Over the weekend, Malaysia saw the release of the latest offering of the Hasselblad H4D series of Digital Medium Format SLRs - the Hasselblad H4D-40 by Shriro Malaysia. Boasting 40 glorious megapixels, a sensor which is about twice the size of a standard full frame DSLR and enough bells and whistles to satiate the most picky of photographers, Hasselblad is aiming to bring the advantages of Medium Format photography to high-end 35mm photographers with this new H4D-40.

More info and pictures after the jump!


If you have not stepped into a photo studio, or heard of medium format film, you probably don't know much about Hasselblad and probably wonder why this camera, larger and bulkier than a DSLR, has such a cult following and such an exorbitant price tag. Just think about it, double the sensor area, meaning more image data is captured, as well as double-ish the megapixels of a high end DSLR. This difference in key specs makes for incredible photos, detailed as all heck and at 100% crop, still retains superior image quality to most DSLRS around today. Although seemingly lacking in the maximum shutter speed (1/800), FPS (1.1s per capture) and iso (1600), this camera is in it's element in the hands of studio photographers as well as some on-location fashion photographers as the picture quality is unlike any other. I've also known some wedding photographers to do pre-wedding shoots with a Hasselblad as well.
The H4D-40 features Hasselblad's True Focus autofocus system, reinventing the Autofocus system altogether. Working with shallow depth of fields has never been easier and more accurate. You wouldn't think that the single autofocus point was a downside after using the H4D-40. The camera uses a built in yaw sensor to measure camera movements during re-composition of a frame and uses the values to calculate focus adjustments which are needed to compensate. No more crappy outer AF points!

If you are a budding professional photographer doing well for him/herself and looking to make the leap to the next level, the H4D is certainly a relatively affordable option to make an in road into digital Medium Format photography. For the rest of us, lets leave it to the professionals.

The Hasselblad H4D-40 is available now from Shriro Malaysia and is priced at RM67,000 for the camera body and the HC 80mm(Roughly 50mm on Full Frame SLR) f2.8 lens. For more information visit www.shriro.com.my or Hasselblad's Product Page.