True Focus and Absolute Position Lock
Without multi-point auto-focus a typical auto-focus camera can only correctly measure focus on a subject that is in the center of the image. When a photographer wants to focus on a subject outside the center area, they have to lock focus on the subject and then re-compose the image. In short distances especially, this re-composing causes focus error, as the plane of focus sharpness follows the camera’s movement, perpendicular to the axis of the lens.
The traditional solution for most DSLRs has been to equip the camera with a multi-point AF sensor. These sensors allow the photographer to fix an off-center focus point on an off-center subject, which is then focused correctly. Such multi-point AF solutions are often tedious and inflexible to work with. Photographers have grown accustomed to using auto-focus systems in their day to day work and we see increasingly higher numbers of focus points advertised in each new wave of AF products. The term “multi-point auto-focus†is a bit misleading, however, for cameras with sensors larger than APS. Due to the physics of an SLR-camera, the off-center focus points that are offered are all clustered relatively close to the center of the image. To set focus outside of this center area, the photographer is still forced to focus first, and then shift the camera to reframe, with the resulting loss of focus as a result.
To overcome this problem, we have used modern yaw rate sensor technology to measure angular velocity in an innovative way. The result is the new Absolute Position Lock (APL) processor, which forms the foundation of our True Focus feature. The APL processor accurately logs camera movement during any re-composing, then uses these exact measurements to calculate the necessary focus adjustment, and issues the proper commands to the lens’s focus motor so it can compensate. The APL processor computes the advanced positional algorithms and carries out the required focus corrections at such rapid speed that no shutter lag occurs. The H4D’s firmware then further perfects the focus using the precise data retrieval system found on all HC/HCD lenses.
This technology refines the Hasselblad H4D auto-focus to an entirely new level, correcting for the vertical and horizontal focus-shift that results from the rotation of the camera around an axis close to camera. In simple terms, True Focus allows the photographer to concentrate on their composition, to focus on their creativity, while True Focus takes care of the other, more mechanical focus.
True Focus on the H4D can be set to work at a half press of the camera release button, or via any user button programmed to AF-drive when the camera is in manual focus mode. This, the first release of True Focus, only corrects the horizontal and vertical positioning of the camera, and does not correct for any focus-shift which results from larger lateral movements of the camera during recomposing. The True Focus technology and APL (both patent pending) are the result of many years of development work and mark a significant milestone for Hasselblad’s Medium-Format DSLR strategy. We hope you use them well.
Phocus 2.0 Software
The Hasselblad range of digital cameras produces some of the sharpest, most detailed and highest resolution images available today. Our powerful Phocus software provides photographers with a processing toolbox that enables you to get the most from the world’s largest raw image files. Phocus’s advanced software tools have been especially designed to achieve optimum workflow and absolute image perfection from Hasselblad image files. And now, with the launch of Phocus 2.0, the world’s most powerful image processing software has grown even stronger.
Phocus 2.0 provides:
- Uncompromising Image Quality)
- The ultimate processing quality for Hasselblad digital images
- Digital lens corrections for color aberration, distortion and vignetting (DAC I, II, and III)
- Hasselblad Natural Color Solution (HNCS) for outstanding and faithful colors
- Moiré removal directly upon raw data, preserving image detail
- Highlight recovery, shadow fill & clarity tools
- Loupe function via Navigator
- End point control in Histogram
- F-stop marks shown on histogram
- Scene calibration
- Customization options via Layouts & Layout Triggers
- And much, much more.
It’s Not Our Phocus, It’s Yours
Phocus has been designed from the ground up to fit the way that you work, whatever workflow you may prefer. You can customize Phocus to suit your personal preferences, creating multiple versions to suit your changing styles of shooting or specific tasks.
Light or Standard
Phocus can be started in two basic modes; Light and Standard. From these starting points you can customize to your heart’s content, showing and using only those functions you choose. All tools and functions are, naturally, always accessible behind the scenes, you simply choose whether they shall be visible or not. You may choose the Light Mode, adding only a few additions, or you may choose to start with Standard Mode and customize it down to the finest detail. The choice is yours.
MyPhocus
The MyPhocus feature is your key to an effective and fast workflow. As you know, each assignment poses its own challenges; each has some requirement or some twist that is special and each of these can slow you down when it comes to workflow. That’s why Phocus can be customized to function and flow as you see fit. This means a viewing environment you favor, a collection of tools you need for the job in hand, with unwanted tools out of the way and an efficient file naming and saving system that suits both the job in hand and your clients. MyPhocus means being able to bundle all your job-specific requirements and functions into saved versions and have them with you on location for peace of mind. Simply load Phocus if it is not already in place (there are no licence issues), and then import your own MyPhocus customized layouts. No more searching, fixing and hoping. You can work more confidently knowing that all the tools, options and requirements you are accustomed to and need will be exactly where you expect them to be.
MyPhocus – your personal version of the world’s most powerful image processing tool.
Camera Controls
Phocus also provides special extended controls with which to operate your Hasselblad camera with tethered use. These features, such as live video for easier shot set-up and workflow, the ability to control focusing when the camera is in a remote position or exposure control when the digital capture unit is mounted on a view camera, for example, bring an entirely new level of flexibility to the way you shoot.
Leading Edge Moiré Removal Technology
With Phocus, the moiré that can occur on even extremely high resolution images is effectively removed from your images. This is automatically performed directly on the raw data, leaving image quality intact and eliminating the need to carry out special masking selections or other manual procedures, saving hours of tedious post-production work.
Flexible Workflow
Phocus can be tailored to match your workflow requirements – simple or advanced. The viewer section allows for full view, compare, browse, horizontal or vertical view of images. Multiple folders can be open at the same time, while Quick Selection folders make handling your choices simple and easy. In addition your workflow layouts can be edited, saved, exported and imported.
Metadata
The metadata architecture in Phocus images follows the IPTC Core standard with XMP. The extended metadata included in all Phocus images provides for accurate and detailed cataloguing and indexing, easy image management, and includes added GPS data functionality in order to allow a range of new functions. Phocus links GPS data directly to Google Earth, for example, making geographic reference a snap and image storage and retrieval much easier. With the HTS 1.5, all settings are stored as metadata in the image file for full function with Digital Lens Corrections (DAC).
Perfect Viewing Quality
The Phocus Viewer uses all the advanced features contained in Phocus to deliver image viewing quality that matches every detail of what you will see later in Photoshop. By taking advantage of the extra computational power available from the graphics card Phocus provides real time full quality viewer updates when tweaking adjustments.
In addition, the Phocus Viewer allows you to customize layout and composition to suit your current or desired workflow, providing a wide range of options including full view, compare, browse, horizontal, or vertical view, and so on. You can have multiple folders open simultaneously for side-by-side viewing, comparison, and selection.
