135 format to medium format.

rayonline_nz · Dec 17, 2014

Thru a no. of years thinking. The RB67 was really too large for travel work etc .. I do scapes overseas. Unless I am in my own country and have a car. I thought about the Hassie 500 due to the smaller size yeah .. and also because it has film backs to shoot b/w as well. But who knows I could get a P67 with Mirror Lock Up if I were only going to shoot color and the neg is larger yes.

Re: my tripod. The Gitzo traveler is my lighter tripod I got just for travel. I went out and got it just for that. It is folded 30cm and weighs like 1kg or 2lbs including the small ball head like a Markins QT. It is one of those fold back tripods (180 degrees). Hence my question and I was hesistant to throw a P67 on that. Or would it work?

Sirius Glass · Dec 17, 2014

I would not say that the RB67 is too large for travel, work, ... I find that the RB67 is a bit large for my hands while the Hasselblad fits in my hands well.

rayonline_nz · Dec 17, 2014

Sirius Glass said:
I would not say that the RB67 is too large for travel, work, ... I find that the RB67 is a bit large for my hands while the Hasselblad fits in my hands well.

Really? Would be on holiday and doing hobby photography and out all day with the thing. Won't go back to the hotel and bring it out. The RB is one of the larger ones right ....

johnha · Dec 17, 2014

rayonline_nz said:
Thru a no. of years thinking. The RB67 was really too large for travel work etc .. I do scapes overseas. Unless I am in my own country and have a car. I thought about the Hassie 500 due to the smaller size yeah .. and also because it has film backs to shoot b/w as well. But who knows I could get a P67 with Mirror Lock Up if I were only going to shoot color and the neg is larger yes.

It depends on how much of a 'system' you want or need. The RB/RZ or Hasselblad have removable backs (the RB/RZ are really 7x7 cameras due to the revolving backs), the 'blads are very expensive if you want/need more than one lens. As far as the P67 goes, it is ideally suited to travel work, a second P67 body and an extra lens is going to be cheaper than a 'blad with two lenses and two film backs, the more lenses you buy the better the P67 eqaution becomes.

bdial · Dec 17, 2014

rayonline_nz said:
Really? Would be on holiday and doing hobby photography and out all day with the thing. Won't go back to the hotel and bring it out. The RB is one of the larger ones right ....

Yes, RB's are pretty big, a Hasselblad is small and compact in comparison.
As for suitability for travel, they are all suitable if that's what you want. I've never traveled with an RB, but have traveled with lots of other cameras bigger and smaller than Hasselblads or RB's. I'd pick the camera according to what fits the way you'd like to work. Lugability is part of that but so is the way it fits your body and your vision.
As long as transporting it isn't impossible for you for some reason, you'll find a way to deal with it.

FWIW, I don't understand all the hand-wringing about mirror slap or using this or that at slow speeds. Hand holding slow speeds with my Hasselblad has never been a problem for me. YMMV

rayonline_nz · Dec 17, 2014

johnha said:
It depends on how much of a 'system' you want or need. The RB/RZ or Hasselblad have removable backs (the RB/RZ are really 7x7 cameras due to the revolving backs), the 'blads are very expensive if you want/need more than one lens. As far as the P67 goes, it is ideally suited to travel work, a second P67 body and an extra lens is going to be cheaper than a 'blad with two lenses and two film backs, the more lenses you buy the better the P67 eqaution becomes.

How do you define expensive? I think the 40mm is more expensive quite a bit than the 50mm. But from memory doesn't KEH sell them for like $500US? I would be getting the older C T*. The most modern P67 model is more expensive than a older Hassie right? But I thinkt the P67 leneses are cheaper.

Yeah I am just not sure if a Gitzo G1150 can handle the P67. That is a tripod for a compact SLR right...

I generally shoot at sunrise/set and twilight. 15 seconds etc ...

flavio81 · Dec 17, 2014

bdial said:
Yes, RB's are pretty big, a Hasselblad is small and compact in comparison.
As for suitability for travel, they are all suitable if that's what you want. I've never traveled with an RB, but have traveled with lots of other cameras bigger and smaller than Hasselblads or RB's. I'd pick the camera according to what fits the way you'd like to work. Lugability is part of that but so is the way it fits your body and your vision.
As long as transporting it isn't impossible for you for some reason, you'll find a way to deal with it.

Excellent advice and I agree.

andrew.roos · Dec 18, 2014

rayonline_nz said:
Is a Gitzo traveler tripod ok, I know that a Pentax 67 would have a lot of mirror slap on such a light tripod. What about the Hasselblad?

I use a Gitzo 2540 with my 6x4.5 Bronica. I shoot with mirror up, using a cable release, and if it's windy I weight the tripod down with my camera bag. The resulting pics are dead sharp at 12x16" when I get everything else right. Of course, mirror up eliminates the mirror slap and one of the advantages of a leaf shutter system like the 'blad or Bronica is that the shutter movement is very slight, and symmetrical, and not prone to causing vibration.

film_man · Dec 18, 2014

rayonline_nz said:
Really? Would be on holiday and doing hobby photography and out all day with the thing. Won't go back to the hotel and bring it out. The RB is one of the larger ones right ....

I carry my RB on holidays, I use the grip to handhold it and a Thinktank Retrospective 30 to carry it around and can be out all day without problems. Yes the Hasselblad is smaller but a 35mm camera is even smaller and when the RB is in the bag it is not that much different to carrying anything else. The extra weight of the RB vs the Hasselblad is like carrying a thick guide book and a couple of bottles of water in the bag.

I don't generally carry extra lenses though so if you were to take the Hasselblad and a couple of lenses that is not something I'd want to do with the RB.

film_man · Dec 18, 2014

bdial said:
FWIW, I don't understand all the hand-wringing about mirror slap or using this or that at slow speeds. Hand holding slow speeds with my Hasselblad has never been a problem for me. YMMV

I'm just curious what sort of "slow" speeds are we talking about? The best I could reliably do is 1/60 with both a 501CM and 500ELX and a standard lens. Below that I would generally not bother taking the shot as I knew 9 shots out of 10 camera shake would be visible.

Slixtiesix · Dec 18, 2014

I agree that the mirror slap of a 500 Series Hasselblad feels quite pronounced. Even with my 555ELD, which is said to have the most advanced mirror mechanism. I have the feeling that the 2000FC of a friend is a bit better. Better still is the SL66, which is very well damped!
However, the Hasselblad system has one great advantage: When you lock up the mirror, the aux shutter also opens and you only use the central shutter for the actual exposure, so practically no vibration. I think this gives it the edge agains the SL when used on a tripod. For handheld shooting I was more comfortable with the SL66, although the overall ergonomics are better suited for tripod work.

Pioneer · Dec 18, 2014

Mirror vibration or camera shake may or may not be a problem for you. BUT, for the majority of people who like to enlarge big (and why else would you bother with medium format) then it IS a problem.

If you can afford the camera, the lenses and the film, then buy the right tripod. And use it.

There is nothing more deflating than finding a really good photo and trying to enlarge big, only to find out it looks blurry and soft when enlarged past 8x10. Believe me, that proud guy on the forum who can create wonderful, shake free, handheld, photos with his Hasselblad doesn't have to live with your disappointment when you find out that you can't.

135 format to medium format.

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