Why do I want a Hasselblad 500 c/m?

[Mark T]

How did you find it compared to the Mamiya? Any ideas as to when you would use one or the other?

 

[Johnmcd]

How did you find it compared to the Mamiya? Any ideas as to when you would use one or the other?

The Mamiya is so quick and easy to use. The AE meter is accurate and the RF focus is very quick and dead on. The camera is very light too.

The HB is slow. I struggled to confirm focus and it was slow to bring to the eye, use the magnifying glass then push it back into place and reframe, just to confirm focus. Scale focus would be the way to go for street shooting.

BUT..... the image had that wonderful 3D SLR look in the VF that you never get with an RF. I hope to use my SQA (when it arrives) with a prism and split image screen for fast focusing. It's how I used to use my old Mamiya 645J. Also looking forward to being able to change films mid roll. B/W to colour or a change in ISO.

I like the 6x6 and the fun of using a different camera but if I had to choose the Mamiya 7 is just to good and much more ergonomic for my type of shooting. And the the HB certainly isn't sharper. If it was about results then the Mamiya 6 would be the go but I wanted a different experience.

 

[ChrisN]

Cheers John - nice camera work there under difficult conditions, and good developing and scanning too! Just a shame that there weren't any attractive models to work with!

I think you summed up the Hasselblad experience pretty well. It's certainly slower than a rangefinder, but lots quicker than a 4x5 folding field camera! Thanks too for the play with the OM-D. I'm amazed at the focusing performance with the auto-focus lenses, especially the "tap the screen" method, but I'm afraid my efforts at manual focusing with the OM 24/2.8 were pretty hit-and-miss. It was a fun day despite the long drive, and I'm already looking forward to the next one in October (I'll be hunting for some more lenses for the OM2 I snagged).

 

[Johnmcd]

Cheers John - nice camera work there under difficult conditions, and good developing and scanning too! Just a shame that there weren't any attractive models to work with!

I think you summed up the Hasselblad experience pretty well. It's certainly slower than a rangefinder, but lots quicker than a 4x5 folding field camera! Thanks too for the play with the OM-D. I'm amazed at the focusing performance with the auto-focus lenses, especially the "tap the screen" method, but I'm afraid my efforts at manual focusing with the OM 24/2.8 were pretty hit-and-miss. It was a fun day despite the long drive, and I'm already looking forward to the next one in October (I'll be hunting for some more lenses for the OM2 I snagged).

Yeah, it was a fun day. I'm saving for October already. The Indian food was not too bad either. See you then Chris if not before 🙂

 

[Mark T]

Thanks for your reply John. Like Chris, I too am very impressed with how your HP5 came out. I struggle to get results that smooth with iso 400 film - what film speed/developer do you use out of curiosity?

I enjoyed your comparison of the Mamiya and the Hasselblad. I have found that when I want to use MF, I am quite happy to slow down and take my time with the Hasselblad. I enjoy measuring everything and being responsible for the whole process. However, I have struggled a little bit with the Mamiya for a few reasons. I went on a trip last year (to Tibet) and took the Mamiya 7. WheI got back and developed the film I discovered that I had lost one and a half frames per roll - the camera had just been winding on too far. So I was pretty gutted and haven't entirely forgiven it yet.. But hearing your positive comments makes me think it might be worth persisting with it.

 

[JayC]

I have been thinking the same thing as the OP. I have a Mamiya 7II. I have switched back and forth between that and Hasselblad several times. I took my Mamiya on a week long trip, but it didn't seem fun to me. I am now looking at switching back to Hasselblad. It will be my 4th stint with the camera! AAARRGH!
I went away from it due to the focussing, flipping the magnifier, raising the camera, lowering the camera, etc as mentioned above. But now, I think I will be OK with the slow-ness factor. I think I would just limit myself to the 60mm CF lens. Either that or sell more gear and get a ......

 

[Johnmcd]

Thanks for your reply John. Like Chris, I too am very impressed with how your HP5 came out. I struggle to get results that smooth with iso 400 film - what film speed/developer do you use out of curiosity?

I enjoyed your comparison of the Mamiya and the Hasselblad. I have found that when I want to use MF, I am quite happy to slow down and take my time with the Hasselblad. I enjoy measuring everything and being responsible for the whole process. However, I have struggled a little bit with the Mamiya for a few reasons. I went on a trip last year (to Tibet) and took the Mamiya 7. WheI got back and developed the film I discovered that I had lost one and a half frames per roll - the camera had just been winding on too far. So I was pretty gutted and haven't entirely forgiven it yet.. But hearing your positive comments makes me think it might be worth persisting with it.

Hi Mark,

I shot the HP5 at 400 ISO and developed in Rodinal 50:1. Scanned on a Minolta Multi Scan Pro.

I've been thinking about why I like the Mamiya so much especially in comparison to the H'blad.

1. Very quiet. Just the click of the lense shutter
2. No vibration. Easily shoot down to 1/8 and lower
3. Easier to set aperture and speed

Give it another go 🙂

 

[David R Munson]

110/2 for hassy? wow i never heard about that. you just woke my GAS up 🙁

What is "F"? is it different than the C/M system?

There was a second line of Hasselblad bodies that had a built-in focal-plane shutter. They were able to use all the leaf-shuttered lenses, as well as the handful of lenses *without* shutters, such as the much-lusted-after Zeiss 110mm f/2. You can use leaf-shuttered lenses on the F-series bodies, but you can't use the F-series lenses on the 500C/M or similar. If that 110mm is something you really want (and it really is super-sexy), consider that the lens itself is going to cost you about $2k or more and the bodies aren't exactly cheap, either.

 

[mathomas]

I did finally get my grail Hassy lens, the 110mm f/2. I had to buy a whole kit including a 201F body and a 50mm f/2.8 to get it (not a hardship, except for the $$):



grail: hasselblad 201f + 110mm f/2 by mike thomas, on Flickr