Fuji yes to Film, No to Xpan : what about the H2

Thinking about Fuji's support for film message http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-

fetch-msg?msg_id=00EwIM&tag= and the reported demise of the Xpan:

 

Fuji's only real camera left is the S3pro - which is no longer competitive with Nikon D200

etc.

 

Fuji's compacts and EVF cameras are competing in a market others are being pushed out

of in startling speed.

 

If Fuji's support of Film message ( which is nice to hear ) - is really a pre-curser to

withdrawal from the digital and camera body markets, what happens to Hasselblad and

their H2 - the only camera Fuji has any responsibility for.

 

How long a manufacturing contract can Hasselbad have left ?

sorry broken link - Fuji thread is here :

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00EwIM

I'd love a genuine Nikon body with the high DR of a fuji sensor.

I can answer the H2 part of this question since I just invested in one.

 

The H2 is a dual platform camera that supports film and digital (the H1 did too but the H2 improves on it). I invested in it with the notion that eventually I will switch to a digital back (when I can afford one) but until then I will shoot with film.

 

dG

All Hasselblad MF cameras can switch to digital, not only the H2, so no worries if you have a complete hasselblad system. The prices of the digital backs will hopefully decrease in the near future.

If you own a Hasselblad 500 series camera, it is digital ready. No need to dump what you have and start all over.

I don't think I will ever sell my 501c - I enjoy it's handling and format too much and expect

to keep film running through it for many years. Maybe even get a digital back for it in a

couple years if price continue to fall. However the H2 does not really appeal to me.

 

So I was hypothesising, in my question, the possibility of the Fuji

made Hasselblad H2 camera and it's Fuji lenses going out of production like all other Fuji

cameras - if Fuji completely withdrew from the manufacturing market in the coming

months.

 

That would leave Hasselblad in one big pickle.

 

Wouldn't it be rather ironic if it lead to resurrection of V development in co-operation with

Zeiss.

With the PMA starting in a month well will know soon. I predict that this will be the last big PMA show. I mean will KM even show up and with Hasselblad not having a Xpan, No Contax, Nikon discontinuing its manual cameras and lenses and only two film cameras and Bronica and other MF outfits cutting back. The hall belongs to a bunch of P&S startups like Samsung, Casio, HP, Sony, Panasonic. Their not old line photography firms. The consolidation of market share is in high speed.

I think all of this is pure too much hype about the film/digital affair. Fuji is in for business, and film is still a big time money earner with few R&D money needed these days. It would be smart to keep thst afloat as long as possible. As far as Xpan or H series goes, its not even anything to do with Fuji. Its Hasselblad. Fuji is smart in not involving themselves. Let Hasselblad worry about how to go about breaking those in the market. As far as digital goes, Fuji is just as much in there as the others. How many of us would want to see Fuji Super-CCD SR series sensor in the DSLR instead of the Sony ...

 

 

 

And Hasselblad is very much in digital as others in any case, especially after their merger with Imacon.

 

Unlike others, I think the KM/Sony move actually is good for that system in the long run, although I would lament much loast of the KM spirit which Sony lacks.

Is anybody really that naive or in deep denial and believes the "V system" is still in production, as opposed to them simply selling down current stock (as Nikon is undoubtedly doing with the F6 despite their claims it is not discontinued)? With tons of near-mint Hasselblad trading at pennies on the dollar compared with new cost, how many people are actually about to buy new V-system kit, especially if they've got to budget for a digital back? Hasselblad (or, the faceless Asian consortium that purchased it)has "bet the farm" as the yanks say, on the H-series, reliquishing control of their destiny to Fuji, who will ruthlessly and instantly abandon it the moment it drops to an undisclosed profit-point. Just as they suddenly withdrew their redoubtable rollfilm rangefinders and will as suddenly withdraw from the film market despite their publicity statement to the contrary, the veracity of which anyone can dismiss immediately by it's echoing of typical erroneous digital-bashing rhetoric.

<p> >>As far as Xpan or H series goes, its not even anything to do with Fuji. Its Hasselblad

</p>

<p>Sorry but Fuji are OEM for the 'Hasselblad' Xpan ( <a href="http://fujifilm.jp/personal/

filmcamera/rangefinder/tx2/"> aka TX-2 </a> ) and the 'Hasselblad' H2 (<a href="http://

fujifilm.jp/personal/filmcamera/mediumformat/gx645af/"> aka GX645AF </a> )

</p>

<p> I doubt that much if any of the intellectual property involved belongs to Hasselblad

Sweden</p>

<p> > I predict that this will be the last big PMA show </p>

 

<p>That would make sense - as the industry shrinks and converges, moving closer to a

consumer orientation - CES and PMA might eventually merge. Leaving Photokina in

September as the main Pro-show</p>

 

<p>PS. I also just read that the pro end of Rollei has broken free. The medium format line

is now trading under it's historical name of Franke & Heidecke

<a href="http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=311113"> see this

BJP article </a></p>

<p> A more cynical view of this move is that Samsung found no value in the MF line, only

wanting to keep the Rollei name, and was otherwise prepared to let the MF line die </p>

 

<p> Someone should write a book, in a few years, once this digital transition is over 'The

Rise, Fall and Rebirth of the Photographic Industry' :-) </p>

Well, the F6 is surely in production. The rest of the film Nikons they are selling the remaining stock which is expected to last until summer (there is no discontinuance of the F6 - nor is there any sense to discontinuing it as very few people have one.)

 

The V system is of course far more useful and economical than the newer H system because of its ready availability. If they indeed discontinue it it's their own economic peril as I can't see any rational reason to pay the asking price for the H system - which is between absurd and astronomical. I can't imagine any normal person actually buying a H system - while many people I know use V stuff.

"I can't imagine any normal person actually buying a H system"

 

Sorry you can't.

 

dG

My understanding is that Hasselblad are shortly going to raise the price of spare H film backs

to USD 2k. This is laughably insane and, I guess, demonstrates Hasselblad's commitment to

film as a viable medium going forward.

The backs are currently priced at $1,000 each and that's nuts! Where did you hear they are raising it to $2,000?

 

dG

It was somebody on the Rob Galbraith medium format forum. I believe it was originally from

his dealer. It could be one of those stories that has little basis in fact but it wouldn't surprise

me if it is true.