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Hasselblad H1:Hyper-Blad!

Hasselblad's H1 is the most advanced medium-format SLR ever. But at $5,700, is it the best?
  • By Jason Schneider on December 16, 2008
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Grab the future

The first thing you notice when holding the H1 is its distinctive light-and-dark-gray color scheme with black accents, which looks sporty but "serious." The second is its excellent feel. The integral right-hand grip is anatomically contoured and nestles very comfortably in your hand, with your right index finger falling naturally on the large shutter-release button atop the sloping front section. In shooting position, the camera feels substantial but not overly heavy, and (with the 80mm lens) it's superbly balanced. The main mode-selection buttons arrayed along the main LCD panel atop the grip are all easily accessible.

Bring the camera to eye level and you see an extraordinarily large, bright, crisp viewing image with an AF-zone rectangle and spotmetering circle inscribed in the center, and a commendably clear, illuminated, full-information LCD panel below the viewing area. The H1's prismless reflex finder, a modified Kepler type, sets a new standard for the class-it's at least as bright and contrasty as that of its closest competitors, the Contax 645 and Mamiya 645 AFD. With a finder claimed to show 100 percent of the on-film image at nearly 1:1 with the 80mm lens, the image presented to the eye is significantly larger-this makes it much easier to evaluate details and focus manually.

LAB TEST RESULTS

Viewfinder: Focusing screen is very bright and contrasty. Viewfinder magnification was measured at 0.93X, an excellent result and highest among SLRs tested, including 35mm models! Screen image shows 94% of picture area (not 100% as claimed), but this is best in its class.

Autofocus and time lag: Actual cross-field AF area is about 20% narrower and 20% shorter than indicated by viewfinder markings. Overall AF speed was faster than average for the class. With high-contrast target, from EV 1 to EV 2, AF took about 1.4 sec; from EV 3 to EV 6, 0.8 to 1.2 sec; from EV 7 to EV 12, 0.5 to 0.6 sec. With low-contrast target, figures were about 0.2 sec longer below EV 5 and similar to those above, from EV 7 to EV 12. AF-assist illuminator activates at EV 1 (f/2.8 and 4 sec at ISO 100), an excellent result. Time between pressing the release and shutter opening measured 160 milliseconds, slightly faster than other 645 SLRs tested.

Shutter speeds: We were only able to test speeds from 2 sec to 1/500 sec (not the 1/800 top speed) on our equipment. Tested speeds were extremely accurate, with virtually no error detected from 2 to 1/250 sec, and about 1/5-stop underexposure at 1/500 sec.

Exposure accuracy: Centerweighted metering, in all autoexposure modes and in manual metering mode, was

extremely accurate, with over/underexposure from 1/3- to 2/5-stop from EV 1 to EV 6, and underexposure of less than 1/10-stop from EV 7 to EV 17. In spotmetering mode, exposure accuracy was also extremely high, with less than 1/5-stop over/underexposure from EV 1 to EV 17. The centerweighted metering pattern was perfectly centered for both horizontal and vertical shooting. The spotmetering pattern covers about 4% of the picture area, and corresponds almost perfectly with the 7.4mm-diameter spotmetering circle inscribed on the finder screen.

Sound level: Overall, very quiet.