Hasselblad unveils 50-megapixel H3DII-50

Hasselblad today potentially set a new record for photography with the H3DII-50, its sharpest-ever camera. The medium format unit captures 50-megapixel images courtesy of a new 36x48mm Kodak sensor that measures twice as large as any full-frame sensor from a digital SLR and allows both better lens behavior as well as more detail: even very large shots can retain more detail and cut back on moire effects, according to the camera maker. In spite of the resolution, the device can still snap photos at a frame per second with fast-enough storage.

The advent of the H3DII-50 also gives Hasselblad an opportunity to improve its design versus the earlier H3DII-39, including easier-to-use controls in hardware and software and better sensor cooling to prevent the camera from overheating as well as to reduce noise unrelated to the sensor itself.

The H3DII-50 continues to support either CompactFlash cards or the company's own Image Bank hard drives, and tethers over FireWire to a computer for live uploading; light sensitivity is also the same at between ISO 50 in ideal conditions and ISO 400 for darker environments; in-house Phocus software boosts this to ISO 800.

Hasselblad hasn't announced pricing or exact release dates for the camera but adds that it will be matched by a new HTS 1.5 tilt-shift lens adapter that can shift the picture by 18mm or else tilt it by 10 degrees in a given direction.