©2024 Gary L. Quay

I took the new digital camera back out for its maiden voyage today at White River Falls. It’s a Hasselblad CFV 100S, and I was using it on the Flexbody. I’m impressed with the image quality, and the image size is nothing to sneeze at either. I cropped this one about 1/4 of the frame, and it is still 35″ across at 300 dpi.. It was a gray day at the falls, but that gave me the opportunity to get a wide range of tones.

I’m slowily getting used to how it works, but I’m certain that there is a menu of opions that I haven’t yet found. For instance, I was able to list the lenses I use with it, but I can’t find a way to select one as the one currently on the camera. I couldn’t find it in the manual.

Camera: Hasselblad Flexbody with a CFV 100S digital back
Lens: 40mm Zeiss Distagon.

©2024 Gary L. Quay

The Hasselblad CFV 100S takes some time to get used to when used with vintage cameras, and switching back and forth between film and digital can waste film.  I sometimes forget to wind the camera after taking a digital picture, and then I wind the camera after I put the film back onto it.  It’s unintentional.  The camera doesn’t work, so I wind it without thinking.

Latourell Falls is one of the easily reached waterfalls on the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge. I have been there hundreds of times, and it never gets old.

Camera: Hasselblad Flexbody with a CFV 100S digital back.
Lens: 40mm Zeiss Distagon

©2024 Gary L. Quay

Whenever I get a new camera, I have to go to favorite places to see what it can do. This is one such place. The picture seems sharp, but looking closely, there is some motion on the grass and trees. This is likely due to an insufficiently high shutter speed, so it could be no fault of the camera. however, it achieves 100mp by taking multiple images, and merging them, so it could be a limitation of the camera after all. I’m not sure.

Camera: Hasselblad Flexbody with the CFV 100S Back,
Lens: 250mm Zeiss Planar.

The color palate of the CFV 100S digital back is not what I am used to.  I find myself having to adjust more than just color temperature like I do with the Nikon D810.  I think it’s just a matter of getting used to it.

I took this one on my first ever trip to Lower Lewis River Falls.  The water was a tad low, so the falls was not as spectacular as it could have been, but I am glad I went.  I’ll have to return again soon.

Camera: Hasselblad Flexbody with CFV 100S Digital Back
Lens: 80mm Zeiss Planar

©2024 Gary L. Quay

I promised some California pictures, and here they are.  I did not get a lot of opportunity to get out and about while I was there, but I did manage to het some hiking in during the mornings.  I traveled light, with only the ‘Blad and a tripod.  I was just getting used to the digital back, and has some trouble getting it to work on a few occasions.  I figured it out, though.

The color is amazing.

This is the Old Mission Dam on the San Diego River in Mission Trails Regional Park, California. It was built around 1803, and was in use for about 30 years.

Camera: Hasselblad Flexbody
Lens: 50mm Zeiss Distagon

©2024 Gary L. Quay

The setup time is long for a digital camera, and I can’t just point and shoot like I do with my Nikon, so I missed some pictures that I night otherwise have gotten.  This is one that I did not miss.

This is the San Diego River in the Mission Trails Regional Park, Santee, California. The picture was taken in Summer.

Camera: Hasselblad Flexbody
Lens: 50mm Zeiss Distagon

Featured Image: Smith Rock, July 2024

©2024 Gary L. Quay

I have been to Central Oregon way too few times. I will have to rectify that.

I took a version of this picture as a nine-piece panorama that I stitched together in Lightroom.  It’s a huge file.  I will present it on this site at some point.

Camera: Hasselbald Flexbody with a CFV 100S Digital Back.
Lens: 50mm Zeiss Distagon.

So far, the pros are
1, Massive image size,
2, The ability to use both filam and digital on the same camera,
3, Using the vintage Zeiss glass.

The cons are:
1, Clunky to work with,
2, Very little metadata,
3, Constantly exposing the sensor to dust while installing on the camera.

More images to come.

Thanks for looking!

–Gary L. Quay