Hasselblad's new multi-shot camera captures massive 400-megapixel images

[Shawn Knight]

Anyone knowledgeable in the field of photography will tell you that a digital camera’s overall quality can’t be ascertained solely by looking at its megapixel output. In the case of Hasselblad’s new shooter, however, perhaps a rare exception can be made.

The Hasselblad H6D-400c MS is a medium-format digital camera capable of churning out massive images. It produces 100-megapixel photos with single exposures thanks to its 53.4 x 40mm CMOS sensor although when using the multi-shot (or “pixel shift”) capture feature, images can be recorded at up to 400 megapixels. That's twice as many megapixels as the H4D-200MS released in 2011.

A 3.0-inch touch-enabled display with a resolution of 920K dots assists in framing shots and reviewing images.

As you might expect, the H6D-400c MS can also capture UHD (4K) video using Hasselblad’s proprietary RAW video format and packs other modern amenities like Wi-Fi, HDMI and USB 3.0 Type-C connectivity, dual media card slots and an ISO range of 64 to 12,800.

The dual media card slots shouldn’t be overlooked as the photos this camera is capable of producing are quite large. According to Hasselblad, a 32GB card on average can store just 144 single-shot images.

To get an idea of what the 400-megapixel monster is capable of, head over to Hasselblad’s website and check out some sample photos courtesy of photographer Göran Liljeberg.

A camera of this caliber, unsurprisingly, isn’t cheap. The Hasselblad H6D-400c MS is available to pre-order as of writing for €47,999.00 which works out to nearly $59,000 (day rentals will also be offered starting at €399 per day, or nearly $500). Look for it to ship this March.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/72824-hasselblad-new-multi-shot-camera-captures-massive-400.html

 

[captaincranky]

Don't let Peter Hegre hear about this. He's already @ 10,000 x 6,000 with his "erotic art photos", most of which aren't worth even 2K resolution.

 

[Uncle Al]

Won't be too many weekend snap shooters that will lay out that kind of cash. Come to think if it, a lot of professionals will turn their noses up too ......

 

[captaincranky]

Won't be too many weekend snap shooters that will lay out that kind of cash. Come to think if it, a lot of professionals will turn their noses up too ......

Well, too many people confuse "mega-pixels" with "picture quality". With storage devices now being as large as they are, I guess Hassy couldn't help but release a camera with such an enormous sensor pixel count

That said, I doubt if they're expecting to sell very many of them. It's a flagship model, which may find its way into scientific photography..

Just do some quick math, and try to figure out how long it would take to download your typical 120 shot model portfolio from MetArt, and you'll figure out exactly how useless for even commercial photography, this camera is.

Although Hassleblad is notorious for having some of the best, if not the best, lenses in the world, that amount of sensor resolution might actually surpass them.

 

[yRaz]

Won't be too many weekend snap shooters that will lay out that kind of cash. Come to think if it, a lot of professionals will turn their noses up too ......

Well, too many people confuse "mega-pixels" with "picture quality". With storage devices now being as large as they are, I guess Hassy couldn't help but release a camera with such an enormous sensor pixel count

That said, I doubt if they're expecting to sell very many of them. It's a flagship model, which may find its way into scientific photography..

Just do some quick math, and try to figure out how long it would take to download your typical 120 shot model portfolio from MetArt, and you'll figure out exactly how useless for even commercial photography, this camera is.

Although Hassleblad is notorious for having some of the best, if not the best, lenses in the world, that amount of sensor resolution might actually surpass them.

I am by no means a professional photographer, but I bought a few "old school"a lenses at thrift stores to use WTH my Sony a6000. For the ~$25 I spent on each of them I am more than satisfied with their quality of kit lenses. If I want real lenses that go with my camera they're in the $500-$1000 range for the "prosumer" lenses. I rented a few to try be for I buy kinda thing because, well, that's a large investment. I'll focus manually on the older lenses. Plus, they don't have the fancy coatings new ones gave. I really old the old school look it gives me photos. The lenses certainly have a lot of what id call character. Color profiles and lense flares change drastically depending on the lense. I can see how a professional wouldn't want that but as a hobbiest this makes it fun

 

[Uncle Al]

I am by no means a professional photographer, but I bought a few "old school"a lenses at thrift stores to use WTH my Sony a6000. For the ~$25 I spent on each of them I am more than satisfied with their quality of kit lenses. If I want real lenses that go with my camera they're in the $500-$1000 range for the "prosumer" lenses. I rented a few to try be for I buy kinda thing because, well, that's a large investment. I'll focus manually on the older lenses. Plus, they don't have the fancy coatings new ones gave. I really old the old school look it gives me photos. The lenses certainly have a lot of what id call character. Color profiles and lense flares change drastically depending on the lense. I can see how a professional wouldn't want that but as a hobbiest this makes it fun

I still have and use my Hasselblad 500CM that I purchased over 30 years ago. Have had one of the lenses rebuilt due to a shutter problem, but other than that I continue to use it each month and sometimes each week. With the camera and an assortment of lenses I have about $10,000 invested, which over the 30 years has proven to be quite economical. I still love my film camera's, have a few digital ones too and one 4x5 field camera and an 8x10 field camera. I still love film, printing, and the true "art" of photography. The most fun I think I ever had was taking a number of old view camera lenses, taking them apart and refitting them to make "new" lenses. Some worked great and a few were failures, but the bottom line is, if it's fun, do it!

 

[wiyosaya]

Won't be too many weekend snap shooters that will lay out that kind of cash. Come to think if it, a lot of professionals will turn their noses up too ......

Well, too many people confuse "mega-pixels" with "picture quality". With storage devices now being as large as they are, I guess Hassy couldn't help but release a camera with such an enormous sensor pixel count

That said, I doubt if they're expecting to sell very many of them. It's a flagship model, which may find its way into scientific photography..

Just do some quick math, and try to figure out how long it would take to download your typical 120 shot model portfolio from MetArt, and you'll figure out exactly how useless for even commercial photography, this camera is.

Although Hassleblad is notorious for having some of the best, if not the best, lenses in the world, that amount of sensor resolution might actually surpass them.

Perhaps also covert photography for "intelligence" agencies. Assuming a high-quality lens, the amount of detail that is there could mean being able to zoom in on areas of interest and get usable details.

 

[wiyosaya]

I am by no means a professional photographer, but I bought a few "old school"a lenses at thrift stores to use WTH my Sony a6000. For the ~$25 I spent on each of them I am more than satisfied with their quality of kit lenses. If I want real lenses that go with my camera they're in the $500-$1000 range for the "prosumer" lenses. I rented a few to try be for I buy kinda thing because, well, that's a large investment. I'll focus manually on the older lenses. Plus, they don't have the fancy coatings new ones gave. I really old the old school look it gives me photos. The lenses certainly have a lot of what id call character. Color profiles and lense flares change drastically depending on the lense. I can see how a professional wouldn't want that but as a hobbiest this makes it fun

I still have and use my Hasselblad 500CM that I purchased over 30 years ago. Have had one of the lenses rebuilt due to a shutter problem, but other than that I continue to use it each month and sometimes each week. With the camera and an assortment of lenses I have about $10,000 invested, which over the 30 years has proven to be quite economical. I still love my film camera's, have a few digital ones too and one 4x5 field camera and an 8x10 field camera. I still love film, printing, and the true "art" of photography. The most fun I think I ever had was taking a number of old view camera lenses, taking them apart and refitting them to make "new" lenses. Some worked great and a few were failures, but the bottom line is, if it's fun, do it!

Can you still get plates/film for those field cameras?

 

[captaincranky]

Perhaps also covert photography for "intelligence" agencies. Assuming a high-quality lens, the amount of detail that is there could mean being able to zoom in on areas of interest and get usable details.

Well sure One or more of these will likely make the next interplanetary mission(s), as well. One supposes that NASA could commandeer all the bandwidth necessary to provide a constant stream of the most amazing photos of other worlds imaginable.

As for even the cover of Vogue, this camera is multiple times overkill.

However, I believe Hugh Hefner did use 8" x 10" film for his early Playboy covers.

 

[captaincranky]

Can you still get plates/film for those field cameras?

I haven't checked their catalogs recently, but I think either Adorama" or BHPhotovideo I NYC could probably still hook you up.

Better have stashed some film in the fridge though.

 

[Uncle Al]

Can you still get plates/film for those field cameras?

By "plates" if you mean wet colloid plates, you have to make those yourself. But film for 4x5 and 8x10 is still readily available and surprisingly, the cost has not increased too badly. Mind you, I only work in B&W .....

 

[Uncle Al]

Perhaps also covert photography for "intelligence" agencies. Assuming a high-quality lens, the amount of detail that is there could mean being able to zoom in on areas of interest and get usable details.

LOL .... I saw one of the old satellite cameras many years ago and it was massive. I believe the plaque said it weighed over a ton. The camera's in the SR-71 recorded the images on a thin wire in dots and dashes that were reconstructed into images .... some of the first binary use back in the early 60's .... Zeiss lenses are still superior to most, but the Japanese have come a long way. I once compared my 80mm Zeiss lens to the Yashica Matt G and was shocked to find the japanese lens was crisper edge to edge. Of course, that was the last Yashica that used a glass lens ......

 

[captaincranky]

By "plates" if you mean wet colloid plates, you have to make those yourself. But film for 4x5 and 8x10 is still readily available and surprisingly, the cost has not increased too badly. Mind you, I only work in B&W .....

I took the question to mean "film holders" which shouldn't be that hard to get. Granted I could have misunderstood.

 

[Uncle Al]

I took the question to mean "film holders" which shouldn't be that hard to get. Granted I could have misunderstood.

Film holders are still available both new and used. You can find used on ebay and a few other sites. B&H still sells new and occasionally they have used too. Surprise to me, there is a LOT of view camera equipment at your local pawn shops which is where I managed to swing a deal for an 8x10 enlarger for $150 a few years back .....

 

[wiyosaya]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photographic_plate

These were what I was referring to. AFAIK, if you want to do holography, these are still superior - not that I will be doing holography anytime soon...