The Hasselblad CFV-39 digital back is a well priced and proven 39 MP alternative suitable for a broad range of ALPA users. We had the opportunity for a quick hands-on test.

The all new CFV-39 is the successor of the Hasselblad CFV-16 digital back for the Hasselblad V system. The sensor used is the proven 39 MP class Bayer pattern sensor from Kodak. The back writes on conventional CF cards (the faster the better, we think), can get used computer independent operated/self contained as it has a battery bay (hurray, no jumble as with the external cabling for a H type back and even the same battery type as for the ImageBank) and features a built in FireWire 800 connection. As there is no heat sink as with the H backs and bodies this back has a built-in fan which only kicks in when needed. During our test the fan was mostly not needed or when turning it was at an acceptably quiet noise level.

Mainly targeted for the V series cameras which have the square 6x6 format this rectangular sensor is a bit cumbersome as there is no possibility to change orientation of the back from landscape to portrait. This is of course no problem with the ALPA as all adapters and the interface are square anyway. On a V Hasselblad you can choose a crop mode (square, 1:1 aspect ratio) which leaves you with some 29 MP net.

The layout of the rear (display, keys etc.) seems to be unaltered to previous backs. The display gives you all base information. The display quality is OK, please do not expect to finally proof on colors or sharpness of the picture. As with every digital back you have to get into manipulation and specialities. We liked the retro look of the back on the ALPA and the operation was smooth once we were common with the drill.

Images above: Unfortunately we got only a huge supersize battery. Looks rather unaesthetic.

The new Phocus software (rel. 1.2.1) is much faster than former versions and developed pictures appeared astonishingly fast as JPG or TIF files. In our eyes Hasselblad gives you a rawer (read less pre-sharpend) file than other competitors which is very fair and straight forward. Their base sharpening is very appealing and colors are way better than earlier interpretations of the reality.

Images above: Left 50 ISO, right 800 ISO

We loved the allround capability of the back. It features 50 to 800 ISO - the former very clean and needed with a lot of light and the 1/500 sec as fastest shutter time of the Copal 0 and the latter stunningly usable. All the sample pictures are unaltered regarding colors and sharpened with the Hasselblad standard sharpening 100/1/10.

There is only one real drawback with this (and other) Hasselblad backs: They need a pre-triggering on all manual cameras with Copal shutters. We will overcome this with a new ALPA wake-up trigger. But how does it work? Why is there a problem? The easiest way to operate a digital back with the ALPA is still a back like the Leaf Aptus - select the large format mode, attach a working flash sync cable and off you go. The back gets triggered by the flash sync signal for start and stop of the exposure. Earlier Phase One backs need a pre-triggering for wake-up AND the start/stop signal from the shutter.

Hasselblad does it slightly different as you need NO flash sync cabling? Serious? Yes, at least we were able to operate it like this: The user has to set the longest exposure time (variable from 1/8 to 64 sec) in the back. This time offset terminates the exposure. So you'd better not close the shutter after this time if you want to avoid greenish/pinkish smeared pictures due to a bad read-out of the sensor. This offset starts with a wake-up signal all other signals seem to get ignored. OK, if you now set the offset time to lets say 10 seconds and wake-up the back with a shortcut/sync signal you have a window of 10 seconds to complete your exposure (in theory also fine for artistic multi-exposures). Of course, you have to wait the full 10 seconds plus the time for writing the image down until you can perform the next exposure. Practically you can set the back to 1 second and this should be fine. As mentioned we will engineer a wake-up possibility as we did for the Phase One backs in order to use the back also completely freehand. We used for our test a Kapture Group OneShot Cable as you can see on some of the making-of pictures.

Images above: The sample left shows an unshifted Switar 36 mm with the normal color cast of this lens/back combination. This can get removed with the custom white function (a second picture with through a white plastic sheet is necessary, we made it working with 1 stop overexposure) in the Phocus software. The sample right shows the wake-up issue.

Earlier incarnations of Hasseblad's backs were able for simple synch like the Leaf Aptus, e.g. Since at least early 2008 this scheme changed. We often got confronted with puzzled customers. You can see the effect when using the Hasselblad back without wake-up (Hasselblad V bodies do this mechanically via the release button/bolt that checks if a dark slide is present). If you get completely pinkish pictures (but sharp) and an increased noise level in the shadows this might be the reason.

We hope to get hand on the back again for further tests and samples. Overall we were impressed by usability, performance, image quality and price level. Therefore we are pretty sure that we will see quite a lot of those digital backs also together with an ALPA in the future.

Remarks: All images can get downloaded as JPGs in full resolution or half resolution (samples for wake-up error). They do not intend to cover all possible genre of photography or situations of use as we had the back only for a short time in hand.

Technical Details

Type: Hasselblad CFV-39
Adapter: V type (ALPA HA or HAA)
Megapixels: 39 MP
Sensor: 37x49 mm (Kodak)
Pixel size: 6.8 microns
Pixel count: 5412 x 7216
ISO: 50 - 800
Exposure time: up to 64 seconds

For more details, see...
Hasselblad product site CFV-39

Sample pictures...