Hasselblad users, as well as users of third party digital backs, to upgrade to the H3DII system, including the H3DII-39MS.

www.hasselblad.com