Hasselblad SWC is cool

Rob-F said:
The SWC finder has a feature that I wish the makers of wide angle accessory finders for other cameras would copy: The inclusion of a bubble level in the view. Leveling the camera can be very important when shooting with extreme wide angle lenses, and being able to see the bubble level at the moment of exposure is very helpful, especially for hand-held photography. I'd like it if Carl Zeiss, Leica, and Cosina would consider adding this convenience to their finders wider than 28mm or so.
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With most EVF/LCD cameras of recent vintage, the camera display can be configured to provide level indication in the display... I use it all the time with my Olympus E-M1, Hasselblad 907x and Leica CL. But I agree that the SWC's viewfinder was wonderful in this regard. The earlier cameras (at least up to my '1979 SWC/M) had the bubble level on the body with a prism to the side of the viewfinder optics so you could see it easily. The later models (certainly as late as the 903SWC, but possibly earlier) incorporated the bubble level into the viewfinder itself.

BTW: just had a chance to review the last five or six pages of posts in this thread. Lovely photos posted, everyone! Bravo! :)

G
 
Godfrey said:
With most EVF/LCD cameras of recent vintage, the camera display can be configured to provide level indication in the display... I use it all the time with my Olympus E-M1, Hasselblad 907x and Leica CL. But I agree that the SWC's viewfinder was wonderful in this regard. The earlier cameras (at least up to my '1979 SWC/M) had the bubble level on the body with a prism to the side of the viewfinder optics so you could see it easily. The later models (certainly as late as the 903SWC, but possibly earlier) incorporated the bubble level into the viewfinder itself.

BTW: just had a chance to review the last five or six pages of posts in this thread. Lovely photos posted, everyone! Bravo! :)

G
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Yes, I have had both of those finder types at one time or another. Somehow, I liked the earlier one better--the one that called for shifting my eye to the left to see the bubble. I found it easier to frame the shot with that one. I wonder if anyone else has had that experience?
 
I have the earlier finder and find I can level it quite well if I pay close attention to the scene. I have shot about 10 rolls so far (I just got the camera) and have not used the bubble at all. I have had a very few that were off, maybe <5% though. I don't like using a tripod so the bubble would be out for me anyway.
 
neal3k said:
I have the earlier finder and find I can level it quite well if I pay close attention to the scene. I have shot about 10 rolls so far (I just got the camera) and have not used the bubble at all. I have had a very few that were off, maybe <5% though. I don't like using a tripod so the bubble would be out for me anyway.
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I have no trouble using the bubble hand-held, even with the earlier finder. I can frame the shot and then shift my eye to the bubble for a quick, final level confirmation, and quickly click the shutter.
 
I've had and liked both finder types. The later one is easier to deal with given my glasses and the eye relief it provides.

G
 
Rob-F said:
Great composition on this one, nick. Excellent use of the SWC's emphasis of the foreground area!
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Thanks Rob! This one was quite tricky... I really wanted to get a shot of Precipitous Bluff (one of the classic peaks of Southwest Tasmania), but it's hard to focus the eye on a distant summit when you're using an ultra-wide!
 
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