Thursday, November 15, 2007

Using the V96C


Although, as I mentioned, the V96C digital back was cumbersome to use, I took some nice pictures around and about Leland, Michigan, my favorite place to photograph. At the left is Fishtown in downtown Leland. With the large 36X36 mm, 16 MB sensor I can easily enlarge my photos to the 20"X24" size that I like to use. Admittedly, the required cropping reduces the effective sensor size and as a result Hasselblad has now released a 22 MP sensor which is 48X36 mm but at an enormous price--more than an amateur photographer like myself can justify.


Getting the photos off of the imagebank was the trick. Firewire connectivity was not foolproof at the time I owned the V96C. Further, photos could only be accessed through the Imacon Flexcolor software and did not show up as a disk in Windows Explorer. I initially had much difficulty with the Firewire connectivity in my laptop until I was given a special cable by the folks at City Lights Digital where I bought the back. Due to the complexity of the device, I never would have gotten it to work without their help. After owning the V96C for a little over a year, Hasselblad introduced the CFV which resolved all of the difficulties with their initial attempt at digital. Unfortunately, the value of the V96C plummeted. But, that business model is common in today's world of digital photography. Gone are the days of owning the same device for 20 or 30 years, e.g., the Hasselblad 500.....

No comments: