Hasselblad H1 vs Contax 645AF? Which one is better?

[lisa_michaelis]

I'm looking to buy a medium format outfit to start a portrait

business. I would like Auto Focus since my contacts dry up and it's

harder for me to manually focus. I want to shoot family portraits,

kids, some fashion and maybe one wedding a month. I've been looking

into the Contax and like it pretty well although the auto focus is

really slow but the image quality is great. I heard of the H1 but it

is considerably more expensive. I'd be willing to invest if it's

that much better but I'd love to hear from someone who has used or

knows of both systems. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.

[ellis_vener_photography]

H1.

[robert miller]

As someone who had to make the same desicion recently I would say the H1 is the better camera but! There are a few things that you need to be careful of with the H1. The camera is totally computerised. this means that you need to have a fully trained H1 service centre near you as the camera is going to need firmware updates. The lenses are not cheap neither are the accessories so the total cost of ownership is higher. Having said that it is still an incredible camera.

[fotografz]

Both have their pros and cons. How you react to them depends

on what is important to you.

 

I tested the H1 against the Contax. The H1 has a faster AF

sensitivity, however the Contax offers faster apertures which aids

in tweaking focus manually.

 

Most everything else, right down to acceptance of digital backs is

fairly equal. I have read that the finish on the Fuji/Hasselblad is

already wearing...not unlike the X-pan. The Contax suffers no

such issue.

 

Then there are the lenses. Both systems offer razor sharp optics,

but I found (and others have also found) that the Zeiss Bokeh is

more pleasing than the Fuji glass...which is the point of having a

f/2 80mm and a f/2.8 140mm IMO. Also, all of the Zeiss lenses

can be used with the Contax 35mm N camera while retaining all

AF and AE functions ( one set of lenses, 2 formats).

 

The clincher for me was that the Contax Kit (body, back, prism

finder and 80/2 can be had in excellent condition for $2,400 or

less. I think they're going for $3,400 new. BTW, Hasselblad V

lenses can be used on the Contax 645 with focus confirmation in

the fiewfinder, but requires stop down metering...something

Hasselblad hasn't yet announced for their own 645 camera.

[jhbeckman]

I would think that the biggest difference is the shutter. The Hasselblad uses a leaf shutter, which means flash synch up to 1/800. The contax uses a focal plane shutter, and its flash synch is 1/125

[danny_liao]

I agree with everyone that recommends the H1 but you are going to pay an

arm, a leg, and a big investment. For what you are doing, you don't need a

"top notch" camera like the H1 or the Contax 645 AFD. You are basically

paying for the name. I'm positive that you and your customers won't be able to

tell the difference between the image quality of the H1, Contax, or Mamiya.

Mamiya 645AFD is the least expensive one out of all three and it's image

quality is as good. You'll save alot of $$$. With the H1 and Contax, lenses

and accessories are expensive. Save the money and buy the Mamiya and

use the money you saved to buy a nice set of strobes for your studio. Also,

for some odd reason the Contax takes awhile to turn on. It almost seems like

it needs to "warm up." AND the AF is slower than the Mamiya. Anyway, that's

my suggestion. Do your own testing and see which one you like.

[marker]

If you read german - Take a look at the latest edition of PhotoMagazin - H1 is the winner of the whole bunch of AF645.

[luciano_capitanio1]

I tryed both of them and the autofocus of H1 is by far better.

The Hasselblad is extremely expensive (but Contax is not cheap at all!!). I'm lucky I don't like autofocus in medium format (for me it's a non sense: especially because the natural conseguence of autofocus is to use zoom lenses. And medium format zoom are too big, heavy and slow...so, much better 35 mm!!): I haven' to choose between so expensive tools.

[mark_werbeloff]

The H1 is the most computerized camera I have ever seen. If you like a lot of controls this is great, but it's not as intuitive to use as the Contax. The Contax has 6 or 7 lenses while the Hasselblad currently has only 3. The contax lenses are cheaper. If Autofocus is your main concern then the H1 is definitely worth taking a look at, but I'd definitely rent it before buying it.

[michael_brandt]

If your shooting portraits and children, I would go for the fasted autofocusing system

there is. Your going to be kicking yourself if you miss that real laugh because your

camera is coughing up a focus.

 

The Contax eats through batteries like crazy and it takes some fidgetting to get that

polaroid back on.

 

If the optics in the Hassy/Fuji are anything like my Fuji GXM lenses, I would totally go

for the H1 (if money is not an issue.) I love my Hassy's...used them as a main camera

for many years, but when I switched to the Fuji, the sharpness of the lens blew me

away. Also the out of focus parts was very pretty too. (Zeiss lovers don't get

offended, I love the glass too.)

 

my advice...wait for the autofocus 8x10.

[albert_yang]

I haven't played with the Contax, but I do love Fuji MF lenses..

 

If AF is what you really really need, then your choices are limited. I would opt however for the leaf shutter, the high flash sync speed will make you happy.

 

Mamiya 6x7 would be the recommendation, but trust me when I say, I understand the dry contacts!!

 

I'd vote H1.

[danny_liao]

I agree with all that recommends the H1. But don't you guys feel that the price

and the camera is overkill for what she is doing? Wedding and portraits use

alot of soft focuse filters and vignetters, if she goes with the H1 for the

sharpness and pays and arm and a leg for it, doesn't the filters and vignetters

defeat the purpose of having that nice sharp lens? And that also goes for the

Contax. I personally believe that they are overpriced due to its name not it's

features. Anyway, I'm still sticking with my recommendation of the Mamiya

645AFD. I think it's fairly cheap in price and it performs extremely well. And

not to also mention that the lenses are sharp and resonably priced.

[steven_blumenkranz]

I had a Contax system. I now have a H1 system. The reason boiled down to

the feel of the camera in use. I found the H1 easier to use despite the menus;

it feels so natural with every control in the right place and an easy to use

viewfinder and focus system. Some of the lenses are heavy but the camera

remains well balanced for handheld use.

 

The one thing I miss on the H1 is a waist level finder. I like shooting from

below eye level. I hope they come out with a WL finder in the near future,

then I'll consider the system near perfect.

 

The Fuji glass is fine.

 

I use a Kodak digital back unless i need wide angle, then the film back with

the 35mm lens gives a greater angle of view than a superwide.

 

Good luck,

 

Steve Blumenkranz