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anyone use a Hasselblad camera ever?
- Thread starter joysum
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I've used the 500C and the Superwide.
In their day, they were superior cameras. Strong points include the outstanding quality of the Zeiss lenses and the big controls which could be used outdoors with gloves on.
The little EV window on the lens made it easy to transfer exposure settings from a light meter.
Changeable film backs saved a lot of time in the field. The leaf shutter gave high speed flash sync.
A major weakness was the coupling between the film wind mechanism and the shutter. A little lever could break, and you would carry on shooting but get no exposures.
+++++++++++++++++
Sony cameras now offer the Zeiss lens quality, which was and is expensive.
In their day, they were superior cameras. Strong points include the outstanding quality of the Zeiss lenses and the big controls which could be used outdoors with gloves on.
The little EV window on the lens made it easy to transfer exposure settings from a light meter.
Changeable film backs saved a lot of time in the field. The leaf shutter gave high speed flash sync.
A major weakness was the coupling between the film wind mechanism and the shutter. A little lever could break, and you would carry on shooting but get no exposures.
+++++++++++++++++
Sony cameras now offer the Zeiss lens quality, which was and is expensive.
Zone8
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The major problem with the film cameras was they did not keep the film flat so "Superior Precision Quality" was just laughable for anyone wanting high precision. A better designed interchangeable back would have easily resolved that major defect. Had that been done, it would then have simply been a case of whether the photographer, if wanting a handheld camera, could manage to work with a rather large lump.
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When I was younger I worked in a Camera store for a while, we dealt with a lot of pro's and I was amazed at the almost daily turnaround of Hasselblad stuff for repairs.
I guess it was hard used pro equipment so maybe in context not so alarming, but I must say it put me off buying one (a dream camera to me then) and now I'd be worried about buying what would probably be a very well used camera likely to need attention at any time.
Not so long after working in the store I bought a Bronica system, which I still have, and which has been faultless all this time.
I guess it was hard used pro equipment so maybe in context not so alarming, but I must say it put me off buying one (a dream camera to me then) and now I'd be worried about buying what would probably be a very well used camera likely to need attention at any time.
Not so long after working in the store I bought a Bronica system, which I still have, and which has been faultless all this time.
Mark Smith145430
Veteran Member
I had several, they are built like tanks and feel very solid almost in an agricultural way. NASA used them for the moon projects, see a picture taken on the moon it was with a 'blad.
I found them pretty reliable and for the punishment I gave them that speaks volumes, the A12 backs could be an issue they sometimes needed servicing but with the hundreds of films per day year in year out we put though our EL with its motor drive with probably 20 or so backs it took a pounding.
Great cameras, even better lenses the 150mm ƒ4 Sonnar sigh... one of the great lenses..
Just google images the 150mm Sonnar (I dare you)
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ericN2
Forum Pro
I'm sure it was without a doubt the happiest 10 or so years of my photo life .. between 1982 and 1992-3 or so. I had finally decided after years of hope, to buy myself a Hass and at the Dealers shop I was overwhelmed to find that I had gone at the exact moment he had a brand-new Hass 2000 model on sale at a special price.... vastly better than the standard Model 500 I had expected.. but better still.. the 2000 had with it what turned out to be I think the best and most enjoyable lens I've ever used .. the T* 110mm Planar f2 which is simply an outstanding lens. I soon put on the camera one of what again then was a much loved addition, a Beattie screen, which was I think imported from Canada - a very finely etched glass screen which you put on top of the in-built focussing screen and the added light that gave for viewing the screen is just incredible - it's like viewing every shot with a searchlight turned on and focussing is just simply unbelievably easy. I quickly thereafter had yet another bargain buy - a Minolta Automate Mk.4 meter which was actually the last of that series before they went digital read-out (and to me.. then far less good generally). The meter - with the white dome to give you either Reflected or Incident light reading was again a super addition to the Hass and EVERY single shot I metered with that.
That Hass series I still believe was a masterpiece which in every way equalled the continued super experience of the old Leica M's (which I also had the pleasure of using two of..) .. an era which of course is long gone and so different now .. but I still have that Hass to this day and I suppose I'll always have it, since with later model changes I suppose it has limited uses in this modern age.
I still have both the camera , also with I think a fairly rare 60mm lens, and the Automate Meter
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/eric
StaK
That Hass series I still believe was a masterpiece which in every way equalled the continued super experience of the old Leica M's (which I also had the pleasure of using two of..) .. an era which of course is long gone and so different now .. but I still have that Hass to this day and I suppose I'll always have it, since with later model changes I suppose it has limited uses in this modern age.
I still have both the camera , also with I think a fairly rare 60mm lens, and the Automate Meter
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/eric
StaK
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ericN2
Forum Pro
Mark -
It's enough to make you weep !!.. one is still listed on Ebay-UK as sold just awhile ago for £75... !!!! .. others not a lot more but NOTHING by way of Bids
I use 501c all the time, with 80mm 2.8 lens, right next to my Leica M3. Love both and they make great images. If you get one, get it serviced and it will be good for another 20 years.
I used mine in -25C weather and the controls where easy to use with gloves on.
I used mine in -25C weather and the controls where easy to use with gloves on.
But you probably haven't been hammering your Bronica as those customers did their Blads.
The Incredible Hoke
Leading Member
Still use my Hasselblad 501cm. It's the one camera I would never sell or choose to part with. It's also the camera that my wife always requests I take on trips or vacations. It takes up some room, but I've taken it lots of places.
What I like about it is that it's incredible solid and takes any abuse you throw at it. I've used it in the rain, the snow, in minus -20F temps, on a tripod, handheld. It just works. And I also like the satisfying "ker-thunk" sound of the shutter.
edhannon
Senior Member
I picked up used Hassy 500C and got 80mm, and 150 mm lenses for it.
Used it for all of my film classes at college.
Prints from it made even prof green with envy!
But don't use it now - film is just not worth the hassle anymore.
Do have an adaptor for Hassy mount to Pentax K-Mount. Plan to take a few images to compare to my Pentax 77mm ltd and 135mm IF.
Used it for all of my film classes at college.
Prints from it made even prof green with envy!
But don't use it now - film is just not worth the hassle anymore.
Do have an adaptor for Hassy mount to Pentax K-Mount. Plan to take a few images to compare to my Pentax 77mm ltd and 135mm IF.
roby17269
Senior Member
I've rented a H5D-50 (with the 50mp digital back) and my impressions are...
- absolutely adored the image quality - true 16bit + CCD sensor give you smooth tonalities that CMOS sensors cannot and the details are on another planet as well
- great viewfinder so much bigger than 35mm cameras'
- very basic operations
- very different ergonomics from current DSLRs
- slow
- big and heavy (lenses as well)
- files are huge and it's not so much an issue of storage space but of computing power to process them
I would still buy one
roby17269
Senior Member
I've rented a H5D-50 (with the 50mp digital back) and my impressions are...
I would still buy one
- absolutely adored the image quality - true 16bit + CCD sensor give you smooth tonalities that CMOS sensors cannot and the details are on another planet as well
- great viewfinder so much bigger than 35mm cameras'
- very basic operations
- very different ergonomics from current DSLRs
- slow
- big and heavy (lenses as well)
- files are huge and it's not so much an issue of storage space but of computing power to process them
I would still buy one
Years ago an owner of a camera store told me that the English translation of Hasselblad was Broken
ericN2
Forum Pro
Well it sure ain't broken when you get one new..
Did you know that back in those days it took TWO years to fully make and complete a Hasseklblad ready for sellling. I believe the process was even longer than that of the Leica M's in their prime years
It really was just a joke.
I never owned a Hasselblad because I never felt the need for one. Which is a way of saying my wife would not let me spend the money.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
I vaguely recalled something in the news about Hasselblad when the Minolta Maxxum product line was introduced in the 80s. It might have been Hasselblad that was hired to pen the Maxxum's body style. Minolta became so popular with their AF cameras, "world's first and only human eyes focus faster" although their AF technology infringed Honeywell's patents. The Maxxum body style was beautiful in looks and in ergonomics. That style helped boosting sales tremendously, too.
If it's indeed Hasselblad that did it for Minolta, now carried on to Sony, millions and millions and millions and millions of people have had "used" Hasselblad in a way.
I vaguely recalled something in the news about Hasselblad when the Minolta Maxxum product line was introduced in the 80s. It might have been Hasselblad that was hired to pen the Maxxum's body style. Minolta became so popular with their AF cameras, "world's first and only human eyes focus faster" although their AF technology infringed Honeywell's patents. The Maxxum body style was beautiful in looks and in ergonomics. That style helped boosting sales tremendously, too.
If it's indeed Hasselblad that did it for Minolta, now carried on to Sony, millions and millions and millions and millions of people have had "used" Hasselblad in a way.
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ericN2
Forum Pro
I think you may be just a little confused on this... Somewhere roundabout the 1975 period or so, Leica had the desire to take the next step and bring out a new Leica range of different style. But they never really seem to have had the courage to take the first step openly themselves so they combined with Minolta to design and market a new-look camera with what was indeed a superb reflex style and super microprism metering system..It was sold as the Minolta XE ..I had one and it was indeed a superb camera. So superb in fact that Leica clearly realised that they had the basics of the new style Leica they wanted so poor old Minolta was dropped and then we saw the first of the "new" Leica R cameras as I remember it.
After having beloved use of the Leica M's , on reflection later I did what I still regard as maybe the daftest thing of my camera life..swapped my Leica M3 for one of the new Leica R's. I soon realised I'd dropped a clanger alas , but it was too late. I did not have a Leica after that - never really had any same regard for the Leica reflexes as I'd had for the Leica M's and just a little while thereafter I got my Hasselblad which was treasured from that day to this.
But Minolta did go on to greater things.. they'd had the initial thrust of the successful XE and it just advanced from then. I still have warm feelings for Minolta of those days..the XE was not the only one of theirs that I had and all were exceedingly good cameras.
As I googled the images of the Minolta XE that you quoted, it does not have the grip like the Maxxum. The XE bored the normal rangefinder looks. On the Maxxum, the designer was clever to house the batteries in the functional hand grip.
My very first camera was the Minolta Maxxum 7000 and a zoom lens, paid with half my monthly paycheck. Their ad caught my attention when I shopped at Fedco. That much money spent compelled me to read articles to know more about Minolta at the time. As I wrote earlier, I recalled vaguely about Minolta "hired" Hasselblad to pen the Maxxum's body style.
Normally, it's a "way" of Asian nations in producing products to "copy" like Lexus copied Mercedes, BMW's styling cues, Honda copied Harley Davidson, Yamaha copied Steinway, copied Harley Davidson's "one potato, two potato" exhaust notes\, etc. Minolta was better, they hired a renowned designer from Europe to pen the style instead of copying. Years later, it was a shock to me after knowing about Honeywell's lawsuits.
Anyway, the OP asked "anyone use a Hasselblad camera ever?" If Hasselblad penned the Maxxum's body style then I say that tens of millions of people "used" Hasselblad (Maxxum body) and they didn't know it.
I may be wrong about the name Hasseblad but I'm very sure about Minota hiring Europeans to style their Maxxum cameras.
My very first camera was the Minolta Maxxum 7000 and a zoom lens, paid with half my monthly paycheck. Their ad caught my attention when I shopped at Fedco. That much money spent compelled me to read articles to know more about Minolta at the time. As I wrote earlier, I recalled vaguely about Minolta "hired" Hasselblad to pen the Maxxum's body style.
Normally, it's a "way" of Asian nations in producing products to "copy" like Lexus copied Mercedes, BMW's styling cues, Honda copied Harley Davidson, Yamaha copied Steinway, copied Harley Davidson's "one potato, two potato" exhaust notes\, etc. Minolta was better, they hired a renowned designer from Europe to pen the style instead of copying. Years later, it was a shock to me after knowing about Honeywell's lawsuits.
Anyway, the OP asked "anyone use a Hasselblad camera ever?" If Hasselblad penned the Maxxum's body style then I say that tens of millions of people "used" Hasselblad (Maxxum body) and they didn't know it.
I may be wrong about the name Hasseblad but I'm very sure about Minota hiring Europeans to style their Maxxum cameras.
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