Hasselblad A12 'speed loading' competitions ( 1980's )

John Salim · Nov 22, 2023

Does anyone remember - or even take part in Hasselblad's A12 magazine fastest loading competitions from the early 1980's ?
I don't think it was around for very long .... and does anyone know what the record was ?

I've never timed myself, but could probably do it in under 30"
John S

BrianShaw · Nov 22, 2023

No memory of such events. Who did that?

John Salim · Nov 22, 2023

BrianShaw said:
No memory of such events. Who did that?

Hasselblad themselves ... possibly only in the UK ???
I think I saw this in their occasional publications.

John S

Sirius Glass · Nov 22, 2023

I concentrate on doing it correctly over speed, although over time the speed has increased. I had never heard of the competition either.

etn · Nov 23, 2023

I thought every Hasselblad photographer had 3-4 assistants whose task was to reload magazines? With enough assistants, there's no need for fast loading...

Sirius Glass · Nov 23, 2023

etn said:
I thought every Hasselblad photographer had 3-4 assistants whose task was to reload magazines? With enough assistants, there's no need for fast loading...

I never had any assistants. I had to do all the film loading by myself. <<sniff>> <<sniff>>

etn · Nov 24, 2023

Sirius Glass said:
I never had any assistants. I had to do all the film loading by myself. <<sniff>> <<sniff>>

Sirius, next time I am in SoCal I'll be happy to load your magazines This is a "sirius" offer!

Slixtiesix · Dec 8, 2023

Sirius Glass said:
I concentrate on doing it correctly over speed, although over time the speed has increased. I had never heard of the competition either.

I second that. No need to hurry.

MattKing · Dec 8, 2023

Slixtiesix said:
I second that. No need to hurry.

Tell that to the mother of the bride, or the Art Director who is responsible for paying the models and technicians by the hour .
The speed demons picked up the ability to load fast in environments like that. A lot of them did so in their jobs as assistants.

John Salim · Dec 8, 2023

Guys you're missing the point.
Nobody in their right mind would risk loading a mag so fast as to make mistakes and potentially ruin shots.
This was simply a fun competition.

As an update today: I spoke to my old friend ( and ex-Hasselblad UK rep ) Bob Mandry, and he remembers this competition being held at Photokina, Germany in the early 1980's.
He believes the record was 15" and assumed the insert was already removed from the magazine, and the film roll had it's seal removed.

John S

Sirius Glass · Dec 8, 2023

etn said:
Sirius, next time I am in SoCal I'll be happy to load your magazines This is a "sirius" offer!

I will like up several places to go on photo exhibitions.

BrianShaw · Dec 9, 2023

John Salim said:
Guys you're missing the point.
Nobody in their right mind would risk loading a mag so fast as to make mistakes and potentially ruin shots.
This was simply a fun competition.

As an update today: I spoke to my old friend ( and ex-Hasselblad UK rep ) Bob Mandry, and he remembers this competition being held at Photokina, Germany in the early 1980's.
He believes the record was 15" and assumed the insert was already removed from the magazine, and the film roll had it's seal removed.

John S

As a conference ice-breaker event, that had to be a lot of fun! I assume that the spool was also pre-moved to the take up position.

MarkS · Dec 11, 2023

How fast is fast enough? You just had to be faster than a 500EL.

Maris · Dec 11, 2023

Way back last century I saw a fast shooting system where even speed loading was not quick enough. The challenge was three expensive models changing out fashions all done in an hour. The key was multiple Rolleiflexes. When the last frame was shot the Rolleiflex would be chucked across the studio and caught by a loading assistant who would then chuck a pre-loaded Rolleiflex back to the photographer: and so on. I was aghast but they never dropped one.

mshchem · Dec 11, 2023

I can load RZ backs faster than I can Hasselblad backs. Or maybe not, I haven't loaded an RZ back in over a year.

Hasselblad A12 'speed loading' competitions ( 1980's )

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