![]() ![]() Please reach out to us if we can help in any way.Capture One 22, was just released a few days ago, and it comes with a number of key new features. While the H products still work well today, repairs will take longer and will become more difficult. Repair service continues to be done in Sweden for most H products after Hasselblad relocated their long term headquarters in NJ to California last year. We can’t even order new battery grips today. However, it’s time to look at replacements. The H system is still very strong and working in so many studios today. ![]() Yes, if you are an old school guy like me, it’s sad to see any product reach its end of life. So we shouldn’t be worried about the brand. Its one of the best new products I have seen in a long time. I can’t say enough about the size, weight, styling, color, and operating system of this new camera. Hasselblad released 3 new lenses for the product and they are still on back order status showing that we can’t keep up with the demand. Last year’s release of the X2D Mirrorless body was a huge success. End of life for the H system but not for Hasselblad Today we see Hasselblad used by a new generation of imaging professionals. DJI has used the brand to help market their higher end lenses on their pro-super drones. They breathed new life into the brand with great features, a unique set of advantages, and that Hasselblad quality. The mirrorless X series bodies have been a big success. CEO’s were fired and the company was on the verge of insolvency. These new products were widely panned and didn’t sell. They were investing heavily into 3rd party products by adding their logo onto their existing structure, adding a wooden handle, and exponentially up-charging for their name. Before this acquisition Hasselblad was making poor OEM decisions. In 2017, Hasselbad had its next big change being acquired by the Chinese company DJI. The H101 went away and Phase One still created a solution for the H bodies…… what a strange ride it’s been. Eventually the lawsuit ended and the results kept secret. The Phase One H25, P20, P21, P25, P30, and the P45 that were produced for the Hasselblad H body all had the moniker of H101 attached to the logo in order to satisfy this contract. Every single new Phase One back kept the H101 logo, even though it represented the tethered 11mp system. A legal battle ensued for almost 10 years. Thankfully for Phase One they had a rock solid contract stating that they can manufacture their H101 digital back for any Hasselblad H body. The result was Hasselblad trying to lock Phase One out of the H series system all together. That is until Hasselblad saw this as a profit center that they were missing and merged with Imacon 2 years later in 2004. This partnership helped both companies flourish and expand. The new back was designed with the same color and styling of the new 645 making them a seamless pair. They released the 11mp Phase One H101 as the first digital back for the system at the same Photokina event. Hasselblad’s 35 Million dollar project was a success.Īt its creation, Phase one partnered with Hasselblad on this project. These were groundbreaking for our market. The system was built from the ground up with digital in mind with internal synching and a histogram built into the body LCD. How wrong could they be? The balance, sync speed, and strong Fuji glass won over the crowd and the new system quickly dominated the high end fashion market. A Hasselblad system manufactured outside of Sweden with auto focus lenses that are not made by Zeiss?!?!?!? The old school hard liners had a field day deriding the product and thinking it was the end of Hasse. In 2002, Hasselblad made a splash with this new venture introducing an AF 645 system produced by Fuji in Japan. All products are now officially out of stock and Hasselblad will no longer take orders for anything in the H line. While we have been feeling this sting for over the last 18 months with lack of product, today we received official notice that the full product line of the Hasselblad H system has been officially discontinued. Its finally official, Hasselblad’s Iconic H 645 camera system is at the end of its lifespan. ![]()
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