The LCD on the back of the Hasselblad H5D 50c WiFi is ancient. It is so low resolution it is almost laughable for a camera of this caliber. Luckily, you can sync the H5D 50c WiFi to your iPhone or iPad and check focus really easily but that is a workaround. The LCD on the digital back is barely useable but it does work for checking focus, setting up the shot in live view and checking the histogram. It is also possible to use Live View to focus manually with the H5D even though it is a lower res screen. The quality of the LCD is the achilles heel of the Hasselblad system. It seriously needs to be upgraded and if it isn’t upgraded on the H6D then there will be some boisterous howling on the part of Hasselblad users who are looking to upgrade. When viewing images on the LCD, they appear quite contrasty. Hence, aside from the ability to check focus, viewing the image on the digital back won’t tell you much about the image save for composition.

The LCD display on the top of the H5D’s grip is less horrific. It tells you all that you need to know but the menu system is clunky and difficult to maneuver through. Regardless of the pixelated nature of the top LCD on the H5D, it is well thought out for the basic functions. For example, when you put the mirror up on the H5D it stays up until you put it down. You have to put it up for every shot on the XF.

As for the WiFi option on both of these cameras, I have only tested the Hasselblad WiFi option and did not have time to test out the WiFi capabilities of the IQ350 back. From what I have seen with the Hasselblad, this is an excellent feature that I will be using often. On assignments, even those in remote locations, I can hand the art director an iPad and they can see everything that is being shot right then and there. I have heard Phase One photographers speak of similar great experiences with the IQ350, which may have even better WiFi capabilities than the 50c WiFi.

In terms of looks alone, the Phase One wins this category hands down but when you add in usability, I feel like the Hasselblad is more intuitive. Hence, what you shoot and how you work will determine which of these user interfaces will work best for your needs. At this price point, no one just goes out and buys one of these cameras without trying out a few different options–or at least I would hope they don’t. This is one of those things that is a personal preference. Some will prefer the Phase One others will prefer the Hasselblad.

FLASH SYNC SPEEDS

One of the best features of both of these camera systems is that they can sync with flash at high shutter speeds. This is a big reason why professionals choose a medium format system over 35mm DSLRs. To achieve this, the lenses for both systems have built in central leaf shutters. The H5D can sync at up to 1/800th second and the Phase One can sync up to 1/1600th second with certain lenses. The caveat with the Phase one, as told to me by the rep I worked with, is that the larger lenses have such huge leaf shutters they can really only sync up to 1/1000th second, not the 1/1600th second some of the smaller lenses can. You won’t find this caveat in the Phase One marketing materials for the XF or in any of the marketing materials for the Schneider-Kreuznach lenses. The rep told me that especially the larger new “Blue Line” lenses, like the new 35mm f/3.5 LS and the 120mm f/4 LS Macro, will not really sync above 1/100th second. Interestingly, on the Phase One website, the specs say that these lenses can sync at up to 1/1600th second. I’d love to hear from Phase One XF users who have tested these new lenses. If this is the case, then this makes the systems a bit more equal on the flash sync speeds.

The bigger question is will either camera work with your flashes. We had a hell of a time getting the Phase One XF to sync at anything above 1/250th second with my Elinchrom strobes. In the end it was a matter of the transmitters we tried not being up to task–and we tried three different brand transmitters. The Phase One dealer had never worked with Elinchrom strobes so they did not have any experience to help out on this front. After doing some research, I finally figured out what the issues were and found that with the new Elinchrom Skyport Plus HS transmitter in Speed mode the XF would trigger the Elinchrom strobes just fine. When using the PocketWizard transceivers, the flash triggering was very unreliable and I am still not sure why that was the case as PocketWizards have been very reliable for me in the past. The XF has a Profoto trigger built into the camera so if you shoot with Profoto strobes you should have very few issues. From what the rep told me, the Broncolor transmitter and strobes also work well with the XF.

By comparison, the H5D worked perfectly with my Elinchrom gear all the way up to 1/800th second on the first try with no issues at all. The top end 1/800th second sync speed isn’t that fast compared to the 1/1600th second shutter speed option on the XF but it is still quite effective for darkening backgrounds and stopping action when used with strobes that have a fast flash duration.

The XF wins here, if you are using lenses that can actually sync up to 1/1600th second.

SHUTTER SPEED RANGE

The Phase One XF has a shutter speed range of 60 minutes to 1/4000th second. The H5D has a range of 34 minutes to 1/800th second. The Phase One XF has a wider range of shutter speeds due to the fact that it has a focal plane shutter built into the camera body that extends the shutter range beyond the 1/1600th second leaf shutter lenses to 1/4000th second. I can certaily see some scenarios where this would be very useful–like trying to get sharp images while handholding the camera or wanting to stop fast action. So far, I haven’t had any issue with the range of shutter speeds on the H5D though I do shoot at or near the 1/800th second shutter speed when handholding the camera for the sharpest possible images. Because the H5D is a tad lighter and better balanced than the XF, I do feel like I can get sharp images at shutter speeds down to 1/250th second whereas on the XF that would be seriously pushing the envelope.

The Phase One XF wins in this category.

BATTERY LIFE

I didn’t have time to test out the battery life of the XF system. I can get about a half day of shooting done with the H5D before I need to replace the battery. That isn’t bad considering how large the components of this camera are and that there is only one battery to run everything. The XF has two batteries so I would expect them to last longer than the H5D’s single battery. In the end, this is a moot point anyway because if you aren’t shooting tethered you would take at least one extra set of batteries.

RELIABILITY

Reliability is always a huge issue for me as an adventure sports photographer. I pound my cameras and I wanted to make sure whatever I purchased could take a licking and keep on ticking. Of course, with cameras in this price range I am going to treat them well. If it is really rough weather or difficult conditions I will take my Nikons, which seem to be able to handle anything mother nature throws at them. I spoke with several different photographers about each of these cameras and specifically about how reliable they were on a variety of assignments. On the Hasselblad side, none of them had ever had to send their cameras in for any repairs of any kind. On the Phase One side, almost everyone said they had to send in their cameras and/or lenses a few times a year for issues. That was a wake up call for me. As it turns out there is a reason the Phase One reps boast about their policy of offering loaners while your camera is being repaired – because most owners have to deal with this issue.

There is also the issue of the camera locking up while on a shoot. The Hasselblad owners I spoke with had never had this happen. The Phase One owners had seen this happen from time to time. Recently, PetaPixel posted an article entitled, I Switched from Phase One to Nikon. Here’s Why. In that article David Cohen de Lara talks at length about the reliability issues that plagued his Phase One cameras. Yes, he had two Phase One cameras. In that article he states, “My experience with Phase One in terms of reliability has been terrible. I’m not just talking about the usual hiccups, errors, and misfires that are an almost daily reality when using these camera systems, I’m talking about things that just stop working altogether for no apparent reason. In just the last four years of shooting Phase One I’ve had no less than 7 instances where I was in the middle of a shoot and a body or lens would just spontaneously lock up, requiring it to be sent in for servicing.” His blog post is rather scathing of the Phase One system and medium format in general. David was shooting with the Phase One DF+ cameras but I have talked with a few Phase One XF owners that have had to send in their cameras for repairs already – and the XF has only been out for a year. None of the Hasselblad owners said anything about their cameras locking up.

As a pro, you rely on your gear. If it isn’t reliable, especially when you have to pay this kind of money for it, then that is a huge issue. The Hasselblad wins massively here on this front.

LENSES

As for lenses, both Hasselblad and Phase One offer a pretty compelling line up of quality glass. The Hasselblad lenses are designed in-house by Hasselblad and are manufactured by Fujinon, who is a less well known, but still a renowned lens manufacturer. It is notable that the leaf shutter mechanism is made by Hasselblad and then assembled into the HC lenses by Fujinon. They note that the Fujinon lenses are just as sharp if not better than the legendary V series lenses made by Carl Zeiss. Phase One’s lenses are made by Schneider-Kreuznach of Germany. Schneider-Kreuznach is another legendary lens manufacturer and the Phase One lenses are stellar by any measure. Phase One recently introduced the “Blue Line” lenses, which they say are ready for the demands of 100+ MP cameras.