Hasselblad 501CM - $1800 - would you bite?

[Autonerd]

Gut feeling is to turn it down, and keep looking. But that is based on my experience with a 500C + 80mm (much older). So, people with experience, what would you do? Would you be worried buying Hasselblad gear that is 20 years old and which haven't been used for the last seven years?

Can't speak to the 'Blad, but I have bought several cameras that were much older than 20 years and had spent years idle (my own Pentax KX fell into that category). Few issues provided batteries weren't left in and the camera wasn't exposed to extreme heat/cold.

And would I pull the trigger? No -- I'd get a Mamiya and spend the change on an airplane ticket to someplace exotic where I could take photos with it.

Aaron

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

go to the arax website and get a 88cm/mlu, you won't be sorry

John: are these still available? I thought the manufacturing stopped some years ago.

 

[removed account4]

You might be right. I think I found a 501CM, 80mm CB, Acute Matte and A12 with matching inserts for $1400.

don't forget to factor. in a CLA for the camera, lenses and film backs

John: are these still available? I thought the manufacturing stopped some years ago.

Yes, the manufacture of the Kiev's stopped years ago, but as far as I know George is still working on the Arax rebuilds , ... I could be wrong, he and I haven't exchanged emails in a few years,
and the covid thing might have changed everything...

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Yes, the manufacture of the Kiev's stopped years ago, but as far as I know George is still working on the Arax rebuilds , ... I could be wrong, he and I haven't exchanged emails in a few years,
and the covid thing might have changed everything...

Only the ARAX-CM-MLU/SE (Special Edition) kit seems to be available now priced at $1245.

 

[removed account4]

Only the ARAX-CM-MLU/SE (Special Edition) kit seems to be available now priced at $1245.

name engraved in the camera leather -- that looks nice!!
maybe they slowed down in manufacturing because of the virus and will be ramping up again so more things will be available down the road.. ?
from time to time the Arax appears on the big auction sites, and George does CLA's too from what I remember ..

 

[Sirius Glass]

You might be right. I think I found a 501CM, 80mm CB, Acute Matte and A12 with matching inserts for $1400.

Of course I am right. I only made one mistake in my life: Once I thought that I had made a mistake in judgement but when I went back to look at it, it turned out that I had been right all along.

 

[Alan Gales]

Of course I am right. I only made one mistake in my life: Once I thought that I had made a mistake in judgement but when I went back to look at it, it turned out that I had been right all along.

You are like the Fonz on Happy Days. Ritchie once asked him if he ever made a mistake which Fonzie answered that he overslept once.

 

[Alan Gales]

the difference is a blad is a status symbol for a lot of people, like-a Leica, or high rolling DSLR or LF +10,000 lenses .. for some, its bling.
they can't photograph to save their lives so they have a conversation piece.
whatever. . its their money, and keeps them happy. funny thing is people think photography has to do with all in the expensive coveted gear, and they don't realize that most of photography has nothing to do with gear, and a lot of it is just overpriced.

How Ken Rockwellian of you, John!

I like how Ken Rockwell says the camera doesn't matter and all the people get mad at him because they have no idea what he is talking about!

The most important thing in photography is a lump of grey mass between your ears.

 

[removed account4]

You are like the Fonz on Happy Days. Ritchie once asked him if he ever made a mistake which Fonzie answered that he overslept once.

Nothing like hubris…. In the olden days when people displayed hubris Zeus chucked a lightening bolt at them…. and in Hollywood what happened ? Arthur Fonzarelli claimed he basically made no mistakes and oops, he jumped the shark soon after.. the quintessential expression for … running out of ideas and being lame…. It’s all about the hubris… whenever I see someone making claims of how they are as good as the gods on Olympus, I keep away, they usually have a downfall soon after.

 

[removed account4]

How Ken Rockwellian of you, John!

I like how Ken Rockwell says the camera doesn't matter and all the people get mad at him because they have no idea what he is talking about!

The most important thing in photography is a lump of grey mass between your ears.

HA
I don't read ken Rockwell ( the Rockwell report ? )
but its true, none of this crap that people pine over, people spend all their time looking for
and finding and bragging to their friends matters. the gear is just the gear.
I hate to bring home appliances into this but. .. we have kept our appliances running and getting them repaired for years.
the repair guy said " you know the new ones only have a 5 to 7 year lifespan" .. the dryer just died so I asked
"dude what dryer do you recommend, you know that you NEVER see". he said "the cheapest whirlpool you can find...the expense is just the bling"
cameras are the same way, the expense is the bling, just get something that works. it dries clothes. it stops time...
the difference is if you don't have the juice there's no way the camera's gonna take good pictures ...
I can see why people get mad at that guy
he tells the truth
people can't separate the gear from the goods
and you can make the goods with any gear...

 

[Dennis-B]

HA
I don't read ken Rockwell ( the Rockwell report ? )
but its true, none of this crap that people pine over, people spend all their time looking for
and finding and bragging to their friends matters. the gear is just the gear.
I hate to bring home appliances into this but. .. we have kept our appliances running and getting them repaired for years.
the repair guy said " you know the new ones only have a 5 to 7 year lifespan" .. the dryer just died so I asked
"dude what dryer do you recommend, you know that you NEVER see". he said "the cheapest whirlpool you can find...the expense is just the bling"
cameras are the same way, the expense is the bling, just get something that works. it dries clothes. it stops time...
the difference is if you don't have the juice there's no way the camera's gonna take good pictures ...
I can see why people get mad at that guy
he tells the truth
people can't separate the gear from the goods
and you can make the goods with any gear...

Appliances, especially since electronics have entered the picture, are no longer the "lifetime" investment of some years ago. We have a nice Whirlpool side-x-side, that's approaching 30 years old. However, when we last had it repaired for a small fan failure, the technician advised us that repair parts were very limited, and that any further repairs might be futile. There are no more parts for the ice maker, and even door seals are nearly impossible to find. The same goes for our 25-year-old GE range. It may not be repairable in the future; not for the oven parts, or even the burners, but the electronic console is no longer available, and no one can rebuild it. When it goes, the range has to go.

And everyone now is in a bind. We ordered a new Whirlpool side-x-side in mid-May, with a delivery date of mid-June. We're now on our third reschedule because of "unforeseen problems". Seems the Covid shutdown has really screwed up the production and delivery of appliances. There are hardly any display models in stores, and those which are, aren't for sale.

 

[Alan Gales]

HA
I don't read ken Rockwell ( the Rockwell report ? )
but its true, none of this crap that people pine over, people spend all their time looking for
and finding and bragging to their friends matters. the gear is just the gear.
I hate to bring home appliances into this but. .. we have kept our appliances running and getting them repaired for years.
the repair guy said " you know the new ones only have a 5 to 7 year lifespan" .. the dryer just died so I asked
"dude what dryer do you recommend, you know that you NEVER see". he said "the cheapest whirlpool you can find...the expense is just the bling"
cameras are the same way, the expense is the bling, just get something that works. it dries clothes. it stops time...
the difference is if you don't have the juice there's no way the camera's gonna take good pictures ...
I can see why people get mad at that guy
he tells the truth
people can't separate the gear from the goods
and you can make the goods with any gear...

I used to be like most amateur photographers and wished that I owned this camera or that lens. If I did it would help make me a better photographer. When digital hit and all the pros started selling off their film gear to go digital, I became an eBay Seller of film gear. I mostly sold medium and large format gear. It was fun. I made some money and I got to try out a lot of gear. If I really liked something I'd keep it. That is, until I decided I wanted something else. After a while I came to the sobering conclusion that the gear doesn't matter much. I was still the same photographer!

When people ask me what to buy, I tell them film. It's hard to beat practice.



This is from the Large Format Photography Forum's home page. It's been posted on here before. I'm sure you have seen it but it's great for others who haven't or just to reread as a reminder.

https://www.largeformatphotography.info/chasing-magic-bullet.html



Oh, and and I have one word for modern home appliances, JUNK!

 

[removed account4]

And everyone now is in a bind. We ordered a new Whirlpool side-x-side in mid-May, with a delivery date of mid-June. We're now on our third reschedule because of "unforeseen problems". Seems the Covid shutdown has really screwed up the production and delivery of appliances. There are hardly any display models in stores, and those which are, aren't for sale.

yea. its a mess, we lucked out good old big box had a pair of twins for us. and they removed the smoking carcasses when they replaced them..

I used to be like most amateur photographers and wished that I owned this camera or that lens. If I did it would help make me a better photographer. When digital hit and all the pros started selling off their film gear to go digital, I became an eBay Seller of film gear. I mostly sold medium and large format gear. It was fun. I made some money and I got to try out a lot of gear. If I really liked something I'd keep it. That is, until I decided I wanted something else. After a while I came to the sobering conclusion that the gear doesn't matter much. I was still the same photographer!

When people ask me what to buy, I tell them film. It's hard to beat practice.

This is from the Large Format Photography Forum's home page. It's been posted on here before. I'm sure you have seen it but it's great for others who haven't or just to reread as a reminder.

https://www.largeformatphotography.info/chasing-magic-bullet.html

Oh, and and I have one word for modern home appliances, JUNK!

yea junk alright but beats a wet service and a mangle...
I've been washing my clothes in the dishwasher for about a month so it beats that too...
yup. Kevin's story is good one for the ages ! should be required reading

John

 

[Alan Gales]

yea. its a mess, we lucked out good old big box had a pair of twins for us. and they removed the smoking carcasses when they replaced them..


yea junk alright but beats a wet service and a mangle...
I've been washing my clothes in the dishwasher for about a month so it beats that too...
yup. Kevin's story is good one for the ages ! should be required reading

John

I've heard of people washing hub caps in their dishwasher but not clothes. I washed the grills from my Weber gas grill in the dishwasher once. It left little black burnt particles in the dishwasher. My wife wasn't too happy about that!

 

[removed account4]

yea you need the jet dry for your clothes to come out really sparkly and soft
( I hope you know I am joking about washing my cloths in the dishwasher! I've see hubcaps
and baseball caps washed in there but im like. nah. gotta eat off of those dishes and sporks )

 

[Alan Gales]

yea you need the jet dry for your clothes to come out really sparkly and soft
( I hope you know I am joking about washing my cloths in the dishwasher! I've see hubcaps
and baseball caps washed in there but im like. nah. gotta eat off of those dishes and sporks )

You never know, John. I know you brew your own beer. Maybe you had a few too many one night and tried it out.

 

[removed account4]

You never know, John. I know you brew your own beer. Maybe you had a few too many one night and tried it out.

LOL
I haven't brewed beer in ages, I have ingredients to make an imperial cream ale but am having too much fun making cider I've made my 9th or 10th batch since the pandemic started, one's in the fermenter now, and the last one is absolutely perfect. no clothes in the dishwasher though, too many dishes !
but that would be a great scene in a movie, everything is all tense and the viewers on edge, the person opens the dishwasher and removes his ( or her ) socks .. where's QT or the CB when you need them! that scene in Fargo would have been so much better if instead of the wood chipper the guy was taking his skivvies out of the dishwasher and the cop-lady was like " OK MISTER, hands UP, well I'll wait until you get dressed don't ya know. .. "

 

[Alan Gales]

I've never seen Fargo but It sounds like something John Candy would have done in Uncle Buck!

I used to drink apple cider some as a kid. My Dad loved it and bought it often. Of course it wasn't the hard kind like you are making. I like my beer but I don't drink enough to make my own.

I'm still doing my grilling and barbecue. I own a modified Weber Kettle Performer (standard one, not the one with igniter in center of grill. Coals to one side or the other, not in center! ), Pit Barrel Cooker, and Weber Genesis gas grill with sear burner. Three grills probably sounds like a lot but each excel at what they do and I use all three. There are a lot more expensive grills out there but it's just like what we discussed about cameras. No magic bullets!

 

[patashnik]

Thank you all, this thread has been a gift. I wanted to conclude by introducing you all to Victor. He is 20 years old, and came with ten rolls of heavily expired Provia 100f (2012, stored cold - not freezer). Would love input on whether it is worth using.

And I have never seen an Acute Matte in real life. This is insane.

 

[jeffbennett]

Congrats on a great buy. The camera is beautiful and an incredible bargain at $1400.