Some Hasselblad Questions?

One doesn't shoot a camera for the sound, Keith! ;)

I'd agree with the earlier posts reccomending a 501CM or a clean 500CM. You'll likely find that the added electronics not very useful unless you are shooting lots of on-camera strobe work. If I were using Hassy for weddings I'd go for electronics but since most is either field or studio I like the simplicity of manual oeprations.

A prism is useful in some situations but the WLF is great in 90% of situations. Using WLF is definitely NOT "getting stuckl" as I think you said in first post. Generally I find that people saying that either don't have experience with WLF or are short and find that WLF give too low of a POV in too many situations.

Suggest a good monopod or tripod for best success.

Re: prices... do your own price survey. Ebay completed is a good place to start, as is KEH or other reseller. Soem of the nubmers given here are low if you want good equipment. Take thos numbers and double to get the real range: e.g. $300 150mm lens really is selling for $300 to $600 (closer to 600) if you want EX rather than Bargain/UG.
 
Gumby said:
One doesn't shoot a camera for the sound, Keith! ;)

I'd agree with the earlier posts reccomending a 501CM or a clean 500CM. You'll likely find that the added electronics not very useful unless you are shooting lots of on-camera strobe work. If I were using Hassy for weddings I'd go for electronics but since most is either field or studio I like the simplicity of manual oeprations.

A prism is useful in some situations but the WLF is great in 90% of situations. Using WLF is definitely NOT "getting stuckl" as I think you said in first post. Generally I find that people saying that either don't have experience with WLF or are short and find that WLF give too low of a POV in too many situations.

Suggest a good monopod or tripod for best success.

Re: prices... do your own price survey. Ebay completed is a good place to start, as is KEH or other reseller. Soem of the nubmers given here are low if you want good equipment. Take thos numbers and double to get the real range: e.g. $300 150mm lens really is selling for $300 to $600 (closer to 600) if you want EX rather than Bargain/UG.
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True we don't shoot them for the sound but the wallop when the guy fired the shutter surprised me ... it must have been very noisy on the moon all those years ago! :p

I was looking at KEH's site today and thay have a lot of Hasselblad gear ... generally much better priced than what I saw on ebay! I bought my Bronica 100mm lens from them and they were great to deal with.

A couple of members have PM'd me who have cameras they're interested in selling and I'll get back to them very soon ... I would really much rather buy from someone on this forum. I've bought a lot of cameras from eBay that have had to have repairs in spite of the generous descriptions of their faultless condition! :rolleyes:

I think a Hassy will be a very good compliment/companion to my RF645 which is basically more like a big 35mm rangefinder and is highly suited to hand held work. I don't really feel a need to go any larger than 6x6 at this stage ... but why not have the best and I love what I've seen from the Zeiss lenses so far. :)
 
I put a Beattie screen in my 500cm, you might need sunglasses. ;-)

I also really prefer the WLF to the prisms, unless you are shooting 645 in which case you have little choice.

I also found the Kiev 88 split image screens to be the best thing they make, and they should drop in to late 500c and 500cm's and up if you have one with an older darker screen.

A good screen and WLF make a solid combination, and as I did a lot of early work with a Rollei TLR it feels right. I also like the perspective of using a WLF and the camera feels snug. A lousy screen will slow you down and really hurt seeing for composition in all but the center.

I have the 50 FLE, 80 and 180 T* lenses, plus I picked up a Superwide which is an interesting camera. All seem sharp, but I would opt for the 180 over the 150. A lot depends on what you find at a price interesting to you. Anything you buy at a good price you will not be married to, you can pass it along if it does not suit you.

If you buy the non evil Superwide you can move the thread. ;-)

Regards, John
 
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FrankS said:
In the vacuum of space, no one can hear you scream (or the sound of a Hasselblad shutter).
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Was probably quieter in air as well, did they not remove the mirrors? I do wonder how they made sure the shot was taken, the advance vibration?

If I ever see Harrison Schmidt again I will ask him. ;-)

I think one earlier was left in orbit, and as I recall, Hasselblad offered a reward for its return. ;-)


John
 
JohnTF said:
If I ever see Harrison Schmidt again I will ask him. ;-)

I think one earlier was left in orbit, and as I recall, Hasselblad offered a reward for its return. ;-)
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I believe his had most of the the guts removed to make it lighter, including the mirror.

The one lost in space probably re-entered already in a flaming streak. There is at least one still on the surface of the moon, if you'd like to retrieve a real collectors item!
 
Gumby said:
I believe his had most of the the guts removed to make it lighter, including the mirror.

The one lost in space probably re-entered already in a flaming streak. There is at least one still on the surface of the moon, if you'd like to retrieve a real collectors item!
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It was my understanding that only the film cartridges came back, 70mm?

I recall reading that even the early ones were from a local shop off the shelf -- stripped of anything that would reduce weight, am guessing they used some sort of sports/direct finders. Exposure should not be much of a problem as it is always a sunny day on the side of the moon they landed on.

In the "From the Earth to the Moon" series, they made a point about wanting a telephoto and adjusting the weight elsewhere. The program shows what looks to be a blad in use for their first photos on the surface.

Am guessing the command module cameras returned, but I think most people would swap a Zeiss lens for a piece of the lunar regolith.

The last three missions were the real science missions, amazing how far they had come so fast in the complexity of the missions.

I thought it was brilliant marketing to offer a reward for the return of the "lost" blad.

John

I have since read that there are 12 Blads on the Moon, all were converted essentially to box cameras with 60mm lenses, and the dark slides were made much larger. ;-)

J
 
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One thing not mentioned yet is the weight of some of the lenses. I have a 500cm with 50, 80 and 150 lenses. The 50 and 150 are both old style and don't be put off by warnings of inferiority on the old C lenses - they're still great and comparable in relative terms between old and new Leica glass, yes they do have older shutters which are more vulnerable but they can still be serviced or repaired.

Whilst the 80mm is a great compact and lightweight lens with stellar performance (as good as the 100mm I've read) the 50mm Distagon is a beast of a lens - large and heavy, full of solid German engineering and solid Zeiss glass. The performance is great but don't think you'll be able to carry around a 500cm/50/80/150 set in the same way you an a Leica 35/50/90.

That's enough about the gear - the photos speak for themselves...
 
I've made the decision to buy a 500CM body with an acute matte screen that was offered to me by a member at an excellent price and will add to this as I can. So I'll be looking for a waist level finder, a couple of film backs and an 80mm lens to kick off with ... maybe a 150mm also depending on finances. I think this is the way to go rather than buy a kit that may have things with it that I don't really want at this stage.

I have plenty of work at the moment and things are looking up a bit so hopefully I won't have to sell anything to get into a couple of lenses. If I do decide to sell an RF body though it won't really hurt as I have several that just don't get used!

I hope a Hassy and particularly the Zeiss glass lives up to my expectations and I thank you all for the very informed advice! :)
 
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I went through a Blad phase when I shot a lot of corporate work and felt like I needed to be compliant to expectations -- but that was back when the stuff fetched dear prices, now everything is dirt cheap and sometimes you can find it for fire sale prices!

I really like the 60/100 combo for ultimate quality, or 38SWC/60/100/180 if thinking in ultimate terms.

The downsides are 1. the Compur shutters have pentagonal apertures and frankly, if you are a bokeh freak, Blad lenses are not ideal unless you shoot round/wide open. 2. The mirror slap is real when compared to a RF or TLR, which can be handheld at 1-2 stops lower in the same situation. 3. The viewfinders are tough for my eyes, the best was the rigid chimney finder.

In the end I found that I really enjoyed shooting with Rollei TLRs more and I weaned myself off the $10,000 Blad investment. It was a big relief because owning such an expensive camera prohibited me from taking it outdoors, in the rain, leaving it in the car, etc.

The one Blad I kind of wished I tried was the FC-series with the beautiful 110/2 lens. I've seen wonderful photos with that one.

Now that they are cheaper I know you'll have fun with it and it is sort of required photo experience... I can still load the backs in the dark and I still don't know where to stick the A12 darkslide ;-)

Look for a 100 or a 60 over the 80 imho. You might as well get a Rolleiflex TLR if you're going to shoot with the 80 Planar!
 
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Keith said:
I've made the decision to buy a 500CM body with an acute matte screen that was offered to me by a member at an excellent price and will add to this as I can. So I'll be looking for a waist level finder, a couple of film backs and an 80mm lens to kick off with ... maybe a 150mm also depending on finances. I think this is the way to go rather than buy a kit that may have things with it that I don't really want at this stage.

I have plenty of work at the moment and things are looking up a bit so hopefully I won't have to sell anything to get into a couple of lenses. If I do decide to sell an RF body though it won't really hurt as I have several that just don't get used!

I hope a Hassy and particularly the Zeiss glass lives up to my expectations and I thank you all for the very informed advice! :)
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I think that's a good choice as the 500cm probably has the best price/performance ratio of all the 500 series cameras. Get the 150mm now if you can as it's never been cheaper. You can get a BGN grade 150mm CF from Keh for $235 which is ridiculously cheap.

Personally, I have a 501cm which I've been using exclusively for the last three years. Started out with 80mm, 150mm and 250mm C lenses that were included with the camera. Over time I got rid of all three and replaced them with 50mm, 80mm and 150mm CF lenses. As I'm including digital in my work now I decided to downsize the kit and replace the 50mm and 80mm lenses with a 60mm lens which means I'll be left with a 60mm/150mm lens set up.
 
Frank Petronio said:
I went through a Blad phase when I shot a lot of corporate work and felt like I needed to be compliant to expectations -- but that was back when the stuff fetched dear prices, now everything is dirt cheap and sometimes you can find it for fire sale prices!

I really like the 60/100 combo for ultimate quality, or 38SWC/60/100/180 if thinking in ultimate terms.

The downsides are 1. the Compur shutters have pentagonal apertures and frankly, if you are a bokeh freak, Blad lenses are not ideal unless you shoot round/wide open. 2. The mirror slap is real when compared to a RF or TLR, which can be handheld at 1-2 stops lower in the same situation. 3. The viewfinders are tough for my eyes, the best was the rigid chimney finder.

In the end I found that I really enjoyed shooting with Rollei TLRs more and I weaned myself off the $10,000 Blad investment. It was a big relief because owning such an expensive camera prohibited me from taking it outdoors, in the rain, leaving it in the car, etc.

The one Blad I kind of wished I tried was the FC-series with the beautiful 110/2 lens. I've seen wonderful photos with that one.

Now that they are cheaper I know you'll have fun with it and it is sort of required photo experience... I can still load the backs in the dark and I still don't know where to stick the A12 darkslide ;-)

Look for a 100 or a 60 over the 80 imho. You might as well get a Rolleiflex TLR if you're going to shoot with the 80 Planar!
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Thanks for your thoughts on the Hasselblad system Frank.

I think you're right, this is something I have to try and cameras that I love don't necessarily have to fit the mould so the Blad may turn out to be nirvana. I dearly love my Iskra and in some ways it's a pig of a camera so who knows! :p

I have a Rolleiflex ... haven't developed an affinity with it yet but maybe that will happen somewhere down the line also! :D
 
With the standard 80 it's beautifully compact, well balanced and hand-holdable. With the rest, I generally prefer a tripod.

Cheers,

R.
 
The 500 is what I have (for years and years), still works great. The mirror "clunk" is part of shooting a Hassy, probably not slower than 1/15th (1/30th is possible handheld... leaning against something solid, like a tripod) ;).

I use the 80mm but have shot with a 40 and 150, the 80mm planar is probably the most popular because that's what it came with, great lens though.

Good luck and let's see some pics.

Todd
 
Keith, good luck on the odds and ends, one day they will appear, but a lot of folks are making more on the parts than the cameras.

I had a 500C body for a year until I found the rest for Zu, and I ended up with a spare user 500C body, and some well used backs, plus two 45 degree user prisms. I don't think she will lose any sleep if she gets a scratch on the prisms or a ding on one of the backs.

I just bought a cover from Hong Kong for one of the A12's, it has double stick tape to attach and make it look "modern" with the slide clip. I found a couple of dark slides in NY NOS for $10 or so.

If I see some cosmetically challenged lenses I will make a case by case selection, but it seemed as soon as I was looking for this stuff, it all went into hiding. ;-)

If you see a FSU Kiev 88 replacement ground glass cheap, think about it as well, was the best thing they made perhaps, and drops in the 500CM.

I like the 45 degree prisms OK, but I do not like a too heavy prism on any camera like this one.

I also had the Nikon Close Up, as I recall, in sufficient size for the Blad, it works very well.


John
 
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