Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/01/27

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Subject: [Leica] finally got my R9/DMR back-yesterday
From: afirkin at afirkin.com (afirkin at afirkin.com)
Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2013 17:30:03 -0500
References: <CAA4z8hc0sueMS5Ah9ohMQ+9w+=iyjw3s2JpuiogVBz+=2QrGHA@mail.gmail.com>

I too have the digital back for the 'blad. Its far from perfect, and to be
honest was not as good a solution as the DMR in many ways, but it does
work and work very well. I have not needed to fix it so I don't know about
service etc. The battery is indeed easy to get, but makes the camera a bit
'ugly' and less ergonomic. The Leica battery was kept internal but any
component which MUST die should of course be replaceable if we are serious
bout the planet, which of course I dont think we are :-(

These cameras however were made for film, and I don't see many car owners
expecting their petrol car to run on Hydrogen. It was 'gutsy' of both
firms to try to keep their aging designs in use, but the limitations of
the solutions, the cost of research and development and the cost of
maintaining a small camera base was never going to work.

Alastair

> *Cedric Agie* wrote:
>>As I said before the same story goes for the many Hasselblad owners among
> us.
>>When will we see a decent digital back for our beloved 500 500CM, SWC,
>> ELM
> etc?
>>Without having to sell everything for an even more expensive composite
> body with Fujy lenses?
>>Again it's IMACON who makes the digital backs for Hasselblad. I hope
> newcomers will appear soon.
>>I recently saw a digital back made in China or the US compatible with
> Hasselblad bodies.
>>But it is hard to find and still expensive. Again wait and see,
>> technology
> will improve and prices will go down.
>
> Hasselblad has made dedicated digital backs for the V-system cameras since
> at least 2006 (release of the 503CWD-16), including the the CFV-16, CFV-39
> and the latest CFV-50 (50 megapixel 6x4.5 format sensor).  I own a CFV-16
> v2
> back and it works perfectly with my 501CM, 553EXL, 503CXi and 503CW
> bodies.
> Yes, I wish it was a full frame 6x6cm square sensor.....but the market for
> that is so small, I don't think we will ever see one.
>
> So unlike Leica which dropped the R series all together, I think
> Hasselblad
> deserves some credit for continuing to offer a digital solution for it's
> legacy V-system owners.  I had thought about buying a DMR for my Leica R8,
> but was concerned about even getting usable batteries for the camera.  By
> contrast, my Hasselblad CFV-16 digital back uses a readily available Sony
> battery which is used on many Sony video cameras.
>
> Phase One and Leaf also make digital backs which can be used on the
> Hasselblad
> V-system cameras.  I have a friend who is currently using a Leaf Aptus II
> (22 megapixel, 6x4.5 format) digital back on his 501CM and getting
> beautiful
> results.  16-22 megapixel digital backs from Phase One and Leaf can be
> found on the used market for ~$4,000 now.  My friend paid $4,500 for his
> Leaf Aptus II and it had less than 200 shots on the back.....absolutely
> perfect condition.
>
> Here's shot from my 503CW with the CFV-16II and a 100mm f3.5 CFi lens.
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/bensonga/A0000065+Grafitti+Rocks+XXL.jpg.html
>
> Gary Benson
> Eagle River, Alaska
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>




In reply to: Message from bensonga at gmail.com (Gary Benson) ([Leica] finally got my R9/DMR back-yesterday)