Performance and handling
The 31-million-pixel sensor is capable of resolving super-fine detail, while the True Focus system ensures that the precise focus point is maintained even when recomposing
Medium-format cameras are big and heavy, and the H4D-31 is no pocket-sized model. It weighs around 2.3kg with the 80mm lens, which is about 200g heavier than a Nikon D3X with a 24-70mm lens, yet it is surprisingly comfortable to handhold. The grip is exceptionally deep, allowing you to get a really solid hold, and the camera balances well with a decent piece of glass on the front.
The grey plastic finish, however, feels a little cheap – unlike the new stainless-steel edition of the H4D-40. Whereas Pentax’s latest medium-format offering, the 645D, has brought a more consumer DSLR-like layout to the buttons, the buttons on the H4D-31 feel like they have been added almost at random. This is perhaps due to the H4D-31’s progression from earlier models, and the company not wanting to make too many changes for long-time Hasselblad fans, but for a 35mm-style user their positioning seems less than organised. The buttons themselves are also small and rubberised, much like the small buttons on a remote control. The control dials, however, are well placed at your thumb and first finger, to allow quick adjustment of settings.
The menu system is also a little disordered, due to it being divided between a menu within the top-plate LCD and the rear screen on the sensor unit. The latter menu allows adjustment of white balance, ISO and card formatting, while the former menu provides the autofocus, flash, shooting mode and metering settings, among others. One saving grace here is that once your camera has been set up to how you like to shoot, there is little reason to enter the menus in any depth, especially with the aid of the profiles.
While a lack of multi-point AF, tracking modes and the like can make the H4D-31 seem primitive, its focusing is functional and fast. The AF beam for low-light focusing is pretty powerful and had no problem finding pinpoint accuracy in some really dark locations. The True Focus arrangement is certainly very clever and its motion-detection technology has more in common with a Nintendo Wii games controller than a professional camera. It seemed to do the job and, as proof, my images were extremely sharp when using it.
