Why No Hasselblad Reviews?

Peter Berressem said:

Jim, I absolutely agree. But this rules for any business / self
employed - you may as well replace 'photographic studios' with
'carpenters' in your post.

Click to expand...

I can buy the "wrong" table saw quite a few times before I've dug a hole as deep as buying the "wrong" medium format digital backi.

--
RDKirk
'TANSTAAFL: The only unbreakable rule in photography.'

better than Toyotas, but I read the Toyota reviews when it is time to buy a new car

RDKirk said:

I can buy the "wrong" table saw quite a few times before I've dug a
hole as deep as buying the "wrong" medium format digital backi.

Click to expand...

Yes but that dosnt change the fact that it is a rule which applies to all businesses.

And just because most of us might not be able to afford or wish to pay that much, dosn't make it any less interesting for other and for some of the ones who can't afford it.

The price of the camera is no more than a small familly car in my country and alot of photography-companies can afford it and would buy such a camera if they saw the need.

Hell a company of three photographers i visited at one point had insane amounts of equipment - Several Hassy's, a few Sinars with digitalbacks, Canon 1Ds Mark II. On top of that they used lighting equipment from Broncolor and they had like 8 or 9 powerpacks - Graphite A4 etc. and insane amounts of heads for them. The powerpack alone in my country costs around 9-10.000$ a piece.
So in that order a 30.000$ camerasystem isn't THAT big of a deal.

Hell' i've owned several companies before(Not potography related) and we have spend huge amounts of money on equipment without it being a big deal. Often it is a neccesity(Spelled wrong i think) to keep the customers or gain new ones.

It also greatly depends on what you shoot ofcourse - Lets say you shoot plain family portraits - That could easily be accomplished with a D70, a few primes and a simple lighting setup of 1-2 heads and a reflector - All to be had for less the price than the D2X body alone, but for some reason i don't see many of these photographers using anything less than a Hassy, a D2X or some high-end model from Canon.

If you on the other hand shoot high-end campaigns for the high.end fashion houses i could very well imagine that some of them almost demands a Hassy to be used.

So even though it's expensive it can have alot of interest to alot of people - Ofcourse not compared to a Canon pocketcam - But a high-end Nikon or Canon dosn't get as much interest as those consumer cams, but that dosn't mean that high-end equipment is less interesting.

And a new Hassy is expensive, no question about it. But it's not THAT expensive. We aren't talking more money than people spend on a car and if you own a company and can earn money with the stuff you by it soon becomes much much less of an issue.

And while you can buy many tablesaws for the same price you cant buy many tablesaws, drills and all the other tools a carpenter uses. They too own equipment for quite a large amount, thats the way it is with most businesses.

In the photographyschool in denmark - Whenever people begin to talk about the cost of starting a photography company and get input from the people who have been in the business for 20 years or maybe more they all more or less agree on that one often should expect to use around 100.000$ to get started - Thats actually an amount we calculate with for most companies(unless we are talking comapnies in need of very expensive machines etc.).

So if you calculate with that price then a 30.000$ Hassy could very well be out into that budget, along with lenses, some lighting, backgrounds etc.

You could compare it to cars - Even though 99% of people can't afford a Ferrari or similar car, a lot more than 1% are interested in reading about them

Exactly!

And just because a Hassy review wouldnt get read by as many as a Canon pocketcam would - That dosn't mean it wouldn't be worth doing. Hell i don't think a D2X review gets read as much as all those pocketcams people are constantly looking to buy.
Making a review of the new Hassy could be interesting in several ways:

1. It could be very interesting for many people who are interested in D2X class equipment and there about to see how a digital MF compares both in quality and in use to a 35mm.

2. It would really confirm dpreview.com as being THE place to come for reviews since nobody else proberbly has that review. Ie. good marketing value.

3. It would give a very nice indication of how the full market looks - We got the low-end pocketcams, high-end DSLR's and some MF to show the top.

But ofcourse it's mainly wishfull thinking and i would never expect Hassy reviews to be a regular part on this website - I perfectly understand that the demand isn't that big. But a single review of maybe the new Hassy i honestly believe could be of interest to many more than we might just think. I think ALOT of people in the forums would read the review even though they can't afford it. So such a review would generate alot of pageviews without a problem and might even draw some people to the page that normally isn't here.

But before somebody say "you have no RIGHT" as we have seen in other posts, just rememeber this is a request not a demand

mlykke said:

Exactly!

And just because a Hassy review wouldnt get read by as many as a
Canon pocketcam would - That dosn't mean it wouldn't be worth
doing.

Click to expand...

Yes, it does. Literal "worth" as in money. There is nothing free about doing a review. Phil must make MONEY from every minute he spends on a review.

That's his income, his mortgage payment. Spending time on a review that he would know wouldn't be read--and wouldn't attract advertising click-throughs-- is NOT "worth doing."

--
RDKirk
'TANSTAAFL: The only unbreakable rule in photography.'

I think I know what post you are refferering to and you sure missed the point by a large step too.

The point was that there were other backs with proven technology that were available for a long time at a cost that's not that much more than the ZD and for some at a time when only the first Canon D1s generation was out. See, not everybody only buys the top of the line backs. It's not because the 39mp are coming out that the other ones that used to be the big guys are for many still extremely good in quality (and better than a 1ds2 - but less flexible) and stay available at lower price and often with a free body and a lens. Now when the ZD comes out and people ASK for a ZD FORUM, it sort of look like this is turning all commercial all of a sudden wich DPreview is not known for. I used words to make sure Phil would read my post and he did, but AGAIN, I sure don't have a problem with backs on DPreview and see some education coming up on those. The more sold, the lower the price (in theory) so I reeeeeeeeeaaaaly don't have a problem as long as it's all done in a fair way for all brands too. Honestly, I read a lot of post on dslrs vs digital backs and bit depth usfullness and it really sound like the older debate of jpg vs RAW. Does not sound pro at all. Eventually that went away too and the number of RAW processors has grow a lot too, obviously making the point on that topic fairly clear too. I would hate seing this kind of debates on a MF back forum. Now I would understand a ZD forum if it was considered only a dslr, but I think it really belong to the backs familly. As far as back forum, I and others have posted on the topic for many years on Dpreview. So in a way, there are already a forum about backs. Just ask the right questions and someone will answer it I'm sure.

mlykke said:

But before somebody say "you have no RIGHT" as we have seen in
other posts, just rememeber this is a request not a demand

Click to expand...

As has been mentioned, a company contemplating that level of purchase would not use this kind of site to make its decision, not even as a critical part of the decision. Nobody can go to the CEO with "I read on a web site that it's pretty good..."

A medium format back would be part of an overall long-term purchase/lease service agreement with a dealership, and the factors of that overall agreement would drive the decision.

--
RDKirk
'TANSTAAFL: The only unbreakable rule in photography.'

If the Hasselblad or the backs quoted have been reviewed somewhere else, please point me to it. That is one site I really want to read.
--
Chris, Broussard, LA

There are some to find on LL (Imacon, Leaf Aptus...)
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/index.shtml
--
Kind regards,
Peter B.
(English - not my native tongue)

Real pro get their own test drive direct from the Hassy rep of their own country.

--
Retired commercial photog - enjoying shooting for myself again.
Hoping to see/shoot as much as I can before the eyes and legs gives way

Well no - Only a VERY few people have gets this opportunity.
Most end up renting one for a few days to test it.

These systems are bought with financing. It's alot like buying a company vehicle. It's really not that big of a deal, if you're a full time working photographer.

Jim Salvas said:

Questioning price can be a very professional approach. The initial
price is $30,000. What's the depreciation rate? What's the expected
return on investment?

If those numbers don't work out, buying it is not a good
professional decision.

Time and again, I've seen good professional photographers dig
themselves into big holes with too much capital investment. Going
the other way and stinting on the proper gear can also be dumb, but
big mistakes are often tied to the biggest price tags.

I've bought a lot of such gear myself. At the bankruptcy auctions
of professional studios.

--
Jim

Click to expand...