A Hasselblad, more than 40 years after first looking.

Out to Lunch said:
After moving to the Canadian wilderness, will you go fully digital? Cheers, OtL
Click to expand...
Great question - I hope not, though I’m sure to thin the herd of some of my film and glass plate cameras at some point. Ordering from B&H might be a bit more of a pain than the way it is now, so I may just stock up before we move. I guess the real answer is ‘time will tell’.

Gotta admit though, I sure do like using the digital back with the old lenses. That Schneider lens is almost like an Aero Ektar.
 
For convenience and power over the captured image, digital is pretty hard to beat. And the in-built AI of our current crop of cameras reduces the need of post production editing to almost nothing. Unless you really like spending money on chemicals and paper, spending hours in a room lighted with a dim red light and not getting all your prints right, skip the zen of it and just go digital. All you need is wall current and an internet connection. Both available in almost all of populated Canada.
 
boojum said:
For convenience and power over the captured image, digital is pretty hard to beat. And the in-built AI of our current crop of cameras reduces the need of post production editing to almost nothing. Unless you really like spending money on chemicals and paper, spending hours in a room lighted with a dim red light and not getting all your prints right, skip the zen of it and just go digital. All you need is wall current and an internet connection. Both available in almost all of populated Canada.
Click to expand...
I’ll just have to see how things play out over the next year. We’re in the throes of building a house so there’s a lot of things running through my mind besides photography.

I’ve been shooting digital since around 2000 when my clients were all going in that direction (I’ve been a full-time commercial photographer for the last 27 years), and I think I started with Aldus PhotoStyler (an early competitor to PhotoShop) back in around 1991-2, then onto PhotoShop 2.5. Film’s been with me since 1978, glass plate only within the last six years, so I think I’m pretty comfortable with any recording media. I’m not printing all that much (really only for friends/family or if I have an exhibition coming up) and if I do it’s with my Epson 3880. Post-production wise, oh I still put a good deal of time into an image (of course I’m shooting everything RAW), so it’s never SOOC for me. Guess I’m still part of “the negative is the score, the print is the performance” camp.

If anything, I think the big creative challenge living up here is figuring out what to do as a project. I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to go out West, so it will likely be limited to what I can do in this part of the world. Who knows, maybe “Mapping Ontario East” might be in the offing.

Right now I’m enjoying using the 1000f and the digital back and all these great lenses, but there are other ways of seeing that I still would like to keep around (and yes I do believe that the equipment can affect how one sees). However if Hasselblad ever comes out with a 58x58 digital back, well then all bets are off.

Internet connection? Oh yeah we have it here - currently a blistering 1.30mps! That will certainly change once we’re up here permanently.
 
Last edited:
Vince Lupo said:
If anything, I think the big challenge living up here is what will I do as a project. I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to go out West, so it will likely be limited to what I can do in this part of the world. Who knows, maybe “Mapping Ontario East” might be in the offing.

Right now I’m enjoying using the 1000f and the digital back and all these great lenses, but there are other ways of seeing that I still would like to keep around (and yes I do believe that the equipment can affect how one sees). However if Hasselblad ever comes out with a 58x58 digital back, well then all bets are off.

Internet connection? Oh yeah we have it here - currently a blistering 1.30mps! That will certainly change once we’re up here permanently.
Click to expand...

Doing your area sounds like a great idea. You might be the first to assemble a good collection of images. Canadians have a calm nationalism. There could be a bunch willing to embrace the beauty of Eastern Ontario. And it could be a great exercise for you.

Maybe you can get Starlink for faster speeds. I had it but it was spotty so I switched back to an ISP as much as I dislike the company. Musk was worse than the ISP. I shoot everything RAW + JPG in case I ever get the itch to work with serious editing. Except in the PIxii where it is either or but not both. The downside is that I am too cheap to buy an editor when I can use ART or Darktable. I have some editors on the W10 side of the house, like Phocus, but in all cases the learning curve is huge. Too large for my low level of interest, so far.

Anyway, good luck up there where it really snows. I am sure that you have given this a lot of thought and have a clear idea of what lies ahead.
 
boojum said:
Doing your area sounds like a great idea. You might be the first to assemble a good collection of images. Canadians have a calm nationalism. There could be a bunch willing to embrace the beauty of Eastern Ontario. And it could be a great exercise for you.

Maybe you can get Starlink for faster speeds. I had it but it was spotty so I switched back to an ISP as much as I dislike the company. Musk was worse than the ISP. I shoot everything RAW + JPG in case I ever get the itch to work with serious editing. Except in the PIxii where it is either or but not both. The downside is that I am too cheap to buy an editor when I can use ART or Darktable. I have some editors on the W10 side of the house, like Phocus, but in all cases the learning curve is huge. Too large for my low level of interest, so far.

Anyway, good luck up there where it really snows. I am sure that you have given this a lot of thought and have a clear idea of what lies ahead.
Click to expand...
Many thanks - yes Starlink seems to be one of the things people go for in this area, so that’s what we’re likely to do.

I‘m originally from Toronto and my family has had a presence in eastern Ontario to some degree since 1955 (my family owned a fishing lodge here for 20 years), so I’m pretty familiar with this part of the province. Having said that, I have not spent a winter in this region so that will be a bit of a new experience.

I’ve been a fan of the art of James Lorimer Keirstead since I was a kid, as he painted a lot of scenes of eastern Ontario. His work isn’t anything groundbreaking, but it evokes a lot of great childhood memories of this area for me. A lot of it still exists here so it’s something I’d like to explore more deeply.
 
Last edited:
Vince Lupo said:
Many thanks - yes Starlink seems to be one of the things people go for in this area, so that’s what we’re likely to do.

I‘m originally from Toronto and my family has had a presence in eastern Ontario to some degree since 1955 (my family owned a fishing lodge here for 20 years), so I’m pretty familiar with this part of the province. Having said that, I have not spent a winter in this region so that will be a bit of a new experience.

I’ve been a fan of the art of James Lorimer Keirstead since I was a kid, as he painted a lot of scenes of eastern Ontario. His work isn’t anything groundbreaking, but it evokes a lot of great childhood memories of this area for me. A lot of it still exists here so it’s something I’d like to explore more deeply.
Click to expand...

You know I lived a couple of years in Montreal. Why the French settled there I will never know. I was leaving to go south for the holidays once and it was snowing a foot an hour. And no one took notice. Folks were just plodding up and down Sherbrooke like it was any other snowy day. -50F days, too, that is cold. Good luck. You will have a lot of opportunities to use that Hasselblad. ;o) And we are all waiting to see what you have seen.
 
It is good to see you shooting. And it gets my juices going. I want to burn up some electrons along US 50 between Ely and Fallon which is some beautiful scenery and as remote and "its own" as anywhere in the country. September is a good time to do it for temp and sunlight so I had better pack a bag and get on with it. Those pictures won't takes themselves.
 
boojum said:
It is good to see you shooting. And it gets my juices going. I want to burn up some electrons along US 50 between Ely and Fallon which is some beautiful scenery and as remote and "its own" as anywhere in the country. September is a good time to do it for temp and sunlight so I had better pack a bag and get on with it. Those pictures won't takes themselves.
Click to expand...
When I'm not working for my clients (which isn't very often these days!), I try to take some photos every day. I had planned to be back in New Mexico right now but unfortunately the timing and money didn't work out. It will have to wait until next year, hopefully February which is when I like to go there anyways.

Couple more with the Opton-Tessar.


At the Perth Fair by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Steve by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

I have another 1000f body with back and hood coming this week, which I'll immediately send off to get adapted for the digital back use. Can't seem to have too many of them!
 
Last edited:
You are a pro and are more accustomed to shooting lots. I have fallen into laziness which breeds confidence loss. And I have taken about all the hull photos around here that I will ever need. A trip to Nevada and shuttling back and forth on US 50 will be a tonic. The X2D is color, likewise the M9 but the Pixii does great "RAW" B&W so I may pack all three and see what happens. I incline to color because I do not understand composition and structure well enough for solid B&W, yet. X2D with the XCD 55V, M9 with the Bertele and the Pixii with a Canon f/2.8 28mm LTM. I may bring the CZJ 5cm 272 f/1.5 and some others but do not want to carry too much and risk too much. KISS I have been promising myself the US 50 shuttle for a while and had better get it done while I can.

The more I shoot the more chance I have of getting some good ones. The old "Even a blind hog finds a root once in a while" rule.

And if I do get some really good ones I may try your "the photo is the score, the editing is the performance" idea. Damned photo editor learning curve. Phocus for the Hasselblad and ART for the rest. Maybe. ;o)

Yes, I just tested the Pixii in B&W and it is OK. In JPG. I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and go RAW.
 
boojum said:
You are a pro and are more accustomed to shooting lots. I have fallen into laziness which breeds confidence loss. And I have taken about all the hull photos around here that I will ever need. A trip to Nevada and shuttling back and forth on US 50 will be a tonic. The X2D is color, likewise the M9 but the Pixii does great "RAW" B&W so I may pack all three and see what happens. I incline to color because I do not understand composition and structure well enough for solid B&W, yet. X2D with the XCD 55V, M9 with the Bertele and the Pixii with a Canon f/2.8 28mm LTM. I may bring the CZJ 5cm 272 f/1.5 and some others but do not want to carry too much and risk too much. KISS I have been promising myself the US 50 shuttle for a while and had better get it done while I can.

The more I shoot the more chance I have of getting some good ones. The old "Even a blind hog finds a root once in a while" rule.

And if I do get some really good ones I may try your "the photo is the score, the editing is the performance" idea. Damned photo editor learning curve. Phocus for the Hasselblad and ART for the rest. Maybe. ;o)

Yes, I just tested the Pixii in B&W and it is OK. In JPG. I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and go RAW.
Click to expand...
A little humility towards one's own work is a valuable asset and aid to growth. Good to see that you're questioning your work and your abilities; far too many shooters think that everything they produce is valuable, especially if it was made with the latest $5,000 wonder lens.
 
Retro-Grouch said:
A little humility towards one's own work is a valuable asset and aid to growth. Good to see that you're questioning your work and your abilities; far too many shooters think that everything they produce is valuable, especially if it was made with the latest $5,000 wonder lens.
Click to expand...

It's not the chisel. It's the sculptor. I wish I could buy a lens that made everything good. But, then, if I could what fun would the photographing be? The failures make the successes enjoyable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom