Thanks to its superior image quality, medium-format photography has traditionally been popular among serious enthusiasts, but the increasing dominance of digital media has resulted in many medium-format cameras now lying idle. Of course, this is great news for the committed film user because it means second-hand medium-format kit has never been so affordable, but the financial and creative freedom of digital photography is just too much to give up for many photographers.
Although the current cost of digital medium-format cameras puts them out of reach of most enthusiast photographers, it’s clear that the format has a future and while more models are being introduced, prices have tumbled over the past few years. With this in mind, Damien Demolder, Angela Nicholson and Richard Sibley set out to discover what can be expected from a current model.
Hasselblad cameras have never been cheap, but they are the benchmark by which others are measured, so the company’s latest model, the H4D-40, is the obvious camera to put through its paces.
This isn’t intended to be a full test, but each of us spent a day shooting a different type of subject with the camera, to see how it handles and performs. We were all keen to find out if Hasselblad’s claim that the H4D-40 is as easy to use as a 35mm SLR really is true, and if any of us would be phoning the bank manager to ask for a loan.
