Hasselblad H4D-50MS User manual

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Non-compromising details and colors
The multi-shot technology realizes the capture of still life subjects
with all details represented in true detail and color resolution. By
capturing a sequence of 4 shots, each offset by a one pixel incre-
ment, every point on your set is rendered with its true red, green
and blue color components. In this way, true detail and true color
are acquired without interpolation of any kind. For stills photography
it simply does not get better.
When used outdoors or on location, the H4D-50MS can perform
normal single-shot mode photography too.
Ultra-Focus and Digital Auto Correction for image perfection
Using the Ultra-Focus engine of H4D-50MS the full HC/HCD lens
program is further enhanced, bringing a new level of sharpness
Hasselblad has rened the concept of high-end full-frame DSLR
cameras by introducing the H4D-50MS. This model comple-
ments the top end models with multi-shot functionality: the
ultimate choice for still life studio photography. Moiré free
images that exhibit a level of sharpness, resolution and color
delity that you have to experience to believe are now attain-
able. This capability incorporated with the unparalleled abilities
of the H4D produce an unbeatable combination in the world
of digital medium format photography today. The H4D-50MS
also includes UltraFocus architecture and offers access to the
latest HCD 28mm lens, designed and optimized solely for digital
and resolution. The Digital Lens Correction (DAC) will automatically
remove any chromatic aberration, distortion and vignetting when
images are processed using Phocus.
The design of the HCD 28mm and 35-90mm lenses have been opti-
mized for the actual 36×48mm area of the sensor to make it more
compact and to work in conjunction with DAC.
The highly renowned HC/HCD lens line uses central lens shutters,
which adds exibility by allowing ash to be employed at shutter
speeds up to 1/800s. The central shutter also improves image
quality by reducing camera vibration. And thanks to the large format
of the H System cameras, there is a considerably shallower depth
of eld range, making it much easier to utilize selective focus to
creative effect.
image capture. Phocus software puts the nal touches to les
by using Digital Auto Correction. This feature utilizes automatic
correction for chromatic aberration, distortion and vignetting
for breathtaking results. It is not surprising that internationally
renowned museums and art galleries around the world put their
trust in the H4D-50MS for the faithful documentation of their
collections.
With its large and bright viewnder image, wide range of quality
lenses and broad choice of accessories, the H4D-50MS also
serves as an ultra capable camera for more everyday demands.

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View-camera work
The H4D-50MS has been designed to allow the digital capture unit
to be detached and used on a view camera by way of an H system
adapter. In this conguration the digital capture device can work with
electronic shutters from e.g. Rollei and Schneider, either stand-alone
using the ash sync signal from the shutter or tethered to a com-
puter with full control of the electronic shutter from the computer.
Medium format digital capture
In digital photography, the advantages of larger format cameras
have become even more obvious. The 6×4.5 cm window allows the
Hasselblad H4D-50MS to use one of the largest image sensors
currently available in digital photography – up to more than twice
the size of a 35mm camera sensor. Consequently the sensor holds
more and larger pixels, which deliver the highest possible image
quality in terms of moiré-free color rendering without gradation
break-ups in even the nest lit surfaces.
A choice of bright viewnders
One of the important traditional advantages of the medium format
is the extra-large and bright viewnder image, enabling extremely
precise compositions and easy operation in dim lighting. An inter-
changeable waist-level viewnder, the HVM, is available for the
entire range of H system cameras.
Unique Hasselblad Colors
The new Hasselblad Natural Color Solution (HNCS) enables you to
produce outstanding and reliable out-of-the-box colors, with skin
tones, specic product colors and other difcult tones reproduced
easily and effectively.
GPS recording accessory
Hasselblad’s Global Image Locator (GIL) is an accessory for any
H-based Hasselblad digital capture product. Using the GIL device all
images captured outdoors are tagged with GPS coordinates, time and
altitude. This data is key to a number of future applications involving
image archiving and retrieval. One example is the direct mapping of
images within the coming Phocus software to Google Earth.
Modes of operation and storage
The Hasselblad H4D-50MS offers a choice of storage devices: CF
cards or a computer hard drive. With these two operating and stor-
age options, you are able to select a mode to suit the nature of the
work in hand, whether in the studio or on location.
Phocus for professional level workow
Phocus provides an advanced software toolbox that has been
especially designed to achieve optimum workow and absolute
image perfection from Hasselblad raw image les.
With the H4D-50MS camera system Phocus provides:
• Uncompromising Image Quality
• Special extended camera controls with which to operate your
H4D-50MS camera. These features, such as live video for easier
shot set-up and workow, or the ability to control the lens drive
for focusing when the camera is in a remote position or when the
digital capture unit is mounted on a view camera, bring an entirely
new level of exibility to the way you shoot.
• Moiré Removal Technology automatically applied directly on the
raw data, leaving image quality intact and eliminating the need to
carry out special masking selections or other manual procedures,
saving hours of tedious post-production work.
• Flexible Workow. The Phocus GUI features easy-to-use options
that allow you to customize your set-up to suit a range of dif-
ferent workow situations, such as choice of import source,
browsing/comparison functions, le management, image export
in a number of le formats, pre-setting of options for upcoming
shoots, and much, much more.
• New Metadata (GPS, HTS 1.5 etc). The extended metadata
included in all Phocus images provides for accurate and detailed
cataloging and indexing, easy image management, and includes
added GPS data functionality in order to allow a range of new
functions. Phocus links GPS data directly to Google Earth, for
example, making geographic reference a snap and image stor-
age and retrieval much easier. With the HTS 1.5, all settings are
stored as metadata in the image le for full function with DAC
lens corrections.
• Perfect Viewing Quality. The Phocus Viewer delivers image view-
ing quality that matches every detail of what you will see later
in Photoshop. In addition, the Phocus Viewer allows you to
customize layout and composition to suit your current or desired
work ow, providing a wide range of options including full view,
compare, browse, horizontal, or vertical view, and so on. You
can have multiple folders open simultaneously for side-by-side
viewing, comparison, and selection.

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Single Shot
The key to the single shot quality from a CCD sensor is due to the
use of a Bayer Mosaic lter. This is a specic layout that is used
in conjunction with software to interpret the colour data from the
sensor. A single-shot system delivers one colour per pixel, and the
remaining two channels must be estimated and calculated using a
bestguess strategy. This is done in Hasselblad cameras by using
algorithms that optimize colour rendition and sharpness without
disturbing the perception of the human eye by the artefacts always
present in raw single shot captures.
Multi Shot
High precision piezo motors control movements of the sensor
in one pixel increments. By combining four shots, each offset by
one pixel, the true colours, Red, Green and Blue of each point are
obtained. The result is full colour information from the sensor with
no artefacts like moiré, common with single shot capture.
Bayer mosaic pattern
Shot no. 1. Sensor in normal
position
Shot no. 2. Sensor moved up
one pixel (6.8 μm)
Shot no. 3. Sensor moved one
pixel to the left
Shot no. 4. Sensor moved down
one pixel. The second green
image is used to determine
lighting and subject stability

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Detail in 1-shot mode Detail in 4-shot mode
Actual image sample
The image of the armour was taken in both 1-shot and 4-shot mode
to illustrate the increase in quality that the 4-shot mode produces.
Due to the fact that no guess-work has to be carried out, ne details
in the subject are now rendered much better. The 4-shot image also
completely lacks the color moiré that can appear in very small
details.

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The middle image shows the result when not using True Focus. While this image looks relatively
sharp, the rightmost image where True Focus has been used, is razor sharp.
Photo: Marcel Pabst
The plane of focus changes when the camera is tilted for composition.
True Focus and Absolute Position Lock
True Focus helps solve one of the most lingering challenges that
faces serious photographers today: true, accurate focusing through-
out the image eld. Without multi-point auto-focus a typical auto-
focus camera can only correctly measure focus on a subject that
is in the center of the image. When a photographer wants to focus
on a subject outside the center area, they have to lock focus on the
subject and then re-compose the image. In short distances espe-
cially, this re-composing causes focus error, as the plane of focus
sharpness follows the camera’s movement, perpendicular to the
axis of the lens.
The traditional solution for most DSLR
cameras has been to equip
the camera with a multi-point AF sensor. These sensors allow the
photographer to x an off-center focus point on an off-center sub-
ject, which is then focused correctly. Such multi-point AF solutions
are often tedious and inexible to work with. Due to the physics of
an SLR-camera, the off-center focus points that are offered are all
clustered relatively close to the center of the image. To set focus
outside of this center area, the photographer is still forced to focus
rst, and then shift the camera to reframe, with the resulting loss
of focus as a result.
To overcome this problem, Hasselblad has used modern yaw rate
sensor technology to measure angular velocity in an innovative
way. The result is the new Absolute Position Lock (APL) processor,
which forms the foundation of Hasselblad’s True Focus feature.
The APL processor accurately logs camera movement during any
re-composing, then uses these exact measurements to calculate
the necessary focus adjustment, and issues the proper commands
to the lens’s focus motor so it can compensate. The APL processor
computes the advanced positional algorithms and carries out the
required focus corrections at such rapid speed that no shutter lag
occurs. The H4D’s rmware then further perfects the focus using
the precise data retrieval system found on all HC/HCD lenses.

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Technical specication
CAMERA FEATURES
Camera type Large sensor full format DSLR
Lenses Hasselblad HC lens line and HCD 28 with integral central lens shutter
Shutter speed range 32 seconds to 1/800 second
Flash sync speed Flash can be used at all shutter speeds
Viewnder options •HVD 90x: 90° eye-level viewnder w. diopter adjustment (-5 to +3.5D). Image magnication 3.1 times.
Integral ll-ash (G.No. 12 @ ISO100). Hot shoe for SCA3002-system ashes from Metz™
•HV 90x: 90° eye-level viewnder w. diopter adjustment (-4 to +2.5D). Image magnication 2.7 times.
Integral ll-ash (G.No. 12 @ ISO100). Hot shoe for SCA3002-system ashes from Metz™
•HVM: Waist-level viewnder
Focusing Autofocus metering with passive central cross-type sensor. Ultra focus digital feedback.
Instant manual focus override. Metering range EV 1 to 19 at ISO 100
Flash control Automatic TTL centre weighted system. Uses built-in ash or ashes compatible with SCA3002 (Metz™).
Output can be adjusted from -3 to +3EV. For manual ashes a built-in metering system is available
Exposure metering Metering options: Spot, Centre Weighted and CentreSpot. Metering range Spot: EV2 to 21,
Centre Weighted: EV1 to 21, CentreSpot: EV1 to 21
Power supply Rechargeable Li-ion battery (7.2 VDC / 1850 mAh)
Film compatibility No
DIGITAL FEATURES
Sensor size 50 Mpixels (6132×8176 pixels)
Sensor dimensions 36.7×49.0 mm
Image size RAW 3FR capture 65 MB on average. TIFF 8 bit: 150 MB
File format Lossless compressed Hasselblad RAW 3FR
Shooting mode Single shot / Multi shot (4×)
Color denition 16 bit
ISO speed range ISO 50, 100, 200, 400 and 800
Storage options CF card type U-DMA (e.g. SanDisk extreme IV) or tethered to Mac or PC
Color management Hasselblad Natural Color Solution
Storage capacity 4 GB CF card holds 60 images on average
Capture rate 1.1 seconds per capture. 33 captures per minute (single shot)
Color display Yes, 3 inch TFT type, 24 bit color, 230 400 pixels
Histogram feedback Yes
IR lter Mounted on CCD sensor
Acoustic feedback Ye s
Software Phocus for Mac and Windows
Platform support Macintosh: OSX. Windows: XP (32 and 64 bit), Vista (32 and 64 bit), Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit)
Host connection type FireWire 800 (IEEE1394b)
View camera compatibility Yes, Mechanical shutters controlled via ash sync. Electronic shutters can be controlled from Phocus
Operating temperature 0 - 45 ˚C / 32 - 113 ˚F
Dimensions Complete camera w. HC80 mm lens: 153 × 131 × 207 mm [W × H × D]
Weight 2450 g (Complete camera w. HC80 mm lens, Li-Ion battery and CF card)

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View cameras – Flash sync shutters
Any view camera with
Hasselblad H adapter
Flash sync
input cable
Flash sync
input cable
View cameras – Electronic shutters
Host computer with
FireWire, running Phocus
Host computer with
FireWire, running Phocus
Any view camera with
Hasselblad H adapter
Expose cable
Schneider
Shutter
Control ES
Schneider
electronic shutter
control
Connectivity diagram
Optional V system lenses
Lenses
Camera body
HVM waist-level
viewnder
HV 90x
viewnder
Optional viewnders
H4D Camera
All HC/HCD
lenses, including
extension tubes
and converter
CF lens adapter
Camera body
Sensor unit
(included)
HVD90x view-
nder (included)
Tilt/Shift
HTS 1.5.
For use with
HCD28, HC35,
HC50, HC80 and
HC100 (including
extension tubes)
Accessories
GIL GPS
receiver
SCA3902
TTL Flash
Adapter
Rollei Lens-
Control S
Rollei Lens-
Control S

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12.10 - UK v2 Specication subject to change without notice.
H4D-50MS lens range
HCD 4/28mm HC 3.5/35mm HC 3.5/50-IImm
HC 2.8/80mm HC 2.2/100mm HC Macro 4/120-IImm
HC 3.2/150mm HC 4/210mm HC 4.5/300mm
HC 3.5-4.5/50-110mm HCD 4-5.6/35-90mm Aspherical All C-type lenses from the V system
with optional CF lens adapter