The Price of HB's...

[ChristopherCoy]

What makes HB's so expensive? Do the operate differently than other cameras, because they are designed differently?


Or is it just a Toyota vs Lexus type of thing, and they use higher quality parts.

[oldfotopro]

An HB body can be had relatively cheaply.
It's the lenses that are expensive. They use more than twice the amount of glass as a typical 35mm camera. The glass is of the highest optical quality. The laws of supply and demand apply, making them more expensive.
Add a digital back and you are buying a very limited item that is made to the highest standard and only used by a small percentage of photographers.
Therefore, the cost is very high compared to the pedestrian cameras we all use every day.

[dryicerx]

For starters, their most known for their medium format cameras, and their digital lines reflect this. This means large sensor chips which are already expensive to manufacture, and this along with low production numbers means super high costs. They also have a reputation for making extremely high quality optics and long lasting equipment, for example the cameras used in the moon landings. That along with the brand image makes for a very awesome but very pricey camera.

[ChristopherCoy]

Originally Posted by dryicerx

This means large sensor chips which are already expensive to manufacture, and this along with low production numbers means super high costs.

I never thought about that... if a full frame sensor is the same as a 35mm negative, then a medium format must be HUGE!

[srwatters]

Yes. The 39MP sensor in my P45 is approximately 1.1x the standard 645 film format (56x41.5mm negative size). It measures 47x39mm with pixels of 6.8µm. It's dead sexy!

And HB glass is super sharp. You can't buy one that isn't sharp. If you've got one that way, send it in for repair.