Finally got into my second (serious) format

[Peter S.]

Dear fellow camera collectors,

as I am a confessing Minolta manual focus afficionado due to the high
quality (and low price) of the Rokkor glass, I had a hard time to come
to my second serios system - I don't count that pretty OK Olympus
C8080-WZ I use to prepare my fast digital photos as a serious system
;-) - although it might be treated as such, but it lacks the fun part -
so, here we are. In my possesion since a couple of hours (film is
expected to arrive tomorrow, but weather forecast is bad :-( ):



Its a Hassi 500c/m with a T* planar 2.8/80 mounted, a single coated
Distagon 4/50 and a single coated Sonnar 5.6/250. I got the
complete kit for about 450 € - so I just need to add a 150mm
lens, and the setup would be perfect (I am not a big wide angle
buff, so I will do my wide angle shots with the Minolta, and I
would avoid the lens envy for the 40mm wide.

I am extremely curious on the outcomes.

I made a lot of aquisitions over the last two month (poor wallet) -
maybe I show You some of the other ones later. Moreover I don't
know, whether this Hassi acquisition is anounced here in the
correct rubric, as I don't know, whether it could be counted as
a bargain. The camera looks OK, the lenses got a lot of marks
on the outside, but their glass is OK. The shutters seem to
work, too. I really don't know, as it is my first contact to medium
format.

What do You think?

Best regards
Peter

[majicman]

Good for you . Medium format is great I love it 100 times more than 35mm. I hope you have fun with this one. I have 9 medium format cameras. My favorite ones are the Mamyiaflex the Mamyia C220f and the Zoyiet which is a Russian copy of the Hasselblad.

[PeterW]

Peter,
Once you get used to the Hasselblad you'll love it - the most expensive box camera ever made.

My late wife Valerie bought one new round about 1985 or 86 when she was shooting a lot of colour covers for magazines. She had two lenses, the standard 80mm Planar and a 50mm Flektogon, a superb lens. She used the Flektogon for about 80% of her shots, all on Fujichrome.

The outfit cost a medium sized fortune when she bought it, and it went for a CLA every two years even though it never seemed to need it, which also wasn't cheap. But in the 10 years she used the camera it paid for itself time and again. She took hundreds of pictures with it and it never ever missed a beat.

When you can't afford to have a camera let you down it pays to buy quality. When it was eventually sold it fetched nearly three quarters of its original price, not bad after 10 years hard work, even allowing for inflation.

Since then the prices have dropped dramatically, and a good condition Hasselblad must be one of the best bargains going.

PeterW

[Peter S.]

Dear Ron,

I don't know whether I do understand You correctly (sorry, my English might look better than it
actually is :-( ). So You say, it were better to buy a camera set in pieces than as a complete
packet?
Well, my experiences in the bay of evil are completely different. I acquired some of my Minolta
stuff by buying packages, testing everything, and selling those pieces I allready had. I got
quite a few cameras and lenses for little money doing so. Besides those guys that bought
stuff from me, seem to be happy with it either. I try hard not to offer bad deals, i.e. if I know
of poor condition, I tell that (I've thrown away a few lenses, too - the garbage men took
both the waiste and my pity on those gear).
So all in all, I am _very_ happy that I was able to get three different lenses and two film
backs in a lot.

But back to the Hassie (and back to You, dear Peter W.),

Yes: I will love the Hassie! The controls are absolutely ergonomic. No gimmicks, but all the
useful features are there. One just needs to get the EV value by some other means - I did
this with very good success on my SR-T 101. So I don't fear that. The machining of the
camera is really beautiful. Oh, and I love the feature of the built in loupe for exact focussing.

I put a Velvia into it this noon. It was easy. I misfired the first shot - there was too little light,
since with the film the bad wheather arrived here :-( . But then I took two more, and I got
the impression, that everything should be OK. I used the Mirror-Lock-Up and a cable release.
I just need some more training to get used to the left-right-confusion... but, OK, I had the
250mm lens on it. Maybe it is easier with the normal.

I was surprised by the film cost: the Velvia was 18 € for a pack of 5. It seems that MF is not
a terribly expensive hobby.

But I did shot my XD-7 today, too. The weather was mediocre, and I didn't want to spoil the
6x6 film estate...

Best regards
Peter

PS: I am full of hope, that my Hassie was a bargain. Even if it was one, I couldn't
afford twice a month.

[bobm]

Peter (S): There's a UK photographer called Charlie Waite who had a fascinating series on TV called 'Seeing Scotland'. All through it, he used nothing but a Hassy on a tripod and, I think, a 150mm lens.

www.charliewaite.com/gallery.asp

[Peter S.]

Dear Bob,

You don't exactely calm down my lens envy, as I already stated my lust for the short tele...
... it will be my next bigger acquisition.

And Thank You for the link! A lot of beautiful pictures. Besides, I think, it can help me to
develop the feeling for the aestetics of the square format.

Best regards
Peter

[PeterW]

Peter:

One just needs to get the EV value by some other means - I did this with very good success on my SR-T 101. So I don't fear that.

This might sound a little odd, but Valerie nearly always used her Canon F1 metering as an 'exposure meter' for the Haselblad. She sometimes bracketed one stop up and down, but usually the indication from the Canon was spot on.

When she was working on assignment I usually acted as caddy, carrying two big camera bags and a heavy Schianski tripod. To continue the metaphor, If she was working at a static rally, or a motor show or trade exhibition, I usually took along a modified golf trolley to cart the stuff about.

As well as the Hasselblad she took her Canon F1 loaded with colour transparency, an A1 loaded with colour neg, another A1 loaded with black and white and a spare Canon body, plus a battery of lenses. Then there was the tripod, two Metz hammer-head flashes and two chargers for charging them if we managed to get a lunch break where there was an electric socket, plus spare ready charged batteries if we couldn't, plus a smaller Sunpak flash, three slave trigger units and a 3ft folding reflector. Oh yes, and masses of film.

Talk about 'be prepared'! But then if someone was paying her to take pictures she couldn't afford for the equipment to let her down.

As well as being caddy I had to interview people and get information for writing the blurb that went with the pictures. Who said freelance photography and writing was an easy life? It isn't, but it beats working for a living. And was excellent exercise. .

PeterW

[Peter S.]

Dear Peter W.,

I don't think it were odd using a second camera with a reliable meter for metering the
exposure of the MF gear. I thought by myself, I might pack the Oly 8080 into the
Hasselblad case, just to do some digital test shots in order to find the optimum exposure
value in critical situations. In simple ones my small Gossen Lunasix is expected to be
fully sufficient.

I guess that the same consideration is even more true for large format. Isn't is?

Best regards
Peter

[bobm]

Thank You for the link! A lot of beautiful pictures. Besides, I think, it can help me to
develop the feeling for the aestetics of the square format.

I don't have a Hassy (and in that I envy you, but in the nicest possible way... , but I do have a Yashica 635 and I found that in addition to the camera being totally manual and thus slowing one down and considering a shot, the 6x6 format also made one think about composition more.

You'll love it...

I have to admit that I like the idea of LF view cameras and this is something that I'd like to explore further myself.

[Peter S.]

Dear Bob,

I ran into LF by accident - and a bit of despair. The despair for not
finding a Hasselblad that would fit my financial situation, after
regulary scanning the bay of evil for maybe three month.

Then an old Arca Swiss camera came along, and I got to for the
minimum bid, which was less than one needs to pay for even a
mediocre 500c.

You could have a peek here:

cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=005&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=150083663143&rd=1&rd=1

It is equipped with a Schneider lens from the early 70ies, manufactured
still with a single coating. I don't know whether this affects its
value more than its usability. But I suspect so. Anyway I ordered
film, and found a lab that would develop my slides. The camera
is capable of doing _all_ those fancy shift/tilt operations. The cold
operation (i.e. training without film) didn't show any defects.
The lens is fine, and so is the shutter.

The Hasselblad acquisition was unexpected at that time. But I think
the two systems do complement more than they compete each
other.

Btw. I found the cost of LF being less horrifying than reported.
Film plus development should be in the order of 4.50 € per shot.
I don't estimate doing more than a few shots each month, so it
won't hurt me. Scanning the large slide should be a lot easier than
the 6x6 from the Hassie.

I hope I will have pictures from both systems by the end of march.

Best regards
Peter

[bobm]

Nice bit of kit Peter.

Look forward to seeing some of your images from both systems.