Preface (addendum 2010)

As Hasselblad is not really willing to commit that there can result problems when using Hasselblad digital backs together with mechanical Copal shutters, we have to add some clear words here. The guidance/work arounds we give here got derived from our own experiences. Please note that we are not responsible for wrong manipulation, failures or technical damage. We try to help our customer to solve issues other manufacturers deny to explain.

Newer Hasselblad backs do work with mechanical Copal shutters but the user has to consider some work arounds in order to avoid synch problems. We informed Hasselblad since early 2008 but got ignored ostentatiously. We talked with them being our booth neighbor during Photokina 2008 and they denied a problem again blaming first lens manufacturers and later Copal. Only after sending them lenses in Copal shutters and an ALPA (in order to take real world pictures) they confirmed a problem with their implementation/working procedure of their backs. 

Digital backs are either "always on" (all Leaf, Phase One with some backs in zero latency mode) or need a "wake-up" (Phase One with their short and long latency mode). In he first version the latency of the mechanical Copal shutter (several milliseconds) does no harm as the Dalsa sensor seems to be able to handle incoming light already during preparation phase (getting ready, clearing the sensor, flushing). Termination of the exposure gets performed with the shutter closing and the appropriate signal. These backs need active cooling though. The Kodak sensors have their issues with that behavior. So the Phase One backs need a wake-up (no light is allowed during flushing before taking the picture). Then the Copal performs the start and stop signal. Everything fine but not with Hasselblad!

When you set the Hasselblad back to "flash synch" mode you have to set the longest time you expect with the next or further exposures. What does this means? The Hasselblad back only needs a start signal that let the "exposure timer" counting down (timer window). Any other signal than the start signal will cause problems! And this signal cannot come from the Copal shutter! Why?

As explained the Kodak sensor doesn't like incoming light in the preparations stage (flushing) and of course not during read out. The first is producing either an increased noise level in shadows and/or completely purplish pictures with fast shutter times. The second is producing a green/magenta smearing. In general there is also a possible issue that the Hasselblad backs  get confused with to many signals anyway (black pictures, synch failures).

ALPA is recommending the following procedures in order to work around at least with the actual digital backs from Hasselblad with Kodak sensors only:

• Do not use a synch connection between Copal shutter and Hasselblad back.
• Set your back to "flash synch" and a time long enough the following steps (2 seconds for all times form 1/500 sec to 1 sec).
• Attach a Hasselblad release cord H (Item No.: 3043370) to the back.
• Wake up the back pressing the release cord H (our CFV-39 changes the LED from green to orange). Timer starts counting down the 2 seconds (our example)
• Take the picture within this "timer window". Do not start before the LED is orange and make sure the exposure got finished before the end of the "timer window". 

This should do it! When you are using a Kapture Group One Shot cable do NOT connect the flash synch socket of your lens with the cabling. Push gently and steadily the cable release. Do not stop once you started pushing as the internal switch is producing the start signal (and therefore the start of the "timer window") quite easily. If you worked out other solutions please let us know.

Even if the population of Hasselblad backs is quite small in the ALPA community we are working on own new hardware solutions for our customers.

Older information for completeness

Yes, the backs from Hasselblad - and the former Imacon - work if they are not of the closed H1D and H2D type. Other types work flawlessly, even the all new H3D backs.

Apart from the "closed" backs of the H1D and H2D series all digital backs from Hasselblad and the former Imacon work with the ALPA. Please note that some of them work either only tethered or need an auxiliary battery/Image Bank. At Photokina 2006 Hasselblad introduced the H3D and closed their system for their competitors. Nevertheless, these backs work in the large format mode also with the ALPA.

The new H3D backs get their power from the H body. In addition they do not offer a bay for separate batteries. You need therefore a Hasselblad Image Bank to operate it or you tether it with your notebook (Apple Mac Book/Pro or other computers with a powered FireWire port).

The H3D backs have a suboptimal anti-reflex coating (we assume between the IR cut filter and the protective filter glass). Therefore ghost images with bright light sources can occur especially with non-retrofocal wide-angle lenses (but also with their own retrofocal lenses in some situations). Hasselblad offers an upgrade/remedy for such backs. Please ask your dealer if you own such a back as this is not a problem caused by the high-end lenses we use.

The H3D II should be free of this reflex phenomenon. Nevertheless, please be aware of a possible firmware glitch still existing today (last tested as per May 2008) and potentially with all Hasselblad backs (also the CF types). If you use your back together with a mechanical shutter you might face sharp but reddish or pinkish colored pictures (across the whole image) visible with shutter times shorter than 1/60 sec (the effect is there all the time of course). This is not a classical color cast or aberration but rather an artifact of a wrongly timed synchronisation of the back. Please ask your Hasselblad dealer as this is NOT a problem of the mechanical Copal shutters we use.

Addendum June 2009: Also some of the all new H3D-II 50 backs show the same effect but not all of them. The effect is visible sometimes even with longer shutter times. The variance of the mechanical Copal shutter can make visible the effect more pronounced. As a preliminary conclusion the new logic - how Hasselblad controls their backs - urges the user to operate it like a Phase One back with wake-up together with mechanical (Copal) shutters.

Possible work-arounds: The user can perform a two-shot capture by

• using a KaptureGroup OneShot cable (performs a wake-up)
• using the electric Hasselblad "cable release" connected to the digital back: in step one you set the back to a long enough sync time allowing the shutter to close before the timeout starts the readout of the sensor, in step two you wake up the back with the cable release and in step three you  release the shutter while the back is then performing the end of the capture
• use a Hasselblad release Cord H, perform a wake-up (set the longest exposure time to 2 seconds) then you perform he effective capture with the taking lens and no additional flash synch cable. As the back is terminating the exposure/starts the readout itself you only have to make sure that you have enough time to perform the capture between wake-up and auto timeout of the back.

All these procedures work only when on a tripod.

Please note that for their mulishot backs an electronic shutter (from Schneider or Rollei) is needed. Make also sure that you have the according cabling available.

For the necessary back adapters, see...